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Shopping for Danger

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Submitted By kmbrlydnll
Words 1500
Pages 6
Kimberly Danielle H. Uy
EN10 – E05
Explanation Essay
Shopping for Danger
The dawn of the modern technology has made the lives of every human convenient. In fact, gadgets nowadays contain everything a person needs. One can do anything with just one touch. Along with this, people found a way to make shopping convenient. Several online shops have been made that helped a lot in making shopping easier. This advancement has been appreciated by many especially teenagers and workers who do not have much time to go out and shop. However, the popularity of this “Online shopping” does not solely give a positive effect to shoppers. The risk of overspending, cyber-crimes, and merchandise frauds, are some of the dangerous and deadly effects brought by online shopping.
Shopping online can be very addictive especially for compulsive buyers. Along with this, the risk of overspending online might affect funds that are meant to support medical health needs and might affect important personal necessities. Online shopping is more dangerous to one’s finances because compulsive buyers don’t feel guilty when they shop online. They use credit cards to pay for purchases instead of cash that creates the illusion of not actually spending money (Todd). Without limitations, they are free to spend and spend until they reach their credit limit. Realizing that they do not have the enough budget to pay their debts, they opt to use funds that are meant to support medical health needs and compromise properties like their housing provisions.
Sam Rkaina published in Mirror UK the story of online shopping addict Emma Sims who had to pay her debt worth £40,000 by selling her house. In the article, Sam Rkaina shares how Emma ordered a lot online because it didn’t feel like she was shopping at all. Emma shopped to battle her depression but ended up spending too much. Eventually, Emma and her husband Andrew were forced to sell their house and move to their in-laws. Still, the money they got from selling the house wasn’t enough to cover the £40,000 (Rkaina). Just like Emma, online shoppers all over the world might experience the same when they get the risk of overspending. Filipinos are also in danger especially because the Philippines is now appreciating more the convenience of online shopping.
Another dangerous effect of online shopping would be the crimes committed online. Several crimes have developed from online shopping websites that offer payment options over the internet. Scammers find it easy to operate bogus websites with seemingly realistic graphical interfaces that can easily fool online shoppers. Some scammers request payments in money order, pre-loaded money card, or wire transfer. If payment is made this way, the chances of not seeing it again or not receiving your order is higher.
According to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, there is a pattern to how online scammers operate payment scams. First, scammers advertise their products at a lower price than similar items to easily attract shoppers. When shoppers show interest, scammers would claim that they will be unavailable for the next few days and that someone will deliver the purchased items for them. Once the buyer has completed the payment, the scammer will send a fake e-mail that serves as a receipt to the transaction. A few days later, buyers will not be able to receive purchased items nor contact the seller.
In a similar way, some Filipinos are also victimized by such payment scams. Online shopper Rachel-Anne Silan Valera posted a complaint last November 20, 2015 in the OLX complaints section of www.complaintboard.in saying that she saw an ad of a second hand Iphone 5s worth 6,300 in the said website. Since it was quite cheap, she immediately contacted the dealer. The flow of the deal seemed to be going smooth at first and she even sent her payment in advance. The dealer said that the phone would be delivered upon receiving the money, but even if she already received a text from Palawan Express money transfer saying that the money was claimed, she wasn’t able to receive her phone nor even contact the dealer. She said that she tried calling several times but there was always no answer (Valera).
Moreover, the vulnerability of some online shopping websites has made it easy for criminals to access important information from customers. With access to personal information, a thief could do a lot of things that includes several crimes. In Abe Garver’s article in forbes.com, he mentions that the personal information accessed can be used to make bank transactions that can drain a lot of people’s hard earned savings (Garver). Likewise, in Bea Cupin’s article in GMA news, she mentions two victims of identity thefts in the Philippines. First is Gilbert Climaco, a program director and news anchor of the Radio Mindanao Network, who was a victim of identity theft after a fake Facebook account under his name was used to extort money. Second would be one bank depositor who lost Php 87,000 when an unknown cyber-thief transferred money from his account to another account (Cupin). Online shoppers should be cautious whenever they give out information in the internet especially if they are transacting with strangers.
Online shopping has also been dangerous and deadly with the spread of fraudulent and unsafe products. Online shopping websites have been an avenue in purchasing cheap products that some shoppers cannot afford to buy in malls. However, there are a lot of faulty and dangerous products that are advertised as good quality sold online. In fact nowadays, there have been a lot of reports concerning counterfeit drugs that were bought online.
People usually think that the only dangerous products sold online are just the fake and bad quality products. Unnoticed by many, there is also a huge amount of counterfeit drugs sold online. As a lot of websites offer easy purchase of prescription and over the counter drugs, there are also “rogue websites” that sell dangerous drugs that are not approved and checked for effectiveness. Online shoppers are easily fooled by these online pharmacies and think that they purchase medicine that is legitimate but they are actually buying products that contain hazardous chemicals that give dangerous side effects.
To test this, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) purchased and analyzed products sold online as Tamiflu (oseltamivir). One order that arrived in an unmarked envelope from India contained white tablets. When analyzed, the tablets only contained talc and acetaminophen and no oseltamivir was found. Instead of getting what they ordered, they received products that contained foreign versions of Haldol (haloperidol) which is a powerful anti-psychotic drug. Customers who took the products needed medical treatment for symptoms such as difficulty in breathing, muscle spasms, and muscle stiffness (Fda.gov). If the consumption of such fake medicine is not stopped, more and more complications might develop. Accumulation of hazardous chemicals in the body can cause internal damages that can lead to death.
Moreover, in Zamboanga Del Norte, young beauty pageant contestant Mary Antoinette Acedo died after taking medicine she bought over the internet. She was rushed to the hospital because of severe vomiting, stomach pains, and other symptoms that show damage in her internal organs. According to regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner, Acedo was reported to have taken 4 capsules a day of the slimming pills to prepare for the beauty pageant finals she was part of. Her laboratory tests show that she suffered from severe liver damage caused by the pills she took. In fact, most diet pills sold online contain Dinitrophenol, an ingredient used in explosives and pesticide which is banned for being poisonous and potentially carcinogenic. (Mindanaoexaminer.com)
Online shopping is truly convenient for most shoppers. Sadly, there are several negative effects that online shoppers should be aware of. Compulsive shopping, cyber- crimes of many forms and dangerous products can be hazardous not just to shoppers’ health but also their economical welfare. The best thing shoppers can do is to keep themselves aware of such dangers and to think twice when making transactions online.

References
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,. 'Classified Scams'. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission,. 'Online Shopping Scams'. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Cupin, Bea. 'Pinay Model Raises Alarm On Identity Theft'. GMA News Online. N.p., 2011. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
Fda.gov,. 'The Possible Dangers Of Buying Medicines Over The Internet'. N.p., 2015. Web. 15 Nov. 2015.
Garver, Abe. ‘Forbes Welcome’. Forbes.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 8 Nov.2015
Mindanaoexaminer.com,. 'Woman Dies After Taking Diet Pills In Philippines | Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper'. N.p., 2015. Web. 28 Nov. 2015.
Rkaina, Sam. 'Online Shopping Addict Ran Up £40,000 Debt - Forced To Sell House'. mirror. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Todd, Katherine. 'Online Shopping Addiction'. PsychAlive. N.p., 2013. Web. 21 Nov. 2015.
Valera, Rachel-Anne. 'OLX Complaints'. Complaintboard.in. N.p., 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.

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