Online shopping has never been so easy. We live at a time where, at the click of a mouse, you can get anything you want delivered to your doorstep. Incidentally, the age of the internet has also given rise to new waves of crime. Your personal information can travel all over the world within a second where fraudsters and scammers can gain access to it. Below are 11 ways you can ensure safety while shopping online:
Shop at a reputable site: There are thousands, if not millions, of fraudulent sites out there. At the same time, there are many good shopping sites like Amazon and eBay that spend thousands of dollars yearly to protect their brand and customers. Shop at these, bookmark them and be wary of tempting offers from any unknown site.
Keep your computer protected:
Ensure your computer has the latest anti-virus, anti-spyware and spam-filters and update these security programs regularly. Likewise, keep your operating system up to date. And if you do your shopping mostly from mobile devices and tablets, keep these updated also.
Always safeguard your personal information:
Since scammers and fraudsters require information to succeed, don't put too much personal data on the internet. Every site should have a policy on how they use the information collected from you. Make sure you read and understand this and if a site doesn't have such policy, don't take the risk.
Beware of Strange Offers:
Don't be greedy. If an offer sounds too good to be true, then in all likelihood, it is. Stop signing up for every free offers on the internet. You will only end up with unsolicited mails in your inbox which might contain potentially harmful materials.
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Be careful what you download:
Downloading from the internet comes with a set of risks as downloadable files can contain harmful programs that can expose you and your computer. Make sure you only download from trusted sites.
Don't click on that link:
Our emails nowadays are awash with promotional offers and ads. Clicking on links in these mails can give the sender instant access to your computer and personal information. Avoid clicking on mails from unknown sources. Learn to make use of the report spam button that comes with most email accounts.
Shop securely:
Always look for https:// in the address box as this is a sort of guarantee that you are exactly on the site you wanted to be.
It is a good idea to change your password from time to time. Also, combine letters, numbers, upper-case and special characters when creating one. Don't share your password with anyone and don't use words people might guess easily.
Regularly inspect your credit card statement:
This will allow you to monitor your spending and detect any fraudulent activity on your account. Waiting for the end of the month for your financial statements might not be the best as any damage done to your account might not be detected soon enough.
Inform your credit card provider to stop all pending payments on your credit card whenever you notice a suspicious activity in your account. Yes, there may be a fee attached to doing this but this singular action, taken promptly, can save you a lot of heartache later.
Use Virtual Credit Cards:
Identity theft and credit card fraud are two big threats to online shoppers and thousands of people are falling victim daily. Using virtual credit cards for your online shopping will give you some considerable level of protection against these. Many virtual credit cards work by giving you extra layers of protection against fraud while some just give you an alternate identity online.
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