Online Escrow Services
Such services are widely used in online purchases of items of great value. The escrow services accept and retain payment from the buyer – usually a transfer via check, money order or credit card – until the buyer receives and approves the merchandise. Only then, when the goods are delivered, send payment to the seller. The use of this kind of services can be very useful and quite safe to buy products, but lately there have been many scams in this sector.
How it works
A seller offers merchandise for sale on an Internet auction and insists that prospective buyers to use an escrow service in particular. Once buyers make payment to the escrow service, the buyer never receives the promised goods, can not locate the seller, or the company and can not get the money back.
Tips to avoid:
Here are some tips to avoid being a victim of this scam:
• Learn everything you can about the seller. Avoid doing business with sellers you can not identify. Get the phone number of the seller to have a way to contact you. Call the telephone number to confirm it is correct.
• Be wary of escrow service recommended by the seller. Study the site carefully. The fact that the company has no website ensures that not fraudulent.
• Call customer service company. Never use an escrow service that offers phone, fax and address. Call offering you to verify that the phone works and is real. If you are not able to contact a person, be wary.
• Check registradaSi is a company to use an escrow service, check all credentials as TRUSTe, Better Business Bureau and VeriSign Secure. Contact these companies to see if the company is registered.
• Avoid companies that have a shoddy website. Obviously a company with a superb appearance is no guarantee that it is not fraudulent but grammatical or spelling errors, inconsistent information or links that do not work may indicate that we have to a fraudulent site.
• Many fraudulent websites copy the actual page content and tend to use names or domains that are misleading.
• The payment can be a warning. Pay attention to the method of payment that requires the company of Deposit. If a company asks you to make payment to an individual rather than a business, beware.
• Try to avoid companies that use deposit services such as Western Union or Money Gram. Western Union is not affiliated with any escrow service.
• Search the internet company. Look for the company in Google, Yahoo, etc. If you get no results found, be wary.
• Do not rely on a “super offer.” If the price of the product is well below the market price, chances are it is to fraud.