PETALING JAYA: He made an online purchase of an outdoor barbecue grill but received a set of kitchen knives that was not worth even one-tenth of what he paid for the stove.
On another occasion, businessman Mac Wong paid for three recliner chairs worth almost RM2,000 from the same e-commerce website.
“They were to be sent from China. After waiting for about three weeks, I received a text message from a local courier company notifying me of the delivery of the chairs that day.
“I had reserved a space in my living room to accommodate the bulky chairs. I eagerly waited for them. I expected a lorry to arrive but instead, a deliveryman showed up on a motorcycle and passed me a large envelope,” he said.
Wong signed it, assuming it was for documentation purposes.
“Then I noticed the airway bill number on the envelope was the same as my order of the chairs. I opened the envelope and out came three surgical face masks,” he recalled.
Despite being a regular and “experienced” online shopper, Wong had twice fallen victim to such a scam over the years.
In this case, the scam involved the non-delivery of purchases or the delivery of goods that do not match the buyer’s order.
Scammers would pose as traders on e-commerce platforms and take payment for orders made by unsuspecting buyers.
Initially, the purchasing process proceeds smoothly with shipment details and other updates issued by the scammer once the buyer pays for the goods.
However, upon taking delivery and signing the receipt of their purchase, the buyers would discover that were given parcels containing mere plastic padding or simply an empty package.
Wong, 53, said he was fortunate that the e-commerce platform promptly acted on his complaints in both cases and gave him a full refund within days.
However, not many were as lucky, especially if they had made purchases thorough advertisements they came across in dodgy websites or social media platforms which do not offer compensations for non-deliveries or fake deliveries.
“The red flags to look out for are often prices that are unbelievably low. Or offers of free gifts such as buy one free one,” he said.
“It’s best to shop from reputable e-commerce websites.
“The prices might be a little higher but at least we can have peace of mind knowing we would be reimbursed in the event we get scammed.”
