‘I THOUGHT I COULD SPOT A BOGUS WEBSITE’
‘I hastily entered my credit card details’
Maddy Alexander-grout, 39, is a money specialist at myviprewards.co.uk and lives in Southampton with her husband James, 41, and their two children Ben, seven, and Harriet, three. In October 2022, I was sleepily scrolling through social media when I saw people talking about air fryers. Top of everyone’s Christmas list this year, I was desperate to get my hands on one, but they were sold out everywhere. I’d done my research and after reading reviews, I’d decided on a Ninja air fryer.
And as I punched the name into Google, a website popped up with the brand’s logo on it, and I was thrilled to see they were back in stock. Not only that, but there was a flash sale for early Christmas shoppers!
With 70% off, I could get my new gadget for a bargain £43, slashed down from £160.
A countdown clock flashed at the top of the page, warning me that I only had 15 minutes to complete the transaction.
Not wanting to lose out, I hastily entered my card details.
As a money specialist, running a blog and Tiktok page, I regularly dish out money tips as well as guidance on making careful choices when buying online. I knew to look out for things like the little padlock next to the web address, which shows a site is secure, and this website had one. Once the payment had gone through, I felt thrilled that I had snagged myself a bargain and started recording a video to share the deal with all my followers. Only, as I said the words out loud, alarm bells sounded in my head. Was it too good to be true?
I checked the receipt in my inbox and everything seemed genuine – the right logo, no spelling errors. But reading the fine print, I noticed the customer service email address provided was a Gmail account, not the brand.
My heart sank. I knew I’d made a huge mistake and when I checked my bank balance, I saw that £68 had been taken instead of £43. Although it wasn’t a huge amount, it confirmed my suspicion that I had been scammed.
I spent the next two and a half hours on the phone to the bank. I cancelled my cards and thankfully they were able to give me my money back. I felt so embarrassed.
Although the money had been refunded, my details, including my name, email address and home address were still out there, but there was nothing I could do about it.
Online scams are getting more sophisticated. They’re no longer misspelt emails but meticulously designed websites with deliberately similar URLS to the brands they’re claiming to be.
Looking for padlocks – which mean a website is secure – is a good start, but I’ve since learnt that anybody can purchase an SSL certificate and add a padlock to their site, but it does not mean it is authentic.
In future, I know to be wary of any site that pressures me to buy quickly. Scammers will try anything to get their hands on money and I’m proof that anyone can be scammed, no matter how tech savvy or vigilant you believe you are.
A spokesperson for Ninja said: ‘Following an unprecedented surge in demand for Ninja products, particularly our air fryers, we have become aware of a rise in fraudulent websites appearing to offer our products at greatly reduced prices. We would recommend any new or existing customers only purchase goods through the official Ninja website (ninjakitchen.co.uk) or via a reputable retail partner to ensure you receive our five-star rated products as ordered.’