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Its nearly time for us to pay — or be paid by — Uncle Sam, and that means its also high season for tax-related phishing scams, when rogue websites masquerade as legitimate tax prep providers, banks or even the IRS to con us out of our user names, passwords and credit card information.

But phishing isnt limited to tax season. Web hucksters work year-round, and they wear many disguises. These fraudsters impersonate everything from legitimate airlines and mail carrier companies to financial institutions.

Online scamming can also take a more innocuous form — but one thats worthy of forewarning all the same: phony product and service reviews. While fake reviews on sites like Amazon are nothing new, companies are now offering consumers cash to rave about their goods.

Here are some tips on how to avoid being duped.

Identifying the Fake Tax Man

bull; Keep your eyes peeled for emails that seem to come from known tax-prep software companies such as TurboTax and TaxACT. Scammers, who hijack logos from these companies to make their emails appear authentic, will often include generic salutations like dear sir/madam, or dear customer rather than your name, which is a scam tip off, Christine Frietchen, editor in chief of ConsumerSearch.com, a review aggregator that compares product ratings from experts and user reviews, tells DailyFinance.

bull; Tax-season scammers will also assume the identity of a trusted financial institution, be it a retail bank like Chase or an investment bank such as Vanguard, Frietchen says.

bull; Beware of links and attachments in emails: Theyre a giveaway for fraudsters. Financial institutions wont send you attachments unless they reflect documents you specifically requested, Frietchen says.

Phishing emails will often urge recipients to click on a link or open an attachment with messages like, Heres your important tax document … we need you to confirm your data or otherwise we cant issue your refund, or, we urgently need more information or your tax return will be late, Frietchen says. Because theres a timely relevance to the message, they can sound more legitimate. Dont take the bait.

bull; The IRS itself is alerting filers to be on the lookout for a new, bogus email alerting recipients that theyll be penalized up to $10,000 for failing to file their tax return on time, with a false Jan. 31 deadline. It might include the subject line: Penalty for not filing tax return on time.

The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email or any social media tool to request personal information, says IRS.gov.

For a comprehensive list of common tax scams, check here. You can also forward suspect emails to phishing@irs.gov.

Sniffing Out Common Phishing Tactics

Most scam emails, whether they pretend to come from a reputable shipping company like FedEx, a bank or airline, share some common themes.

bull; If you receive an email from a company youve never done business with, be wary.

bull; Scam emails are designed to elicit a knee-jerk reaction in recipients — to make you think theres trouble with your account, an order or your personal finances, Frietchen says.

bull; Poor grammar is another tip-off. Because many scammers are based in foreign countries, the writing style they use in their bogus emails is often stilted or just wrong. They wont phrase things the way a native English speaker would, Frietchen says.

bull; If you see others CCed in a email, be suspicious. A legitimate email from an institution will not copy others in an email intended for you.

Sussing Out Suspect Reviews

Businesses have long been guilty of trying to tout their products with glowing reviews posted by their own employees impersonating thrilled shoppers. But as The New York Times reported last month, the practice has taken on a new dimension. In December, merchant VIP Deals was exposed for offering a full refund for its Kindle Fire case in exchange for a favorable review of the product on Amazon.com

The content and language of five-star fakes tend to follow a pattern, Frietchen says.

bull; Over-the-top accolades about a product or a place, such as a hotel, should be considered suspect, especially when they include superlatives such as great or wonderful, she says.

bull; Another tip off is the use of an entire product name and model number in the description, such as the Cuisinart 57321 coffeemaker instead of simply, the Cuisinart coffeemaker.

Tags: Product Reviews

Do you spend the better part of your time online? Do you tweet, blog or Facebook? If you do, Id say youre in the majority these days. More than ever, people are living virtual lives; depending on social media for both their personal connections and their news. Really, its a whole new world.

Im not here to weigh in on how I feel about the role of technology in our lives; I use it as much as the next gal, so its tough to be non-biased. There are pros and cons to our online existence, of course, and one of the biggest pros is saving a little green. Here are my thoughts on how social media can save you money.

