Best Tips for Safe Online Shopping

There are many positives to online shopping. You have good deals and several options – shopping online is secure and shipping is pretty quick. Shopping is much simpler and conducive for buyers not to mention it’s much safer than regular shopping these days with the risk of Corona virus transmissions.

How can you tell which websites are safe when shopping online? Avoiding fraudsters is important if you are going to have a pleasurable online shopping experience.

They must be SSL-Encrypted

Do not patronise any website that doesn’t have a secure sockets layer encryption. Sites that have this feature have URLs that begin with HTTPS. This is an important feature of safe online shopping sites. You’ll always find a locked padlock on the left of the URL in the address bar at the top or in the status bar below depending on which browser you are using.

Credit Card over Debit Card

Choose credit cards over debit cards when shopping online because they are safer. With credit cards, any purchase of goods or vacation expenses above £100 and reaching £30,000 provides cover for you according to section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act and it means the online store and credit card company share equal responsibility for undelivered or deficient purchases.

You also enjoy cash rebates on some purchases and other loyalty benefits.

Report any suspicious activity on your credit card to the issuing company to protect you from fraud or to block the card if you feel your details have been compromised.

Go Over Your Account Statements

Do not wait until the end of the month to go over statements from your debit to credit cards and any other accounts you hold. Regular checks will help you spot and fraudulent charges even from credible sites. Debit cards, when hacked, provide scammers access to your bank, so do all online shopping using credit cards. A site requesting you to wire them money is often a signal they are a scam.

Beware of Suspicious Offers

If an offer appears too good to be true, it probably is. Avoiding such offers will save you from compromising your card details.

Update your Software and Antivirus Regularly

To keep your electronic devices free of malware you must have up-to-date security software, operating systems, and web browser. Set the ‘automatically check for updates’ option so you get the latest updates daily.

Use Strong Passwords

Make sure your passwords are not easy to guess when banking or shopping online. You can use a password manager to ensure your passwords are really complex. The password manager can help you manage them on whatever website so you don’t have a hard time remembering them.

Do not shop in Public

While it’s one thing to swipe your card when making payments, it’s totally different when you have to enter all your card details on a website in full view of everyone. You’ll be giving sticky beaks ample time to spy out your details. If you must shop in public, place your back to the wall somewhere you won’t have someone standing over your shoulder or stick to trusted sites that have your details stored.

Skip the Card, Use the Phone

Using phones to make payments is popular these days and is more secure than credit cards in certain instances. An authentication code on a mobile payment app like Apple Pay or Google Pay, used once-per-time secures you from shady people out to steal your card details if you shop at a store that accepts mobile payment methods.

Make sure you subject selection of your preferred mobile payment method to reviews from Google or Yelp, to avoid becoming a victim of cyber crime. Non-delivery and non-payment are the most common complaints about shopping online because of stolen card details. Look for red flags when choosing phone payment methods as all positive feedback could be a sign that the reviews you’re reading are doctored.

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