An OLX survey by ClearSale has surfaced What products are most often used by scammers in false advertisements and holiday shopping scams?. Unsurprisingly, these types of scams use mobile devices by far, and the iPhone is the most cited. Video game consoles are a distant second, and the most common scam is PlayStation.
According to data collected by the survey in December 2021, smartphone sales scams accounted for 43% of the total cases. Among them, the iPhone was the object of the trap 70% of the time. Video games are the second most common type of scam, but only account for 16% of cases. 47% of scams use PlayStation, 32% use Xbox.
Scams often happen through a false product advertisement or by creating fake invoices that do not transmit the amount to stores. It is estimated that up to R$32 million in damage was done to victims in purchases at the end of last year.
The most commonly used categories in this type of scam are:
1. Cell phones: 43%
2. Video games: 16%
3. Computer: 15%
4. Sound, TV, Video and Photo: 8%
5. Tools: 4%
6. Other: 13.6%
Damage can go beyond buying
The research also found that in most of these fraud cases,Malicious people use the opportunity to collect the personal data of the victim, and this can cause even more harm in the future..
As OLX Vice President of Product Maristela Calazans points out, it’s important to be even more mindful throughout the year and during this time. “Price is a major attraction for scammers to act at this time of year. So it’s important to be wary of promotions that are well off the curve and prices that are well below the market average.”
Source: Tec Mundo
