The Internet has made our lives easier in many ways, and shopping is one of them. Especially at the time of the coronavirus pandemic, when we are restricted in movement. What makes Internet shopping special is the fact that everything is available to us and that by entering the credit card number it can be in our hands in a very short time. Therefore, it is no wonder that online shopping, ie payment via the Internet, is attracting more and more attention. However, it also often causes fear of stealing personal data, which often can distract from the diversity it provides.
It is no secret that the Internet is threatened by various dangers from malicious users who try to gain possession of personal data. With the advancement of technology that tries to secure online shopping and customers, the number of malicious users who invent new scams is also increasing. Several problems faced by customers include identity theft, faulty products, and the accumulation of spyware.
There are many protection tools. It is only important to use them wisely.
Shop exclusively from your own computer
Don’t shop through public computers and Wi-Fi hotspots. Namely, the public network does not guarantee you security – you can learn more about it on www.centurylink.com. This also applies if you access it via the password obtained in a cafe or restaurant. Keep your antivirus and antispyware software up to date.
Pop-ups often appear on pages. Although most are created by advertisers, some windows may also contain malicious or insecure code. Be careful, don’t click on everything you see.
Check the security of the website
Surely you have friends for whom online shopping is an almost daily pastime. Find out which web stores you visit most often and try to make your first purchase at one of the mentioned ones. Most pages have a “Frequently Asked Questions” section – check it out for more information. Be careful when visiting the site for the first time. Don’t fall for the old one: too good to be true.
Check if the website indicated the address, phone number, and similar information that can be verified? Call and ask anything you are interested in.
Check the security of the website – again
You’ve probably heard of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer); a system that automatically switches to the so-called. “secure, encrypted pages,” which you can identify by adding the letter “s” to the URL. This is a sign that your transaction is secure. Another sign that can help you identify a security page is the so-called padlock or key, the icon of which is located in the search term in the search engine. And it’s a sign that the page data is encrypted, and that means secure. A certificate is the third way you can check the security of a website. Look for a “Verified by Visa” tag or see if the website has support partnerships.
As you can see, these are services that allow you to use a personal password to protect your card when shopping online. This provides additional security.
Protect your privacy
You have decided to buy. Have you read the web store information on Internet Privacy? Yes, every reputable webshop offers information about it. If the site does not have a section on data protection, it is better to suspend the purchase.
Secure password online
Do you pay enough attention to your passwords? Or, like most people, use names, dates of birth, and the number 1234? A password that is easy to break can lead to terrible consequences such as:
- unauthorized access to various confidential user information, hacking of websites or downloading of the entire server,
- unauthorized sending of emails (spam),
- use different passwords for different accounts and all four-character categories:
capital letters (A, B, C),
lowercase letters (a, b, c),
numbers (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9),
keyboard symbols (~! @ # $% ^ & * () _ – + = {} [] \ |:; ”‘ <>,.? /).
Fill in the form only with the most basic information
If a user wants to buy a product or wants to join an organization online, they will need to fill out a form with personal information. Care should be taken with the patterns. Pay special attention to lowercase letters and review all fields before payment. Errors in filling in the fields may oblige you to adhere to the above. Consider whether the information required in the form is needed by the web store? If not, it may be a scam.
Bad internet registration form
Under no circumstances send financial information such as PIN and private information (date of birth and social security number) by e-mail.
Make sure you read and understand all the requirements before you buy something. And one more thing – never transfer money to an unknown recipient. Never.
What else do you need to know about secure online shopping?
Using a card is a secure method of payment when shopping online as long as you take care when paying as in any other purchase. When shopping online, follow a few simple rules:
- Be careful when allowing payment information to be stored (many merchants will offer you the option to save your card information to make your next purchase faster and easier)
- Use a credit card when shopping online (most credit cards have a good customer protection policy, so for example, if you did not receive what you ordered or there is a problem, the credit card issuer will refund you),
Final thoughts
If you do not want to use a card linked to your regular current or foreign currency account for online shopping, you can always open a new dedicated account (where you will keep funds intended for your online shopping) and connect a new, debit card, which you will only use for these purposes. This way you will be safer.
To learn more about this, visit https://ocupaparana.org/