Scammers are everywhere

 

The exchange of goods and services for money or any other form of payment is a fundamental staple in not only the American economy, but international economies, too. As the internet advances, these transactions have adapted to fit into the expanding world wide web. Ecommerce is the way in which online transactions can be completed. An example of this is buying something online from a different person or company in exchange for money or a trade of items. At first, it seems easy and convenient, but there are many areas that could cause potential problems. One of the most prevalent ethical issues with ecommerce is that the person selling the product could be a scammer. Unlike buying something in a tangible way, you can not physically see and hold the item to identify what you are paying for. At any moment, a product you find on the web can actually be a scam. Once the buyer sends the money electronically, it is very hard to get it back. Sometimes, they may never get the product and if they do, it may not be what they thought they were buying. Obviously this is not always the case, but the odds of being ripped off over the internet is far greater than if you were in person exchanging money for a product.

A few months ago, my mother and I were trying to buy a new table for our deck. We thought we could find one much cheaper online instead of going to a store. We decided to buy one from an unknown website being sold by an individual seller. At first, we saw no issue with this because there were pictures and even a video for the product we were buying, or at least what we thought we were buying. The online seller was willing to sell it for $100 cheaper than anything we could find in the store, so we thought it would be a good deal. A month went by and nothing came in the mail. Then, we get a letter in the mail from the seller. In the letter was a picture of the set we thought we were buying. We got completely ripped off, but there was nothing we could do about it. We tried finding the name and number of the seller but we could not since it was off of a third party website. This is a clear example of the loop holes that exist in the online exchanging of good and services. Ecommerce may have its benefits relating to saving time and energy, however, we found out that it can not always be trusted. Sometimes, you may end up losing a lot of money. You may not be able to do anything about it. This has happened and still happens to individuals all across the globe. Reasons like this one are why people don’t always buy things online. Ecommerce has its benefits , however here are also loopholes you as an individual must consider in order to prevent being scammed.