I was a victim of online fraud! Not in the usual sense, but read further for the whole story. I started shopping online a couple years ago because it is easy and I can find the lowest prices by just using a shopping bot. Although I am hardly a big time shopper, I have bought a variety of products online.
My shopping consists mostly of replacing worn out products and this was no different. I used my usual shopping bots which allows me to be very specific in my choices. There was a website that looked just like an authentic company website, but wasn’t. Their products were cheap knock offs of quality products made in Southeast Asia, although I did not know this at the time.I ordered my product and was given a confirmation and tracking number.
I thought something went astray when I tracked my package to China. A week later I received my product (athletic shoes) and I could tell it was a knock off. I am in the midst of returning it and they will credit my account or I will protest the charge with my credit card company. Either way, I won’t pay for it! I feel a little duped, but I learned something from this experience so all is not lost. I can still identify the best or my favorite articles of the week. This makes a good segue to today’s picks for Friday Night Links.
The following articles caught my attention:
Live Real, Now – How to Save
Million Dollar Journey – Saving Strategy: Quit Smoking
Money Beagle – Was One Of My Reasons For Attending Grad School Slightly Irrational?
Money Talks -Trying to Get My Daughter to Save
Money Crush – Who Else Wants Financial Independence?
The selection of blogs is up to the committee of one established by krantcents as a representative of the Academy of Frugal Journalistic Writers. That committee can be influenced by meaningful comments, signing up for my RSS feeds, backlinks, links, trackbacks, Facebook Likes, Twitter, Re-tweets, Digg, StumbleUpon, delicio, Yahoo Buzz, Google Bookmarks and other social media. If you plan on creating a single purpose political action committee (PAC) to buy advertising on my blog to solely influence the committee, please go ahead! Please understand it will not influence the results.
I read more than five hundred (500) articles a week and I highlight just five (5) in my Friday Night Links. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is! Thanks for reading Friday Night Links Fraud Edition.
Photo by: IsaacMao
Carnivals:
Carn. of Financial Camaraderie at My University Money
Nerdy Finance Carnival at Nerdy Finance Carnival
Carnival of Retirement at My Family Finances
Y & T’s Weekend Ramblings at Young and Thrifty
Wealth Artisan’s FinCarn at Wealth Artisan
Carnival of MoneyPros at Simple Finance Blog
Carnival of Financial Planning at Fiscal Phoenix
Thanks for reading Friday Night Links Fraud Edition.
Even though it didn’t work out, I think you have honed in on the best part about purchasing through reputable portals: buying from the wrong selling is not necessarily irrevocable. Have a good weekend 🙂
Thanks, I think I learned that I will only buy selective items on the internet. One of the shopping bots I use provides feedback about the reputation of the website which I am now more sensitive to.
Sucks it happened but hopefully you get your money back somehow. I always try to check the legitimacy of sites before I buy but sometimes it is very difficult. I try to stick to he major retailers I know.
I think this points out the fact that the internet is still like wild west. Let the buyer beware!
I’ve heard of people who got scammed in a similar manner. I feel sorry for what happened to you and hope you can fight the charge. I suggest not dealing with any new website you find, instead maybe just try to stick with a few that you really trust.
I think I will avoid getting certain products that can be easily copied. I just returned it today for credit so I do not expect a problem. I can always dispute the charge.
I’d just chalk it up to bad luck. Of course, I wouldn’t pay for it either, but as they say, “stuff happens.” It could have been a lot worse.
Thanks, I will fight it based on principle if not for the $.
I’m overly cautious about where I make purchases from online. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. You should probably alert your credit card company’s fraud department either way. It could help out a future customer of such a sham website.
First, I want my refund (credit) and then I plan on reporting it to legitimate company because their website looks identical.