Kilkenny Garda alert after local online shopper conned out of €10,000

Kilkenny gardaí are urging people to be careful when shopping online after a local person was scammed out of €10,000.

The unfortunate shopper got caught out when the site they were buying from turned out to be a clone or fake site, impersonating a more well-known and reputable site.

A local Garda spokesperson urged people to make themselves familiar with the red-flags when shopping online, advising: “Use secure websites. Make sure the website you are on is real – not cloned or fake.

“Make sure there is an ‘https’ at the beginning of the web address and a padlock symbol displayed beside the URL before the purchase is made – this indicates a secure connection.

“Look for the trust seals – trust seals are commonly placed on homepages, login pages, and checkout pages. They’re immediately recognizable and they remind visitors that they are secure on this page.

“Know the website’s policy on refunds and know your consumer rights.

“Where selling platforms offer an official, safe way of paying, use this rather than sending money directly to a third party – otherwise use an online payment option such as PayPal, which helps to protect you.

“Always keep a record of your purchase, print or save a copy of your order. Ensure you read the terms and conditions associated with any purchase,” the spokesperson added.

Gardai remind people they should wary when site have unusual payment methods and offer the following advice:

• Check their payment methods – should be credit cards. Never transfer money direct or pay cash
• If a website is asking you to send money to a random PayPal address, wire it by Western Union, pay in iTunes gift cards or only deals in cryptocurrency that should send up a red flag. The majority of the time, those methods are done to avoid scrutiny and ensure that a transaction can’t be reversed.
• Be careful about cut-price offers – if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
• Do not under any circumstances use public Wi-Fi when making payments – switch to 3G/4G on your phone if necessary.