Consumer fraud is when a company or business decides to deceptively ensnare consumers by making false promises, selling shady products and services, and other malicious business practices. That certainly doesn’t make shopping fun or easy nowadays. Fraudsters and scammers are everywhere, especially in these times. As if there haven’t been enough reports of questionable products given to consumers, fake company credentials, and internet identity theft on the news!
There’s been a lot of finger-pointing in the past few years, especially towards negligent companies or businesses and government policies that don’t offer enough protection. But, unfortunately, we can’t always rely on others to keep us informed and safe — or to ensure we steer clear of fraudsters and scammers. If you’re interested in gaining more insight regarding the contemporary perils of consumer fraud, read on.
Types of Consumer Fraud
Violations of consumer rights can either be plainly described as unfair business practices or outright consumer fraud. These violations occur when consumers are in particularly vulnerable situations. Examples of vulnerable consumer situations include being in debt or when companies aren’t forthcoming about product or service information to consumers. It takes a particular kind of caution to catch onto the ways of predators in the modern-day marketplace and report consumer fraud. Some types of consumer fraud are as follows:
Business and investment fraud –
may involve work-from-home scams that require the purchase of an exorbitantly expensive starter kit; pyramid schemes, and solicitations for investments in unprofitable cryptocurrency, real estate, and other markets.
Credit card fraud –
involves shady companies or individuals that sell or pretend to sell products or services via credit card to collect hapless consumers’ credit card information and use it to make fraudulent purchases.
Identity theft –
involves the illegal obtaining of a consumer’s personal and financial information by another individual.
Internet product and service fraud –
involves the online selling of products that are deceptively marketed (products that look nothing like their description or picture online); involves online sellers asking consumers to prepay for certain services and then disappearing, or enticing consumers to pay for online services they don’t want (for example, by sending them fake emails that imply that they’ll lose their domain name registration if they don’t send money to a certain group or individual)
Drug/medical Consumer Fraud –
involves the marketing and selling of fraudulent or defective healthcare products and services (weight loss pills; anti-aging treatments, and others with fake or unproven scientific claims)
Travel/vacation fraud –
involves “too good to be true” travel packages with a bevy of hidden charges; enticing consumers to purchase frequent-flyer miles near expiration, and falsely advertising non-existent beautiful places to stay in
Web cramming –
involves billing Internet users with website creation fees even though they didn’t pay anyone to create a website.
Things to Remember about Consumer Fraud:
Never be afraid to ask questions from a company, business, or seller. However, the information provided may not tell the whole story. Always read the fine print of contracts, warranties, and return policies. In addition, one mustn’t forget to read the directions and safety instructions before using a good or product. Finally, there should be no guessing when purchasing a good, product, or service.
Conclusion:
To get a broader view, experts warn you to do your due diligence concerning the items you wish to purchase. Know how much they cost and learn how to spot good quality versus poor quality. Many states and nations also have a “Consumer Beware” list or similar databases available online for perusal. Such advice may seem like common sense; but it’s important for consumers not to take things, money, and their dignity for granted. Consumer fraudsters won’t.
Author’s Bio:
Deinah Storm used to work in the corporate world as a marketing affiliate. She quit her job to pursue her passion for writing, but to this day; Deinah committed to educating consumers about the different marketing scams, Consumer Fraud, and how to avoid them.