The online sector has dedicated a lot of time and resource into changing the perception of online marketing, however, according to a recent report conducted by the Office of Fair Trading over 35% of all people who shop online, have been contacted by so form of online scammer. Among those worst effected are people who have recently formed their own company.
Most of these scams are people or companies appearing to offer something free to an unsuspecting user and according to the trading watchdog the number of people who are falling for it is increasing.
Sophie Roberts, founder of consumer group ‘Watch IT’ comments; “The number of people complaining about having been a victim of such scams or having been approached by a company offering some form of scam has risen exponentially. The advise we give our users is to thoroughly research any company offering a something free or claiming you have won a prize. As a rule of thumb, if a deal sounds too good to be true, it usually is.”
According to the OFT, one of the most vulnerable groups are people are the unemployed and the elderly.