THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: With “festival sale” by major e-commerce platforms set to begin this week, cyber police officials have cautioned buyers about attempts by scamsters to lure them into placing orders on phoney websites that resemble the original ones.
“The criminals lure customers by offering steep discounts, sometimes up to 80%. Once buyers place orders after paying cash, the websites either send them substandard products or simply disappear,” said an officer with the state police’s cyber division. The officer said the first red flag for customer should be the unrealistically low prices the phoney websites, which resemble the genuine ones in look, offer. “Customers should check the web address,” said the official.
The Kerala Police have registered 3,300 cases related to advertisement scams so far this year. With the online sale season set to commence, this number is expected to rise. In 2024, the officials downed about 34,000 websites that were involved in scams. Sources in the cyber division said they take down websites against which at least a single complaint has been filed. “We purge such websites so that they cannot trap more victims,” said a source.
Cyber sleuths have also warned against accessing the e-commerce sites via links received on WhatsApp or as SMS. “Clicking such links could infect the device with viruses and malicious software that can wreck havoc. There is also the risk of falling prey to phishing,” said an officer.