Consumer protection agencies from around the world will focus on the sites targeting young people in this year's international internet Sweep Day. In Australia, the Sweep Day will be held on Tuesday 21 September.
"Young people are more likely to shop, conduct financial transactions and socialise online than other groups. But while many may have the technical knowhow they can be easy targets for unscrupulous traders or scammers.
The Sweep Day is organised globally by the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network.
"Agencies across the globe will be sweeping the internet over 24 hours for the sorts of traps young people are most likely to fall into," ACCC deputy chair Peter Kell said today. "This includes advertising on social networking sites, and sweeping 'celebrity' and entertainment sites which are likely to attract the younger consumer.
"In the past financial year, the ACCC's Infocentre has received more than 2,640 identifiable complaints and inquiries from people aged under 25. However, we know that younger consumers are far less likely to contact consumer protection agencies and the actual complaints figure for this age group is very much higher," Mr Kell said.
"The areas most complained of were goods not being delivered after they were paid for or not matching the online description, attempts to deny consumers warranties and refunds rights and various online classified ads and rental scams."
As in previous years, the ACCC will be joined in the Sweep by state and territory fair trading offices across the country, all with one aim – to unmask any wrong doers who are out to make easy money by taking advantage of younger consumers.
"The thrill of finding a great bargain or product online can sometimes lead people to take risks," Mr Kell said.
"But be aware that online scams are growing dramatically. Consider some practical safety tips for shopping online so you are the one that ends up with the bargain, not a scammer.
"This particularly applies when dealing with overseas based traders. It can be difficult to get any refunds or help where the law cannot be enforced."
Some of these safety tips include:
- Don't respond to unsolicited offers of easy money or great bargains
- Check out who you are dealing with first from an independent source and read all the terms and conditions
- Consider using pre-paid credit cards or debit cards to avoid unauthorised ongoing charges
- Use a dedicated email or pre-paid phone account for dealing with online traders to avoid unwanted emails or harassment from scammers
- Keep all proof of the purchase and associated correspondence
- Protect your identity at all times
- Avoid payment via wire transfer – it can't be reversed which is why scammers love it
- Always use secure payment systems.
Further information on safe shopping online can be found in the ACCC’s publication Tips for a fine time shopping online.
The Sweep Day is in its 12th year. Participating agencies search through websites, spam and other electronic media to check them against criteria that is designed to identify potential deceptive, unfair or fraudulent sites.
The International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network is made up of consumer protection authorities from over 45 countries and its main objective is to take action to prevent and redress deceptive marketing practices with an international component.
ICPEN members also support their global online complaint mechanism, econsumer.gov which offers consumers a complaints portal and information on overseas consumer protection agencies and dispute resolution services. This can be very useful for anyone having problems with overseas traders.
ICPEN Membership: Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Barbados, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, EFTA Secretariat, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Republic of Korea. Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, Malta, Mexico, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, OECD Secretariat, Papua New Guinea, Panama, Poland, Portugal , Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America.