So, I got scammed…
You know that gut feeling you get when something is too good to be true, you should probably listen to that! I had just moved houses and I was looking for a good hoover but all the Dysons and Sharks were way out of budget. I came across this site along the lines of vacuum.com, which sold vacuum cleaners at a discounted price. The website seemed legitimate, looked like any other proper website and it had decent reviews on Trustpilot. They were selling vacuum cleaners at warehouse prices for less than £100, which were being shipped from China. They even had an entire app to track shipping and the whole process was pretty easy. Two weeks later, my package arrived, but it was a small envelope… how could a vacuum cleaner fit in that? I opened it and found a silicone iPhone case that I had spent over £80 on. Of course, naturally, you’d go through a complaints procedure but after contacting the company they didn’t respond. This is when I realised, I got scammed!
So, what did I do? Thankfully, I purchased the item using my credit card, so I was able to report the scam to my credit card provider. They carried out an investigation and as a result, had refunded me for the ‘hoover’ purchase.
My tips from this experience:
- Think twice about purchasing items that are heavily discounted from a non-reputable company. There may be strings attached; it might be a poor-quality product, or you might not receive anything at all
- Do not transfer money from your current account
- Do use your credit card as the bank protects you
Anonymous Author
Studying Psychology BSc (UG)
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For more insight into scams, take a look at Part 1 and Part 2 of ‘Understanding & Avoiding Scams’!
The King’s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students’ personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post. King’s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned. Readers should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts.
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