Just join

If you belong to networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, look for groups of like-minded folks that have similar interests. For instance, after joining a group of fellow Chicago-based bloggers, Ive been privy to offers of movie tickets, discount coupons for Wisconsin Dells resorts and opportunities to try products for free. This is a great place to read about local sales or interesting opportunities; things I wouldnt have otherwise known about if I hadnt joined.

Like what you already like

Using the like button inside Facebook is a great way to learn about special offers, contests and events. Everyone from my hair stylist to my favorite local clothing shop posts special offers on Facebook that they dont share with the public. Think of this as a reward for giving their products and services your positive thumbs up.

Social couponing

I must admit, it took me awhile to come around to the idea of sites like Groupon or Living Social, but I am now a fan. I try to purchase only when theyre for something I had intended on buying anyway, like holiday photo cards or dining out. We absolutely love Groupons Groupon Now feature. We dont eat out often, but we always check it before we do so that we dont pay full price.

Your valuable opinion

There is no better advertising than word-of-mouth and businesses know it! When you find a product you love, review it so that others know that money paid for the product is money well-spent. On the flipside, search out product reviews before you spend so that youre well-educated on which items are worth your time and your money.

Molly Logan Anderson is a freelance writer who lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Mike, three kids and two labs. Join Molly on her familys journey of living a frugal life and making financial freedom their reality in her columns or visit her website at www.mollylogananderson.com or on her blog at www.butterfliesandmudpies.blogspot.com.

Tags: Product Reviews

The new iPad – released to the public today – is expected to deliver an unparalleled retina-enhanced experience. It also opens the flood gates to visually-optimized shopping apps, such as CoffeeTable and its HD Catalogs.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) March 16, 2012

The new iPad, the third version of Apples revolutionary tablet device, debuts in US stores today. Product reviews have quickly centered on one question: Can iPad users actually perceive any difference in its new retina display, introduced by Apple in its product unveiling last week? Leading iPad e-commerce players are answering with an unequivocal yes, and investing behind retina-ready features that are expected to drive additional shopper engagement and further accelerate the fast-growing tablet commerce space.

Apple touted a step-function change in the visual quality of the iPad experience. Its 9.7 inch screen features 2047 by 1536 pixels, a vast improvement above both the current iPad (1024 by 768 pixels) as well as most high-definition television screens. Put another way, the new iPad screen will have 4 times the resolution of the iPad 2 display, as well as 44% greater color saturation.

The difference between the iPad 2 and new iPad is stark in the unprecedented clarity of the images, says Ben Choi, CEO of iPad catalog app CoffeeTable, particularly for catalog shoppers who are used to flipping through real, high quality print pages. The new retina display will increase engagement, as shoppers almost subconsciously absorb more detail, and products seem to pop from the pages of CoffeeTable HD Catalogs.

CoffeeTable announced its release of HD Catalogs on the heels of of Apples new iPad release, optimizing its catalog and product images for the highest resolution among apps in the Catalogs category. Apples new iPad roll-out coincided with the creation of a new Catalogs category in the App Store, putting the spotlight on rich-visual tablet catalogs like those featured by CoffeeTable.

CoffeeTable makes hundreds of brands – such as Crate and Barrel, Sears, Athleta, and Lands End – available to consumers at their fingertips. And now, all issues are automatically available as HD Catalogs on the latest version of the app when viewed on the new iPad. HD Catalogs will allow shoppers to see catalogs with four times the clarity and detail, vastly improving the browsing and purchasing process.

One of the reasons CoffeeTable remains shoppers favorite catalog app is the superior quality of the visuals in our catalogs, says CoffeeTable CEO Ben Choi. We work closely with our retail partners to come as close as technologically possible to replicating the detail of a high quality print. With HD Catalogs we have taken a big step closer to that detail.

