By HELEN ZULU –
THE Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) says it last year received 10 complaints involving online shopping frauds and has called on consumers to be wary of cybercriminals.
CCPC executive director Chilufya Sampa said the commission last year received the complaints from the consumers who were swindled out of their money.
They purchased goods online but their goods were not delivered to them.
Mr Sampa said consumers were at higher risk of fraud online than in face-to-face transactions as there is no ability to inspect goods before purchasing online.
He said this in a speech read for him by CCPC director – consumer protection Brian Lingela at the launch of the 2016 fraud prevention month media breakfast meeting in Lusaka yesterday.
“Online shopping as a modern way of doing business comes with advantages and disadvantages, risks and opportunities which consumers should be aware of.
“Although the benefits of online shopping are considerable, online shoppers have become preferred cybercriminal targets who target personal information such as credit and debit card credentials,” Mr Sampa said.
He said it was imperative that consumers were aware of the websites that keep track of consumers shopping habits, and credit information among others which may be exposed to cybercriminals.
Mr Sampa said consumers should avoid visiting shopping sites through a link or pop-ups as such maybe from fraudsters who created a fake site.
He said consumers should however, be paying via credit card as preferable as it offered better protection and watch out for unbelievable offers or deals that were usually not true but was quick to mention that not all online promotions were fraudulent.
Zambia is a member of the international consumer protection and enforcement network (ICPEN), a network of governmental organisations involved in the enforcement of fair trade practice laws and other consumer protection activities.
Mr Sampa said one of the key projects of the ICPEN was the fraud prevention month (FPM) which was a series of campaigns run every year with this year’s theme being “Online shopping”.