Cannabis Farmer’s Market – Vancouver, BC Art Gallery – April 20, 2014
The biggest question we get is how to avoid purchasing false items on the Internet. Here are the best helpful tips to scam prevention:
If someone boasts how long they have been in the business, that is an immediate warning sign. They should be concentrating on their service and quality, not bragging about how long they have been around.
Ask yourself, “Who will se my actions?”, know the complete value of your online transaction, ask yourself “Do I want this purchase?”
Don’t ever buy an item via bulk email (“spam”). Chances of being scammed are 90% or better. There is a 45% chance you’ll really get what you ordered and a less than 10% chance you will be happy with the transaction. Spam is scam.
Try to conduct business anonymously, be a little cautious if the seller relies on an email service. Of course, most people who use these services are honest but for the human touch, one of the best private ways to communicate is by mailing a letter. Legitimate businesses can easily be verified.
Use common sense and trust your intuition. Remember, to buy marijuana is still considered a common street practice. If you have a funny feeling about an item, don’t buy it. If you see cartoons instead of a real picture of what your buying, that should be a warning sign of fraud.
Be careful of those who use “aliases” or ‘nicknames”. Pseudonyms are common on-line, and some people will to try to hide their true identity. It is easy to be an imposter. Search for other promotions by the same person using an alias.
Take your time. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Credit Card Use and Abuse
We have received complaints recently about the unauthorized charging of credit cards resulting from site visitors joining up for free trial periods or trial periods at discounted costs. In each case the bogus site charges unauthorized amounts to the visitors credit card. In some cases the bogus site fails to tell you that your failure to cancel the membership during the free or discounted trial period results in the automatic activation of a full-time membership. Many of the credit card scams are occurring at adult websites. Merchants should be posting fraud alert signs on their websites, stating fraud will be followed up and taken care of by the feds.
Remember these scam prevention tips:
Never give out your credit card number and address unless purchasing an item online with a well known site.
Be suspicious of any site that requires your credit card number for age verification. This usually is a common scam at adult sites.
There is no reason to give your credit card number for a free trial period.
Be cautious at sites that offer a discount introductory trial period, especially online adult sites.
Always read the fine print to determine how to cancel your trial offers or memberships. Some free trial periods actually require you to join a 3 month membership as a minimum.
Review your credit card invoices upon receipt to for any unauthorized purchases and report any discrepancies to your credit card issuer.
If, after you have reported any crammed expenses to your credit card issuer, your credit card issuer is still permitting similar crammed expenses showing up on your card, cancel your card.
Use as few credit cards as possible and destroy and cancel ones that you don’t use frequently. A good idea is to designate one credit card with a small credit line for purchasing on the web.
Beware of Authority
Websites create authority content for search engine ranking, false or otherwise. Authority is also created to make a website look credible in their particular industry. This unauthorized authority could be the result of one person sitting in a basement with no credibility at all. Suddenly “authority” is created out of the thin blue sky. “I’m an authority, this website is your authority to weed”. Beware, do some homework, take authority with a grain of salt. There has to be some kind of concrete fact or proof. Don’t just take somebody’s word as gospel, your best defense is to arm yourself with information.
