World Consumer Day is a great opportunity to draw attention to safety issues - especially online. The Internet is full of traps and scammers who are just waiting for unwary users. What is worth paying attention to? What to look out for in particular?

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection has prepared a special campaign under the slogan “I surf, I check, I buy. Safe consumer online” launching exactly on 15 March. Throughout the week they will be warning of the dangers lurking on the internet - shopping scams, financial pyramid schemes and subscription traps.

A dedicated portal and video chats with experts

The campaign includes an interactive educational tool, i.e. the website konsument.edu.pl, which provides practical advice and examples of attempted scams, as well as a daily video chat with experts on Facebook (from 12 noon). Experts will warn, among other things, against concluding distance contracts, which often concerns older people buying products at shows, for example.

Reliable information available on gov.pl domains

– People who fraud others are extremely creative. They pretend to be official institutions or fundraising pages for good causes. It only takes a moment of inattention for fraudsters to scam money from people who want to help others. With the best of intentions, we must not forget common sense and vigilance. We should use verified and reliable websites – urges Minister of Family and Social Policy Marlena Maląg.

 

During the coronavirus pandemic, there was quite a number of information whose authors cited connections in state institutions. Most of them are classic fake news.

Real, reliable and up-to-date information can be found on the official websites of institutions such as the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, the Chief Sanitary Inspectorate, the Ministry of Health, etc. Domains with the suffix “gov.pl” and their social profiles are reliable sources of information.

Additional information on fake news is available here: https://www.gov.pl/web/koronawirus/walczymy-z-falszywymi-informacjami

Beware of fake text messages from “banks”

This situation is also exploited by scammers who regularly send out fake emails or text messages about, for example, the possibility of receiving extra money in your account. We should be careful and not act on impulse. If in any doubt – call the bank and check the information at the source. We should not get fooled and we should remind our close ones, especially the elderly, who are most vulnerable to this type of action, not to believe everything they read on the Internet.