Warning over online shopping

New breed of scamsters coming up with ingenious ways ahead of Diwali

If you have received an email from an e-commerce website like Amazon, Flipkart claiming that your order has been stuck and the mail seeks your name, address, credit or debit card number and also helps you manoeuvre to an e-commerce link, be warned that this is a scam. With online sales up due to the Diwali season, this is being seen as the latest ploy by cyber criminals to make a quick buck.

“A new breed of scamsters has come up with ingenious ways to circumvent security measures,” said a cyber crime official of Hyderabad Police, adding that, it is more now as compared to earlier hackings. This is now an organised market, with syndicates all over the world, using sophisticated ways to indulge in identity theft.

Tech-savvy scamsters set up sites that look like genuine ones with similar logos and domain names. Some may even create a dummy site with a product line-up that only exists online.

“The content of the fraudulent messages/mails sent by these individuals or agencies may include references to tempting deals, discounts, return refunds, order delays and offers on popular e-commerce websites. These messages may be designed to closely resemble the site’s official trademarks including logos, typefaces and brand colours. Some of the fake websites may also have the word ‘Flipkart’ or ‘Amazon’ in the URL or logo,””said the official, further requesting the public not to reply to these mails or click on any links without verifying their authenticity.

“The original sites have no connection with these fraudulent senders, and we have no control over any information that you share with them,” said Avinash Sharma from Amazon. “Any details that you share with these fraudulent senders can compromise your personal and financial information. Payments once made to these accounts cannot be retrieved or reversed, and you may be cheated of your hardearned money,” he said.