If there is one thing we have learned over the past two years of the pandemic lifestyle that left us stuck in our homes most of the time, it is how to shop online.
Our online shopping habits had no choice but to pick up over the course of living in a country with the worst-ranked pandemic response in the world. We can now consider ourselves more or less an online shopping-savvy people, not just in shopping apps, but even in the different online marketplaces and practices that have popped up.
We have not only formed relationships with our suking delivery riders, we have also developed either a system or a sense of loyalty when it comes to shopping apps. Aside from those apps, there are also the numerous social media groups and marketplaces that we regularly buy goods from. On top of that, live selling has become a thing and if you come to think of it, there was even a time when the barter trade made a comeback.
As our online shopping journey ramped up during the COVID-19 pandemic, one of our primary concerns has always been to protect ourselves from the many scams and scammers that we know have existed since the beginning of human history.
This is why many of us check the product listings and store profiles thoroughly before finalizing the purchase, especially if it is a big one. If we want the product to be genuine and with warranty, we seek out either the authorized distributors or the most credible among the grey market sellers. If the price is too good to be true, then we already know by now that it is most probably a scam.
The beauty of the internet is that as it has allowed us access shop to our heart’s desires, it also allows us to protect ourselves from scammers by giving us access to all the information we need. We can compare prices, research the profile of the online seller and even check out their store if their on the internet. We can chat if we have questions. There are tons of reviews to sift through and we’ve learned by now to spot the red flags when either the seller or product has no reviews.
If something goes wrong, there are protections available like return policies. If the transaction is on the more informal marketplaces, then we just have to learn our lessons and avoid the bad sellers next time.
Despite all the available research and protections, we still shop carefully because our hard-earned money is involved. That is why Filipinos still prefer to pay via cash on delivery, because we don’t fully trust the system yet. We are still afraid of being scammed and handing cash over to the delivery guy gives us a measure of control over our purchase, even if in return for the cash, they hand us a sealed and generously bubble wrapped package.
One would think that all this training in online scam detection and protection over the past 2 years would improve critical thinking and the raise standards of our population, essentially preparing us for the biggest 6-year purchase we will make for ourselves and our country in the upcoming elections. However, if you come to think of it, why does it seem like are so many Filipinos still allowing themselves to be scammed by politicians?
Why are our standards so high when it comes to shopping but so low when it comes to choosing our leaders? We insist on shopping from authorized distributors because we are afraid of buying fakes or knockoffs but when a politico lies about their qualifications and achievements, so many of us don’t even bother to check if they are being scammed.
We fastidiously check customer reviews, focusing on the negative ones to see if we are making the right purchase, but if a candidate for a national position refuses to be interviewed or engage in a debate, some of us even make excuses for that guy.
We take pains to check if a store is legit to make sure we are not going to be scammed but some of us see no problem in believing the impossible myth of a gold hoard that is supposed to save our country from poverty.
We won’t buy from a store offering a great deal but with zero reviews but we will consider voting for an unemployed man-child with neither achievements nor leadership qualities to speak of.
We still have a couple of months before we finalize this big-ticket transaction that will cost us 6 full years of our lives. We’ve already lost 6 years to a scammer who overpromised and severely underdelivered. Let’s not waste the next six years to another scammer who, at this point, makes the current scammer look like an amateur if you compare the scale of their respective scams.
Let’s brush up on our scam detection and protection skills before we lose everything to another bad decision that we could’ve spent a little more time and brain juice on. If we can do it for a cellphone case, surely we can do it for our country’s future.*
