Portals must ensure safety of online sale

Portals must ensure safety of online sale

Pune: While the number of people being scammed online while buying pets continues to rise, there is a need for online portals to take various steps to ensure that people are not being scammed after falling prey to online scamsters.

Cyber experts suggest that online portals can make the portals safe for people for pet trade, and appeal to people entering into the trade to be more alert.

Various websites continue to increase and provide various pet services, including adoption, buy and sell options, but safe transaction continues to remain a challenge for buyers.

Cyber expert Harold D’Costa said that safety is the responsibility of the service provider. “The web portal selling pets needs to verify the advertisement placed by the seller and also verify the details of the seller and buyer. In case a major fraud takes place, the service provider should be in a position to furnish all details of the alleged scamster,” he added.

The cyber expert highlights that buyers of pets on the Internet should be responsible and check all documents and legalities of the seller. “The buyer can check reviews of the seller and also talk to people who have already bought a pet from the particular seller. The service provider should also moderate the accounts of sellers periodically so that they come to know whether the seller is genuine.”

Similarly, the service provider should make sure the advertisement for pet sale placed on the portal is not from a proxy site, or else it will become difficult for the law enforcement agency to look for the fraudster,” added D’Costa.

Another cyber expert, Chirayu Mahajan, said that fraudsters continue to prowl the Internet and, hence, it is the buyer who needs to be alert and prevent himself from falling into a trap. “Fraudsters demand payment through e-wallets, which are non-refundable, and so, people should be alert. Moreover, it is also difficult to track persons who have received money through e-wallets, which makes investigation of such fraud cases difficult,” added Mahajan.

Vineeta Tandon of People For Animals (PFA), Pune Unit, said that breeding and sale of pets without a licence is a crime, and PFA Pune has started cracking down on unethical breeders and confiscated many dogs with the help of the police.

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