The State Police takes the field for the protection of online Christmas shopping: from the experience acquired in the protection from the risks of fraud by the Postal and Communications Police, a guide with practical advice and suggestions for buying online with greater peace of mind.
The race to buy Christmas gifts has now begun!
What better opportunity to provide useful advice and avoid that Christmas shopping aimed at buying gifts for the people we care about, leads us to potential scams, thanks in this moment of health emergency, even the search for offers at very low cost and the very short times for online purchases.
From the experience acquired in protecting against the risks of online fraud, the Postal and Communications Police provides a series of information to guarantee network security, the protection of personal data, protection from fraud and risks in purchases: hot topics and particularly felt by those who use the Internet in this period of lockdown in which there is a continuous growth of fraudulent conduct, increasingly sophisticated, on e-commerce platforms.
The number of reports and complaints received on commissariatodips.it, added to those of people arrested and reported in 2020, recorded an increase of 89.1% compared to the same period of the previous year. For this reason, the Postal and Communications Police has strengthened every useful tool to help surfers, occasional or frequent, to feel more confident about their next purchase and at the same time to counteract the scams implemented on the Internet, also by closing virtual spaces.
These are particularly useful tips as Christmas approaches when the phenomenon of scams seems to worsen, also thanks to the search for offers at very low cost.
Moreover, it is not a surprise that the choice to buy online is also linked to the possibility of obtaining savings, in addition to convenience: some research confirms that the impulse purchase model linked to special offers, for example limited stocks or with discounted prices, it has become so widespread that even serial scammers manage to enter with false sales.
Despite this, the vast majority of users rely on the Net for online purchases, even those who are not experts, exposing the most vulnerable and less familiar groups to many risks.
For this reason, the Postal and Communications Police took the field with some useful tips and practical suggestions for moving between online stores. The practical guide will be available on the State Police website, on the Postal Police portal www.commissariatodips.it and on the related facebook and twitter pages.
“The latest operation carried out by the Postal Police revealed a complex modus operandi that saw criminals advertise the sale of clothing via Instagram, the most popular platform among young and very young people.
The proposal of "fashionable" garments with modest commercial value, the use of a social environment in vogue among the youngest and the use of profiles with thousands of followers have easily attracted the young victims, inducing them to make purchases that turned out to be scams.
The carefully selected users were contacted on instagram and induced to pay by reloading prepaid cards. Subsequently, the scammers, with other social profiles, contacted the victims again persuading them to make a new payment, citing spurious justifications such as customs fees or tax problems. "