The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) issued a warning yesterday (August 3) that more people are falling victim to e-commerce fraud.

The Bureau claims that "an increasing number of victims are being directed to fraudulent websites via social media platforms and popular online search engines."

In an online public service announcement based on recent crime reports, the FBI stated that people have purchased various items at bargain prices from online websites but have yet to receive them.

Targets were persuaded to purchase items such as "gym equipment, small appliances, tools, and furniture" after seeing advertisements with attractive prices on social media sites and browsing shopping categories on major search engines.

The FBI stated that "victims purchased items from these websites because the prices were consistently lower than those offered by other online retailers."

Looking at these complaints, the FBI observed that:

Unsatisfied with their purchases, many customers filed complaints with the dubious retailers in question. In response, the companies offered partial refunds and stated that customers did not have to send the masks back because they were "compensation."

However, some customers had to send the goods back to the Chinese retailer if they wanted to receive a refund; the FBI said this would "result in victims paying expensive postage."

The FBI warned: "All attempts by victims to obtain a full refund or to actually receive the merchandise they ordered were unsuccessful.

The FBI explains that to make it easier for citizens to detect fake websites, the sites tend to have top-level domain suffixes such as ".club" or ".top" instead of ".com" in their web addresses and often use newly registered web addresses. The site is not a ".com" site.

The site also uses social media advertising as a means of attracting customers, appearing to be like a "legitimate site," although it often advertises products at "heavily discounted prices.

According to the Bureau, scam sites also "use private domain registration services to avoid having their personal information published in the WhoIs Public Internet Directory."

To avoid being duped by fake online shopping sites, one should read reviews of online retailers, check if the contact information is genuine, and question whether the cheap merchandise is legitimate.

"If you believe you have been a victim of Internet fraud or cybercrime, or want to report suspicious activity,www.IC3.gov,”にあるFBIのインターネット犯罪苦情センターにアクセスしてください」とFBIは付け加えている。