Distrust Websites when Extreme Discounts Look Too Good to be True

Editorial

13:46 JST, November 30, 2020

The damage wrought by fake websites that look like official sites of famous brands and other entities, defrauding consumers of money they paid for products, is becoming conspicuous. Before taking advantage of an “extreme discount,” consumers should determine whether the site is genuine.

The Consumer Affairs Agency has issued an alert because the number of consultations has increased about fake websites of companies such as major British home appliance maker Dyson Ltd. From April to August, consumer affairs centers across the nation were consulted about such matters in 368 cases, up 140 from the same period a year earlier.

The consultations particularly dealt with issues related to products sold at excessively low prices. In many cases, purchased items were not delivered or products that were different from ones ordered were delivered.

Even though the consumers realized they have been cheated, they were unable to contact the business operators. If the dealers are based overseas, it becomes more difficult to ask for refunds. There is also a risk that damage could be amplified in cases where credit card numbers and personal information used to make online payments are misused.

In Japan, online shopping is not covered by a cooling-off period when customers can cancel contracts within a certain time frame. It is important for online shoppers to suspect an ulterior motive for excessive discounts and refrain from making hasty purchases.

There are also ways to discern fake websites. It is advisable to avoid using websites if their URLs are even the slightest bit different from that of the official sites or if business operators use email with domains of free email accounts for their contact information.

Through product searches, advertisements on social media, emails and other means, malicious operators attempt to lure people to fake websites.

It is perhaps effective to bookmark official websites or install official apps on computers or smartphones in advance. If there is anything suspicious about a site, users are encouraged to check if any problems have been reported on the official sites or elsewhere on the internet.

Legitimate business operators, for their part, are urged to actively disclose information about problems, including fake websites that concern their business.

Amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, the use of online shopping has been on the rise. According to the Survey of Household Economy by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, the percentage of households with two members or more using online shopping services exceeded 50% for the first time in May.

It is important for the government to step up its monitoring and awareness-raising activities to prevent new online shoppers from being victimized from a lack of knowledge of such fake websites. To deal with malicious business operators, the government must speed up consideration for measures such as revisions to relevant laws.

What is also problematic is that fake websites tend to appear at the top of search results. Operators of search engines need to increase efforts to remove sites that have caused damage. Major online retailers such as Rakuten, Inc. and Amazon Japan should also take thorough measures against malicious dealers.

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Nov. 30, 2020)