Alibaba is a world-renowned B2B e-commerce platform that connects millions of business buyers and sellers worldwide. As a buyer, do you have such a doubt: How can you avoid Alibaba Scams/Fraud?

This article starts from the following aspects to elaborate on the scams existing on Alibaba and how to avoid becoming a victim of various Alibaba scams.

  • Is Alibaba trustworthy?
  • What kinds of scams are there on Alibaba?
  • Summary of Common Scams：
  • How to avoid being deceived on Alibaba?
  • What should I do after being deceived?

Is Alibaba trustworthy?

After confirming their purchasing plans, many wholesalers/retailers immediately think of Alibaba as their purchasing website.

There is no doubt that as a veteran foreign trade trading platform with over 20 years of experience, Alibaba has continuously absorbed both new and old suppliers and customers during its development process. Undoubtedly, Alibaba has its historical accumulation and authority.

However, no website can guarantee that transactions are 100% reliable. Alibaba, as a trading platform, does not directly engage in trade with buyers. Please note that the buyers are dealing with various suppliers behind the website, both large and small. These suppliers can be individuals or enterprises, so there is a wide range of quality. On this basis, as buyers, we should not blindly trust websites.

What kinds of scams are there on Alibaba?

The role of the Alibaba platform：

Procurement serves as a connection between buyers and sellers, facilitating the exchange of funds and products. The Alibaba platform plays the role of this connection, providing opportunities for communication between buyers and sellers and ensuring the exchange of products and funds.

Generally speaking, buyers are mainly deceived by suppliers and products on Alibaba.

Supplier of Alibaba Scam：

Every year, many individuals or companies join Alibaba International Station as suppliers. Although the platform has strict review standards, it cannot guarantee the quality of each supplier.

When purchasing on Alibaba, you may encounter:

Extremely low prices and MOQ

When you are attracted and talk to suppliers about their purchasing intentions, some suppliers will take the opportunity to raise the price and MOQ. Of course, this kind of fraud is only aimed at those who have not made the payment. For us, it has not caused any serious consequences.

Another part of the suppliers will indeed sell according to the linked prices and MOQ. At this point, it is necessary to be vigilant. The goods and the price are directly proportional. It’s not ruled out that it’s a factory that wants to sell at a low price but in large quantities. However, it’s more likely that the products they sell have changed the original configuration, materials, etc., and the product quality is extremely poor or they are counterfeit. Generally, when you receive the goods, the suppliers selling such products offer extremely poor service, making all kinds of excuses to evade or not communicating with you.

When encountering a low-price supplier, you can first conduct a background check on the supplier to understand their membership type, years of service, main product types, customer reviews, etc. Communicate with the supplier and raise your questions from multiple perspectives. The more detailed and thorough the questions are, the more it can reflect the supplier’s professionalism and service attitude. On this basis, you can avoid some unqualified suppliers.

2. The supplier disappears after payment

This is also one of the common situations. Before a deal is reached, the supplier’s service attitude is extremely good. However, once you pay the advance payment or the full amount, you can no longer get in touch with the supplier.

3. Impersonating high-quality suppliers or factories

Some suppliers, in order to obtain orders from high-quality customers, will package their stores by using forms such as PS industry leader status, fake certificates, fake videos, fake orders, and fake reviews. Such suppliers usually make big promises in communication, but because the source is not under their control, it is often difficult for them to keep them.

4. Counterfeit companies

Compared with the above three types, this kind of situation is the most serious and is simply fraud. Such suppliers claim to be legitimate companies, but in fact, they are fake shell companies. Although they may disappear with the money, it is difficult to recover.

The above-mentioned several types, ultimately, are caused by the buyers’ insufficient understanding of the suppliers.

As mentioned above, first of all, a background check should be conducted on suppliers with transaction intentions to understand their years of establishment, company scale, star rating, main products, production lines, after-sales service, etc. Generally, it is recommended to choose suppliers with long years of experience, high star ratings and ratings in a specific field. At the same time, you can also use live streaming rooms, TIPS videos, customer reviews, etc. to assist in understanding. If conditions permit, local people can be hired to conduct factory inspections.

