Scam Policy

Avoiding scams and impersonators

Scams are growing by the day, and many impersonators pretend to offer the same services offered by Aeon Shipping for a given amount of money. Scammers today have developed sophisticated methods to make their fraudulent activities look legitimate. Fake email addresses and websites are the most common methods they use to scam customers. They often purport to be associated with our company to siphon money from our valued customers. How do you identify such fraudsters and what should you do to avoid them? Here is how.

Some common shipping scams to keep an eye out for

As we mentioned before, today’s scams are completely different from what they used to be a couple of years ago. With the development of technology, more and more sophisticated methods are being developed every day. In reality, scammers find one way or another to fulfil their ulterior motives. What can you do as a customer? Educating yourself and reading up on it is the best way to get around this issue, as you will then be aware of what red flags you should avoid. Here are some common shipping scams.

Requests to obtain money

In certain instances, customers tend to receive suspicious emails or texts with an unidentified link or even a phone call requesting them to transfer a large sum of money. Oftentimes, they may request you to transfer money by way of cheque, cash, card or a gift. They will appear to be in desperate need of financial help and may pose as a relative or a company representative.

The best way to get around an issue of this nature is to immediately verify the matter with either a company representative by calling their hotline or by contacting your relative. Do not blindly reply to messages like this. They might even contain suspicious links with viruses that may prove detrimental later on.

Phone calls by individuals posing to be agents

Another way in which scammers get hold of customers is by posing to be agents attached to the Department of Inland Revenue in whichever country you are from. They would most often contact you via phone and state that you have failed to file or pay your taxes in the correct manner and, as a result, you are required to make an additional payment via online methods. They would also threaten you by informing you that they are going to take legal action in the event you fail to provide them with sensitive information within a given duration of time. What is important for you to remember is the fact that actions such as this will never be taken by actual agents who work for a department of inland revenue. It would be so out of the blue that it might most definitely seem suspicious.

Phishing emails or texts

Does this word sound new to you? Well, such texts or phone calls would typically be when a fraudster pretending to be or claiming to be a representative of a reputable shipping company would contact you, requesting you to divulge information that is sensitive to you. This could include your bank details and even require you to make online payments by way of bank transfers, card payments or gifts.

Protecting yourself from fraudsters and scammers

Yes, scammers and fraudsters can be sneaky and dodgy; however, that does not mean you ought to fall prey to them all the time. There are ways you can protect yourself and prevent such scams, saving yourself the hassle of falling victim. Spot the signs, take action now.

Verification of identity

Verifying the identity of the person you are speaking to in advance is crucial. It is important to get this done ahead of time. The sooner you verify an individual’s identity, the sooner you will be able to satisfy yourself that they are legitimate and credible. Most often scammers claim that they are from a reputed company and customers believe they would proceed to make payments or share information such as credit card details and other sensitive bits of information.

What you, as an individual, could do in an instance such as this is to contact the shipping company right away to verify their identity. If they confirm that such an individual does in fact exist in their database, then you would not have anything to worry about. Or the next best course of action in an instance such as this would be to look them up on the internet to see whether they in fact happen to work in the said company.

Do your research

We simply cannot stress this point enough. How important it is for you to do your research ahead of time. Before you proceed to engage in business with an individual, if you are not satisfied with whether they are legitimate, you can research the shipping company they claim to be part of.

Some points to consider would be where they are based. You can then ask other individuals based in the same location whether there is a company of the same name. Also check the company’s website.

You can easily tell in this day and age whether a particular company’s website is legit. Having an old-time-looking website in this day and age quite simply is not an option. You can also check whether this particular company has reviews and ratings from its customers. If either of the above-mentioned bits of information is absent, ignore and move on to the next.

Resort only to shipping companies who are trusted

Legitimacy is everything when it comes to conducting business of any kind. You want to make sure you trust your partners. All businesses at the end of the day are based on a fiduciary relationship. So make sure you are satisfied to the core that the person or business you are entering into a partnership with is trustworthy.

Do not ever proceed to reply to spam messages you might sometimes receive to your email. We refer to those with emojis and so forth. A reputable company would never email its customers with out-of-context messages or emoticons.

You could, however, be on the hunt for new companies that you would try your hand at. If this is the case, read the reviews first. See what other customers say about it. Speak to your relatives and friends if you are considering conducting business with a new company that you have not contacted before.

