The NCC warns consumers to be extra cautious. (Jasmin Merdan/ Getty Images)
The National Consumer Commission (NCC) has warned consumers against allegedly fraudulent retailers, both during Black Friday and the festive season.
“Consumers are urged to be very vigilant when transacting online as some of the online stores are masquerading as legitimate businesses while they are effectively out to scam consumers,” said the NCC in a press release issued this week.
Based on consumer complaints, the NCC has identified about 40 suppliers that seem to have either disappeared or cannot be traced at their addresses listed on the sales records or websites provided to consumers. Many of these relate to car dealerships and business listing directories, but also include clothing retailers and holiday accommodation.
The NCC warns consumers to be extra cautious or to avoid doing business with these suppliers, as they intend to defraud consumers.
According to the NCC, these suppliers accept the orders, take consumers’ money and never deliver the goods or services as expected.
In the case of in-store purchases, the suppliers moved from the known addresses without providing any forwarding address. Online suppliers took orders, accepted payments, and never delivered the products. The suppliers later abandoned the websites or deleted them completely.
The list of these suppliers is available on the NCC’s website, and the NCC has requested that if any of the suppliers on the list have become traceable, they should contact the NCC to be immediately removed from the list.
Before making an online purchase through an online retailer you have not used before, do a Google search to see if there are any complaints about the business.
You can also check the URL through the website Yima.org.za. This is an anti-fraud initiative by the South African Fraud Prevention Services (SAFPS). You can also report a fake website on Yima. The main element of the website is to report a scam incident or any suspicious activity to the SAFPS. This suspicious activity includes a fake or suspect-looking online shopping website/portal and instances where the user has received phoney banking information. These reports will be collated and shared with law enforcement for investigation.
If you’ve fallen victim to one of these rogue operators, your first step should be to inform your bank. If you made a purchase using a credit card or debit card, you may have recourse under the Visa and Mastercard chargeback rules. The chargeback rule applies where a merchant has not delivered a service or product paid for by a card. In this case there would be a chargeback right which can be processed to the merchant’s acquiring bank.
You may be required to give a statement to the police and obtain a case number to provide to your bank.
You should also inform the relevant industry body or regulator. Only by victims reporting these cases can authorities work together to shut them down.
These are the 40 entities identified by the NCC:
Table supplied
Have you been scammed this Black Friday? Mail News24 Business at [email protected].
This post was originally published on here
