Dubious Web Shops Becoming More Advanced: This is How You Spot Them
The problem is not a new one, but it has proved difficult to do something about. According to Henrik Bjørner, a cybercrime analyst, the scams often appear on recently expired Danish domains. Bjørner discovered the problem at a time when he was working with expired domains and wondered why 100 of them were suddenly bought by residents of China overnight. He subsequently designed an algorithm to help identify the fraudulent sites. An overview of these sites can be found on http://eit.dk/analyse/kina-paa-storindkoeb/.
The sites often appear to sell otherwise expensive brand name products cheaply, especially products from such brands as Nike and Canada Goose. The sites used to be easier to spot due to poor quality Danish translations, irregular prices and bad layout. They have improved in recent years, however, making them more difficult to identify.
According to Toke Mølgaard of e-mærket, it has also become harder to spot the scams because still more people shop via their smartphone. As the screen is smaller, it also shows less of the actual website, which makes it even more difficult to discover that something is wrong.
Some of the fraudulent web shops are based on Danish domains, and these may be shut down by a Danish court order. The .com web shops, however, can only be closed down by the authorities in the country where the domain is registered.
According to e-mærket there are 6 ways to discover a scam:
1) Language mistakes and irregular prices.
2) Unreasonably cheap brand name products.
3) Insufficient company information.
4) Dubious payment methods.
5) Have an extra look at the actual web address.
6) Look for the e-mærket certification.