We of course suggest you conduct usual business with the ones you have done business with before. Not only is this safe, but it also gives you much clarity and peace of mind. What does your gut say? Trust it.

Avoid spilling information that is sensitive

Scammers who engage in fraudulent activities would most often send messages with a sense of urgency. They would often require you to send gifts or cash using online methods. They would ask you to disclose bank account details, Social Security numbers, etc. Companies that are respected and those who are leaders in the market have various protocols in place for sensitive information. This is practised by those considered professional in the field.

Further, they do not send random messages or emails requesting sensitive information. It is often uncalled for. So our advice to you is not to share such information if requested, especially if you have not contacted them even once before.

Report scammers and fraudsters to the authorities

Does this company that you have contacted seem like a fish out of water? In that case, we suggest you refer them or report them to the authorities as soon as possible. This is because chances are that they are engaged in scams or fraudulent activities. Go ahead and make a complaint against such individuals or supposed companies to the police or the FBI, whichever authority handles such cases in your jurisdiction.

Why we say that it is important to report such suspicious individuals is because it is not only yourself that you protect from scams and fraudulent activities. You also protect other individuals and customers who are likely to fall prey to such uncalled-for activities. The authorities would then proceed to close down such businesses and take the fraudsters and scammers into custody.

Grammartical or spelling errors

Of course, we understand that it would be natural to contain some grammatical or spelling errors. However, pay attention to those that seem out of place, especially in messages that include emoticons, as we mentioned before. Those are not signs of a legitimate, credible company.

When it comes to scam artists, their writing is littered with errors that consist of unusual grammatical and spelling mistakes. It might even have capitalisation that seems extensive or excessive. Certain scammers claim that they are a part of a company that is legitimate, however the links and messages may be full of spelling or grammatical errors. Pay close attention to such errors as they are not common amongst true representatives or agents.

Mistakes customers do when they choose shipping companies

For a reputed shipping company, making their customers happy is all they concern themselves with. Not only do they save you a lot of money but will also be responsible in handling your money since they wish to handle your goods responsibly and safely. All of this is a common feature of reputed shipping companies.

There are ways in which you as an individual could spot a bad nut. Some companies may even impersonate a reputed shipping company, or they could be downright scamming you from the get-go. Do you reckon you might be making these same mistakes?

Fact and review checking

Fact and review checking is an integral part of choosing the correct shipping company for you. There will often be one or two customers who are not satisfied with the service, but this should not determine the overall service offered by the shipping company. However, if it has far too many negative reviews, that may speak a lot about the company and its services. It may even indicate that it has been fraudulent in providing its services.

You could proceed to fact-check by asking people who have already received their services. Also, check how many stars a particular company has. Based on this, you can gauge their level of expertise. Sometimes customers would make remarks aside from the star ratings. Pay attention to this as well. If you do not like what you are seeing, you can either get more details by contacting them or the shipping company directly. After all, you are paying good money to receive a decent service.

Choosing the incorrect options of shipping

What would even be the point of choosing a shipping company that does not offer what you need? If you sign a contract with a shipping company merely based on their price point and not what they offer, you are quite simply wasting your money and time as well. This is a decision you ought to make ahead of time by investing your time to do the right amount of research as well.

Only considering price points

At the end of the day, the rates offered by companies are often the deciding factor for many businesses and individuals. It is the ultimate determinant for many individuals. While it is important, it is easy to fall prey to unnecessary trouble by choosing the wrong shipping company. Sometimes you might even find yourself getting entangled with fraudulent schemes as a result. You might find yourself resorting to the services of these so-called shipping companies that hardly comply with local and international rules and regulations.

They might not even be great at customer service. A phoney company might be unaware of the regulations of the destinations to which it offers its services. From subpar communication to offering low-quality services to its customers, these are just a couple of factors you might miss if you were to only focus on the rates offered by shipping companies.

Read the fine print

The disclaimers and the exclusion clauses can almost always be found in the fine print of the contract you sign. Unfortunately, many customers, including ourselves, neglect this fine print. You might think, what could go wrong? The fact of the matter is that you can never foresee your future, and it only takes a matter of seconds for things not to go your way. Putting your precious car or vehicle in jeopardy in the hands of the wrong or fraudulent shipping company.