CoffeeTables newest app release (expected to hit the App Store later this week) also includes improved sharing features as well as an all-new Wish List functionality, so that iPad shoppers can share the rich visual experience with others, or save favorite products for purchase on a later date. Additionally, CoffeeTable is the only catalog app with Express Checkout, allowing shoppers to complete purchases securely within the app itself, instead of being redirected to a third-party website. CoffeeTable is making the bet that its retina-ready HD catalogs and two-tap Express Checkout are a winning combination in tablet shopping.

For more information visit CoffeeTable on the web or download for free from the App Store.

About CoffeeTable:

CoffeeTable is a free shopping app that turns your iPad into a virtual coffee table of retail catalogs, allowing shoppers to browse their favorite stores anywhere, anytime. It is the only app that enables purchases to be made directly in the app, via its Express Checkout technology. CoffeeTable features rich visual catalogs of leading retailers such as Crate and Barrel, Sears, Lands End, West Elm and many more.

CoffeeTable is the brainchild of e-tailing pioneers Chris Friedland and David Berman. Friedland and Berman are founders of Build.com, a $300 million e-commerce business. CEO Ben Choi is Venture Partner at Maveron, and is a seasoned mobile executive, formerly at Greystripe (acquired by ValueClick) and at Yahoo.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebcoffeetable/031612/prweb9292140.htm

Tags: Product Reviews

Do you spend the better part of your time online? Do you tweet, blog or Facebook? If you do, Id say youre in the majority these days. More than ever, people are living virtual lives; depending on social media for both their personal connections and their news. Really, its a whole new world.

Im not here to weigh in on how I feel about the role of technology in our lives; I use it as much as the next gal, so its tough to be non-biased. There are pros and cons to our online existence, of course, and one of the biggest pros is saving a little green. Here are my thoughts on how social media can save you money.

Just join

If you belong to networking sites like Facebook or LinkedIn, look for groups of like-minded folks that have similar interests. For instance, after joining a group of fellow Chicago-based bloggers, Ive been privy to offers of movie tickets, discount coupons for Wisconsin Dells resorts and opportunities to try products for free. This is a great place to read about local sales or interesting opportunities; things I wouldnt have otherwise known about if I hadnt joined.

Like what you already like

Using the like button inside Facebook is a great way to learn about special offers, contests and events. Everyone from my hair stylist to my favorite local clothing shop posts special offers on Facebook that they dont share with the public. Think of this as a reward for giving their products and services your positive thumbs up.

Social couponing

I must admit, it took me awhile to come around to the idea of sites like Groupon or Living Social, but I am now a fan. I try to purchase only when theyre for something I had intended on buying anyway, like holiday photo cards or dining out. We absolutely love Groupons Groupon Now feature. We dont eat out often, but we always check it before we do so that we dont pay full price.

Your valuable opinion

There is no better advertising than word-of-mouth and businesses know it! When you find a product you love, review it so that others know that money paid for the product is money well-spent. On the flipside, search out product reviews before you spend so that youre well-educated on which items are worth your time and your money.

Molly Logan Anderson is a freelance writer who lives in the western suburbs of Chicago with her husband, Mike, three kids and two labs. Join Molly on her familys journey of living a frugal life and making financial freedom their reality in her columns or visit her website at www.mollylogananderson.com or on her blog at www.butterfliesandmudpies.blogspot.com.

Tags: Product Reviews

The ZDNet score represents a weighted average of product reviews from
websites and publications around the world. The score is generated when there are reviews from two or more
sources, and is based on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest possible rating.

Tags: Product Reviews

We dont really do product reviews here on PH. So when Autoglym popped along to PH HQ a little while back, eager to show off its brand-new, re-formulated range (complete with a new-look bottle, logo and everything), we were a little embarrassed. How could we give them a bit of coverage without it seeming like nothing more than editorial puff?

Tags: Product Reviews

I don’t have product reviews on my website. I may add them at some point. However, I’m quite conflicted about it.

