DON'T FALL INTO THE WEB

Tips to avoid getting duped by cyber skelms who want to blank your bank account

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A FEW weeks ago I ordered some goods on Shein.

Payment and order confirmation were received via email, and all I had to do was wait for delivery.

A few days before the order was scheduled to arrive, I received an email which stated that my parcel was being held at customs and that I needed to make a payment of R50 to get it released.

There was a Fastway logo, a tracking ID, lots of other well-known logos, links to articles - the works! It looked completely legitimate even to someone like me, who might know a little bit more about scams than the average person.

But for a split second, I actually thought about clicking on the payment link and just paying. Why? Because I was busy and just wanted to do what was necessary to get my order. Luckily, something told me to check the domain URL - and then I suspected something was up.

I was so busy, that I didn't even have the time to look into it, so I asked my husband to do it. He went to the Fastway site, typed in the parcel tracking number, and obviously it did not match anything on their system.

Impersonated

He then called them and they confirmed that the email did not come from them.

They don't even do deliveries for Shein. Sidenote: Fastway is not the only delivery company which is being impersonated in these scams.

Maar mense it looked so real, I was a split second away from entering my card details to pay this "small customs fee" - and then probably having my bank account emptied.