How Covid-19 is increasing fraud in business and what to do
It has always been a risky affair trying to buy something, be it from an online or physical store. There have always been instances where people bought fake products as well as other instances where they pay for a product or service and never get it. This has always been a challenge that buyers have always tried to avoid.
The story that sometimes comes from the people who are caught in fraudulent activities has always been the fact that there is no job or they have tried other legitimate ways of working money but failed. Some others will even claim that they were defrauded by someone else and when they lost everything or lost hope of making a living through legitimate means, they decided to try other means. Thus, they blame their fraudulent activities on a system that made them have a problem and gave them no option but to become fraudsters to make ends meet. Many fraudsters believe this within themselves to make it easier for their conscience to bear the wickedness they are inflicting on other people.
With Covid-19, its effects have been obvious to virtually everybody around the world irrespective of the sector they are in. Jobs have been lost and economies are crashing. The implication on people is that they no longer make as much as they used to, they are depleting their savings if they have any, and they need to look for ways to make more money. If there is a sector that is least affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, they are online stores that we’re able to continue to function during the pandemic. This is especially those that are selling essential products and those who do not need to ship or fly products before they can be supplied to customers.
Many fraudsters have noticed this as well as those who just needed something similar to COVID-19 to become fraudsters. Thus, there are now many more people who are opening online stores intending to defraud people. If it is not the fact that their company closed down or has been shut because of the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be that they have not been paid because nobody has been patronizing them because of the pandemic. The increasing fraud means that people have to be more careful so that they can find reliable online stores to patronize.
Fortunately, there are a few things that people can do to ensure that they do not fall victim of fraudsters that have arisen as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, they might want to look for companies that have been around for sometime before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it should be noted that some people can claim on their about us page to have been around for 50 years when they only started a month ago. This is where reviews come in. It is easier to safely order online with reviews as opposed to ordering without reviews. This is because reviews are supposed to give you unbiased opinions from customers about the service of the company. You would be able to see reviews from customers and when the reviews were given. Your best bet will be to check independent platforms. You can also check for when they got their first review to see if it is very recent or if it was long ago. This can help you corroborate the age of the company apart from helping you know how reputable the business is.
