Deceptive e-commerce practices

Bangladesh's e-commerce industry has developed remarkably over the past few years, and the growth was mainly due to the increasing number of internet users, easy-to-use online payment methods, and the rising of the electronic shopping option demand. Nevertheless, the rapid development of the industry had one drawback as it led to an increase in dishonest e-commerce practices that have already eroded consumer trust and discouraged the sector's possible contribution to the national economy.

E-commerce scams in Bangladesh have been more or less the same--- from cases of companies not delivering the goods that have been purchased, supplying fake or wrong products and regular firms stealing large amounts of customer payments. Besides the lesser-known cases, the names of Evaly and Qcoom have been the most talked about. During the Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns, those platforms collected advance payments on the promise of discounted goods only to fail in both delivering and refunding, thus leaving the customers with crores of taka loss.

Attempts made by some e-commerce firms to deceive the investigators by submitting fake bank accounts to access the withheld refund funds brought about the tightening of the verification by the Central Bank. The Ministry of Commerce has decided on the secure processing of refunds; one of the methods is the use of "account payee cheques" instead of direct electronic transfers to prevent fraudulent claims.

The aftermath of these scams has been very bad, not just in terms of money but also in terms of credibility of retailers. Many customers are still waiting for their money after years of the frauds happening, besides that, millions of taka are still stuck in payment gateways.

If online fraud keeps rising unchecked it may undermine the growth of Bangladesh's digital economy. They demand the establishment of stronger legal frameworks, implementation of technological protections and organising consumer education as means to ensure sellers' protection and creation of more secure e-commerce ambiance.

Farhan Labib

Student

Bachelor in Business Administration

North South University

farhan.labib.241@northsouth.edu