Online shopping is already booming this holiday season. While last year’s big increase in holiday e-commerce due to the COVID-19 pandemic isn’t going to be repeated this time around, November and December online shopping is projected to top US$200 billion for the first time. And as online shopping increases, so do online scams.

Already, multiple companies from outside the U.S. are advertising relatively unchecked on the internet, selling – or even just pretending to sell – all manner of products. The items are typically advertised using designs stolen from legitimate businesses and artists, often ripped off from Etsy, especially if those designs have been featured on popular sites like Bored Panda.

When people buy these scam products, what arrives is typically of low quality. That’s if anything ever arrives. Often the company just shutters and renames itself without sending anything. In worst-case scenarios, they also steal customers’ credit card information.

Read more at The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/doing-your-holiday-shopping-online-here-are-10-tips-for-avoiding-scams-146897
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