concern for consumers”. So much
so that his Department receives
complaints from people who claim
to have paid for a certain amount of
broadband speed but get way less.
He believes the price consumers
pay for goods and services should
be commensurate with the level
of service promised in the service
agreement.
Consumers seeking redress can
contact the Consumer Affairs
Department’s Complaints and
Investigations Unit. Complaints
lodged are investigated an redress
sought, Simon said, adding that the
Unit has a 87%-90% redress rate.
Caveat emptor
We’ll hard the Latin phrase caveat
emptor, which means “buyer
beware”. You’ve worked long
and hard for your money, so why
should you just part with it without
even knowing whether there’s a
snowball’s chance in hell that you’re
getting what you pay for?
Here are ten tips to keep in mind the
next time you go shopping -- online
or elsewhere
• Never be pressured.
• Read and understand contracts
before you sign them.
• Never give out your credit card
number or bank account number.
• Run background checks businesses
if you are not familiar with them.
The Job Training Scam
How it’s done: A prospective
employer promises to hire you but
first you have to train for the job for
a fee. Gradually, the company adds
more courses that you need to take
and increases the fees. Eventually,
you may not even get hired because
you’ll be told that you did not do
well enough during the training, or
some other invented reason.
What you need to know: It is easy
to deny a verbal promise. Unless
there was a contract, it will be hard
to hold a company responsible
for a commitment made to you
verbally. Remember that you have
the right to demand a receipt for
any payment made for a service or
purchase, such as enrollment for a
course. If any establishment refuses
to give you a receipt, it is a sure sign
that something illegal is going on.
The Work From Home Scam
How it’s done: These so-called
guaranteed jobs are advertised
through spam mail or online
ads. You might even get an email
offering a job where you use your
bank account to receive and pass
on payments for a foreign company.
Some may offer to make you a secret
shopper to test the services of a
cheque-cashing or a money transfer
company. Others can offer writing or
editing jobs (with a tempting hourly
rate) or a business opportunity too
hard to pass up.
• Don’t bu things you don’t need,
even if they’re on sale What you need to know: No real
employer will ask you to invest
money before they hire you or even
give you a guaranteed job before
they even know your credentials.
So never give your personal and
financial information to someone
you don’t know and haven’t
even met. In this type of scam,
the greatest danger is when the
cheques turn out to be counterfeit.
You will be held accountable for the
entire monetary loss by your bank.
• Keep your receipts. Phishing
Here are some scams you need to
steer clear of. Run as fast as yo can
from them. Don’t stop at “Go” to
collect that $200, either. Just keep
going… How it’s done: You receive a
fraudulent email that looks like it
comes from a legitimate company,
asking you to click on a link that
brings you to a fake website. The
website often can be made to look
• Stay updated.
• Check your credit report.
• If an offer is too good to be true, it
probably is.
• Create a budget.
www.slyoumag.com | July-August 2019
like your bank’s website to lure you
into trusting it. You will be asked to
enter or verify personal information,
such as a credit card number or an
online banking password, which is
captured by the fraudster.
What you need to know: Your
financial institution will never
email or call you to ask for personal
information they should already
have on file. If you receive an email
like this, don’t give out information.
Contact your bank directly.
Credit Card or Debit Card Fraud
How it’s done: This is when someone
steals your credit card or debit card
Personal Identification Number
(PIN) then makes purchases or
withdraws money. To do this, a
scammer takes a peek while you are
keying in your PIN and then steals
your card or through card skimmers
(a version of those card readers you
tap, slide or insert your card into
when paying for purchases) that
copy information from your card.
What you need to know: Your
credit card number and PIN are
highly confidential. Always cover
your fingers with your hand when
punching your PIN when you
withdraw from an ATM or ABM.
Never disclose your card number
and PIN over the phone or in an
email. If you see that the card reader
being used looks unusual, or if the
cashier takes your card and insists
on inserting it in the card reader
herself (and takes a long time doing
it), abort the transaction and report
it to your bank.
Observed on March 15 every
year since 1983, World Consumer
Rights Day is used to raise global
awareness about consumer rights
and needs. Celebrating the day is a
chance to demand that the rights
of all consumers are respected and
protected, and to protest against
market abuses and social injustices
which undermine those rights.
The day was inspired by former
U.S. President, John F. Kennedy,
who sent a special message to the
U.S. Congress on March 15, 1962,
in which he formally addressed the
issue of consumer rights.
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