Online Shopping and Investment Scams: Fake Shops and "Too Good to Be True" Returns

Beyond mobile money and phishing, two very common online scams work by promising something great in exchange for money upfront: fake online shops that never deliver, and investment schemes that promise unrealistic returns.

Fake online shops and marketplace scams

• Social media ads and pages advertise heavily discounted phones, electronics, or clothes, often with a countdown ("today only!") to rush you into paying before you can think it through.
• Payment required before anything is shown in person. You're asked to pay the full amount, or a "booking fee," via mobile money before any delivery, with no way to inspect the item first.
• Fake delivery/courier confirmation. After paying, you may receive a tracking number or delivery message that leads nowhere, or the item never arrives and the page or contact disappears.

How to protect yourself:

• Prefer sellers and platforms with real, checkable reviews and a track record, not a page created recently with only a handful of posts.
• Where possible, pay on delivery or inspect the item before paying in full. Be wary of any seller who refuses this.
• Be suspicious of prices that are far below the normal market price for that item.
• Search the seller's phone number or page name online before paying. Many scam sellers reuse the same details across multiple fake pages, and past victims often post warnings.

Investment and forex/crypto scams

• Guaranteed high returns. Promises of doubling your money in days or weeks, or a fixed "guaranteed" daily/weekly profit, regardless of market conditions. Genuine investments always carry risk; guaranteed high returns are a red flag, not a selling point.
• Pyramid and Ponzi structures. You're paid using money from newer investors rather than real profit, and you're encouraged (sometimes required) to recruit others to keep earning. The scheme collapses once recruitment slows, and the last people in lose everything.
• Fake trading platforms. A slick-looking app or website shows your "investment" growing, but the numbers are fabricated, and withdrawal requests are delayed, blocked, or hit with new "fees" you must pay before you can withdraw.
• Celebrity or public-figure endorsements. Screenshots or videos (sometimes faked or taken out of context) claiming a well-known person endorses the platform, used to build false trust.

How to protect yourself:

• Treat any "guaranteed" or unusually high, risk-free return as a certain warning sign. No legitimate investment can promise this.
• Be wary of schemes that pay you for recruiting other investors rather than from any real underlying business activity.
• Check whether the platform or company is licensed by the relevant regulator (for investment firms, the Capital Markets Authority; for banks and financial institutions, the Bank of Uganda) before putting in any money.
• If you can't clearly explain how the platform makes its money, don't invest in it.
• Be especially cautious once you've made a small "win." Scammers often let early amounts be withdrawn successfully specifically to build trust before a larger request.

What to do if you've been scammed

1. Stop sending any further money immediately, even if promised a "final" payment will unlock your funds.
2. Gather all evidence: screenshots, chat logs, payment records, the seller or platform's contact details.
3. Report to your mobile money provider if payment went through mobile money, and to the Uganda Police Cyber Crime Unit.
4. Warn others in your network. These scams spread heavily through word of mouth and social media shares, and an early warning can stop others from losing money too.