Online shopping can be a fairly addictive activity. The study showed that 83% of online buyers were finally satisfied with their purchases, and two-thirds of Americans aged 50+ bought their belongings online.
But, is online shopping safe?
While online shopping is bigger and more comfortable than before, with a large collection of items right at your fingertips, easily carried away and miss the bad people who hide. This is a thief who steals your online identity and offline as your important login details and credit card info without you knowing. Malware also exists to endanger your online privacy.
It is quite clear that online shopping is here to remain, and that we will continue to buy our goods online. As proven by the statistics above, online shopping can indeed be a safe activity when done correctly.
So how do we know when we shop at a safe and safe online store? Here are some online shopping safety tips to always convince you a safe shopping experience.
Beware of clear signs from fraud.
There are several signs of websites to deceive you. This includes one of the most popular and main retail sites like Amazon or those using different domains, such as .Net not .com. If this site has sales and offers that seem too good to come true, and show other signs too, that is possible.
Know the difference between HTTP and HTTPS.
A good way to see if the site is safe is to look at your address bar and check to see if there is a key icon followed by the URL that starts with https. This means that there is an SSL or encryption of the safe socket layer installed. No need every page on the website has it, but it must be on the page where you provide your credit card information (eg checkout page).
Certain online stores that are not here for fraud will still have HTTP in the URL but with your checkout page is transferred to a safe page. Some will direct you to a page outside a trusted site where you will see the key icon and https in the URL.
Make a strong password.
A strong password makes it difficult for hackers to get your details. Keep long and strong with a mixture of letters, numbers, symbols and with upper and lowercase letters included. Make sure it’s something you will remember too!
Don’t give all your information.
The more you give, the easier it is for thieves to steal your information and after that, your identity. Things like your social security number are never needed for online transactions, so it must sound a bell if a site asks it. You must also be aware of the phishing where the email is sent to you asking for your credit card details. The original company will not ask for your personal information via email. Don’t reply to this or click on one of the links they give.
Choose to pay via a credit card instead.
The safest payment method is a credit card. With a debit card, there will be no limits on how many cyber criminals can steal from your bank. However, if you pay through your credit card, the existing limit is set and you also have an option to find credit from companies in a scenario like this. Sending cash by post or wire is another unsafe way to make payments, because you will not be able to find compensation in the event of fraud.
Paypal is a good payment method that offers additional security to consumers. Your sensitive account information is entrusted to a company that is contrary to a few when you use a credit card. However, because of its ability to give you the strongest protection against fraud, credit cards can be proven to be a safer method.
With all these tips to guide you, you can be sure of a safe online shopping experience and reap all the benefits that accompany it: fast shipping, shipping, many choices of products you want, and all with the comfort of your home (or wherever you use the site from)!