My stance may seem odd since the big players in that space would cite years of research showing that adding product reviews to your website will increase your conversion rates. I don’t dispute that it increased conversion rates for their site. I’m simply not sold that it will increase conversion rates for my site.

Here are my three cynical reasons for not having product reviews.

Cynical Reason #1: Product reviews were started by Amazon because they didn’t have the ability, resources, or desire to curate what they sell. They don’t act as a gate keeper to prevent trash from being sold on their site. In fact, they opened the floodgates so that they could sell EVERYTHING. This turned out to be a bad thing for the customer because we couldn’t tell what was good and what was bad. So, instead of doing any of the actual work that a professional buyer would perform, they simply dumped the process on their customers and said, “You rate it.”

Think about this for a second. Amazon is urging you to buy something, for which they have no prior knowledge, and therefore will not be helpful in any meaningful after-sale customer service, and then they have the gall to ask you to do their work for them by evaluating the product!

Let’s apply this to a real-world situation. Imagine you went into a restaurant and asked the waiter if you should order the steak or the lamb. The waiter simply stares back at you and utters not a word. Finally, you throw up your hands, flip a coin, and decide to get the steak. When the meal is over, the waiter asks you how it was. He then takes your response and repeats it back to the next customer who asks about the steak. How can the waiter not know anything about the menu?! It’s absurb and it’s precisely how Amazon operates because it doesn’t know a damned thing about its menu. Customer reviews, therefore, are essential to its existence because Amazon doesn’t perform any of the product evaluation duties of a retailer.

As a retailer, you are supposed to be the expert on your subject matter. If a product is zero-stars-terrible, it shouldn’t even be available for sale.

Cynical Reason #2: Product reviews function to expound upon the features and capabilities of a product because the retailer hasn’t bothered to do this for the customer itself. Most online retailers take the three sentence blurb from the manufacturer, the manufacturer-supplied photo, and slap it up online and hope that it sells. Because that’s ineffective, they use user-supplied reviews to fill in the gaps. Retailers then pat themselves on the back for developing “user-generated content” that the search engines will love. Gag me.

So, instead of properly analyzing the product, testing it, and writing a detailed, honest, and thoughtful description of the product accompanied by high-quality and illustrative photographs, most retailers resort to having their customers do the work for them.

Cynical Reason #3: By admission of the major 3rd-party review services, only 1% of purchasers are going to bother to write a review. So, if your catalog contains 500 skus, you’re going to need to garner at least 50,000 purchases in order to obtain at least 1 review per sku. Ouch. That could take awhile. It also has the side effect of making your site appear unpopular since many of your products will not have any reviews.

The 3rd-party review companies have tried to mitigate this issue by allowing retailers to share reviews between sites. Ugh. Now customers are going to see the same review across multiple sites? Double ugh.

Side note: What genius came up with the idea of, “Be the first to review this product!” Seriously, no customer wants to be your guinea pig!

On the flip side, I read the reviews on Amazon all the time. Does this mean I’m a hypocrite? Possibly. However, I feel reading their reviews is necessary because the description of the products are oftentimes unreliable, incomplete, and not detailed.

The logical next step is that if your site already properly explains a product, that product reviews may add a bit of social confirmation and could increase sales.

However, the low rate at which customers supply reviews serves as a larger detriment (“hey, nobody is shopping at this site!”) than the added value of the crazed 1% (either a spurned customer looking to wreak havoc or the fanboy not providing much valuable content) who will bother to leave a review.

Who knows. We may add reviews next week. As you can tell, I’m a bit conflicted about it, but the bottom line is that customer reviews are not going to provide a huge and immediate lift to your conversion rate unless you have a large enough number of orders to obtain multiple reviews for all of your products.

Category: The (eCommerce) Corner Office |
Tags: Ratings and Reviews, review services

Tags: Product Reviews

BALTIMORE — The Better Business Bureau is warning people who use online products reviews that some companies are hiring writers to stock websites with overly positive comments about their products.