Scam
3 tips to protect yourself from an online (or any other) scam.
1. Pay with a credit card
All major credit cards give you buyers protection. If you can make a case for the product or service not being delivered or being materially misrepresented you can dispute the charge and the merchant has to prove the legitimacy of the charges. If you never signed anything, this is a non-starter. Although if the merchant accepts a credit card, there is a good chance the business is not a “scam.†To have a merchant account, generally the merchant has to go through a credit check, site visit, and maintain charge back standard in less than .05%. If the business has been around for any length of time, you can probably assume the business has less than 1% of its customers claiming the charge was fraudulent. That doesn't mean that there aren't mistake and erroneous charges, but its unlikely its a pattern if they have a long standing merchant account.
2. Google Maps is your friend.
Only in the last 5 years or so has the ability to literally look in on a businesses address and location become available through Google Street View. Now you can put in any would be seller's address and take a quick peak at their location. Beware the UPS store with a “suite†number listed. Its just an anonymous mail drop. Even worse is no address listed at all.
3. Beware the overly long contract
Even with the above tips, a devious merchant can lock in some sale with a long wordy contract slowly closing the loopholes to refunds. While if the contract is too deceptive the charge back level will still get to high to maintain an account, it may be that it covers charge backs and refunds with impossible language. Beware things like, “once the order is placed we start shipping the product immediately and no refund is available.†Come on, if you don't have a tracking number yet, the order should be able to be cancelled.
Keep these 3 tips handy when moving around the Internet and you'll find yourself safe 98% of the time.
