Seven out of 10 people have potentially been scammed online by misleading practices such as hidden charges, subscription traps and fake reviews, a survey reveals.

A Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) study found that 71% of shoppers had come across tactics designed to manipulate them.

These ‘sneaky’ sales tactics include subscription traps, which mislead a customer into signing up to and paying for an unwanted service that can then be difficult to cancel, and surprise compulsory fees, charges or taxes being added during an online purchase.

According to the UK-wide survey, many respondents reported that they had wasted money on a disappointing product or experience, spent cash they couldn’t afford to or wasted time trying to undo the harm caused.

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Around 85% of those questioned believed that businesses using such practices are being dishonest with their customers, with 83% being less likely to buy from them in the future.

Of those who had experienced misleading online practices, the biggest concern was about hidden charges (85%), followed by subscription traps (83%), fake reviews (80%), and pressure selling (50%).

Londoner Jo Robinson spent over £800 on presents this last Christmas only to be misled.

“It’s frustrating to know that many of the deals I went for weren’t the 'last chance to buy' that I believed at the time.

“And some of the items when they arrived didn’t match the description or live up to the reviews. It makes you distrust buying off the internet. Lots of the deals are too good to be true and when they turn up it’s not the quality you expected so it makes you feel ripped off,” she said.

Almost one third of all retail purchases now take place online after the pandemic fuelled a surge in internet shopping.

The CMA has now launched a campaign to help shoppers spot and avoid misleading online practices after becoming “increasingly concerned” about “sneaky” sales tactics.

“The Online Rip-Off Tip-Off” campaign is fronted by TV presenter and consumer champion Angellica Bell.

She said: “Sometimes we feel under pressure when buying online or often doubt whether a deal is too good to be true. Through the CMA’s ‘Online Rip-off Tip-off’ campaign, we want to help people, let them know the signs to look out for and how best to report a sneaky sales move.”

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Rocio Concha, Which? director of Policy and Advocacy, said: "We have repeatedly found that shoppers are at risk of being misled online by businesses using dubious tactics, such as fake reviews, that result in people being ripped off and often ending up with poor quality products that don't live up to expectations.

“The government has set out plans to tackle some of these exploitative online practices as part of its consumer and competition reforms and should introduce new laws in this year's Queen's Speech to banish these practices as soon as possible."

The campaign also has the support of Citizens Advice, to whom consumers can report problems with misleading practices that they have encountered online.

Andrea Coscelli, the CMA’s Chief Executive, said: “As online shopping grows and grows, we’re increasingly concerned about businesses using misleading sales tactics, like pressure selling or hidden charges, to dupe people into parting with their cash.”

“None of us would accept these tactics in the real world. But we might not realise how much they influence what we buy online. So, we’ve launched “The Online Rip-Off Tip-Off” to help hand the power back to shoppers.

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