Secondly, in daily communication, feel the professionalism and service attitude of the supplier. Professional suppliers respond promptly. While answering questions, they also offer professional advice. If the supplier’s response is delayed and the attitude is lax, please avoid this supplier.

Products involved in Alibaba’s fraud:

1. Quality differences between samples and bulk goods

When you received the samples, you were very satisfied and decided to make a bulk purchase. At this point, you may have fallen into the supplier’s trap. In this kind of scam, suppliers often send you high-quality products to induce you to place an order. In bulk goods, they will mix in poor-quality products to pass off inferior goods as good ones.

2. Core components will be dispatched separately

Such suppliers will come up with all kinds of excuses to shirk responsibility and explain to you that the accessories will be shipped separately. In fact, this is just a lie. You will only receive products that cannot be used. When you want after-sales service, the supplier will disappear.

3. Forging fake certificates

When you purchase products that require certificates to be sold, some suppliers will claim that they have such certificates to attract you to place an order. In fact, these certificates are merely stolen or made through PS and have no use at all.

4. Selling infringing products

Many patented products require authorization from the patentee before they can be sold. However, due to the large number of products, patent holders cannot immediately discover infringing goods and file complaints for their removal from shelves. Some suppliers are also unsure whether their products infringe on rights and sell them with the mindset that “everyone else is selling, so can I.” Therefore, there will be many suppliers whose products are sold without patent authorization. If you happen to purchase a product from this supplier, you will also face the situation of being complained about.

5. Leakage of private products

If the factory resells your private products or provides your product information to other buyers, it will cause damage to your copyright and product leakage.

The manipulators behind these scams are still the suppliers. Screening a good supplier will save a lot of trouble in the transaction process. Of course, during the transaction process, the buyer should also strictly follow the procedures and monitor every step. Sign strict contracts and confidentiality agreements to protect intellectual property rights well. During the production of the ordered products, we will follow up on the production progress throughout the process. After production is completed, there will be three-party quality inspection and pre-shipment inspection. All of these can effectively prevent fraud in transactions.

Summary of Alibaba Scams:

In addition to the above, there are also some scams on Alibaba that need to be taken seriously:

  1. Supplier qualification fraud
  2. Counterfeiting and selling brand-name products
  3. Guide offline transactions
  4. Invoice fraud
  5. Personal account for payment
  6. False logistics tracking numbers for false shipping
  7. Colluding with freight forwarders for extortion
  8. False samples induce bulk commodities
  9. Fraud by counterfeiting the Alibaba International APP

How to avoid being deceived on Alibaba?

  1. Select industry leaders or gold suppliers
  2. Give priority to suppliers with a long service life, high star ratings and high overall scores
  3. Check the transaction orders and reviews of suppliers, as well as the exclusivity of products on the store’s homepage
  4. Supplier certification qualification checks can be verified through interaction on the international website and websites such as Google
  5. Through live streaming rooms, Tips videos and other means to assist in understanding
  6. Orders go through the platform’s Trade Assurance trading service. Do not trade outside the platform and reject any “margin” requirements
  7. On-site factory inspection and third-party factory verification
  8. Strictly follow up on the production progress and product quality throughout the process, and conduct quality inspection before shipment
  9. Sign the contract and confidentiality agreement

What should I do after being deceived?

  1. Keep the evidence and contact the seller to apply for after-sales serviceWhen receiving the goods, it is recommended to shoot an unboxing video. If the quality is poor or the goods are defective, you can send the photos/videos of the defective goods to the seller and request a refund or exchange. At the same time, please remember to keep all transaction records, chat screenshots, payment vouchers, photos/videos of product defects, etc., as the basis for our complaints to the platform.
  2. File a complaint with the platform and submit evidenceWhen the seller refuses to provide after-sales service, the buyer can upload the vouchers mentioned in 1 to the Alibaba backend to file a complaint.
  3. Seek external relief by the lawA buyer with a complete chain of evidence can sue the opposing company…
  4. Prevent secondary fraudBlock the involved seller and warn other buyers to avoid secondary fraud…

Alibaba has a complete guarantee service system and is more inclined towards buyers. As a buyer in trade, it is advisable to complete all operations through the platform’s official channels whenever possible and avoid communication and transactions outside the platform. To a large extent, this can prevent the occurrence of scams.