Tips for Safe Online Shopping

Nowadays there are lots of reasons to shop online; We can save our time, reach thousands of options and purchase smartly; all that while saving money. Online shopping has become much more secure but, we should still be careful about some points! Here are some tips for safe online shopping experience:

1- Shop only from trusted & Reputable sites

If you are new for online shopping, start with a trusted website. If you're using a website that you haven't used before then search for it online & check feedback, but beware of too-glowy reviews; they can be all over social media websites. If the company is in charge of that site, they can easily delete any negative reviews and only leave the good ones. You can check out their online reviews on a site like "Trustpilot." An easy way would be shopping with well-known businesses that you are familiar with.

2-Use Strong Passwords

If your passwords aren’t well designed, a hacker can guess them and use saved account information to order products. Change your passwords regularly or try to use different passwords for each website and avoid common words. You can use sentences as passwords. Closing your browser is not enough; your details will not remove; someone may still be able to see your personal information. Do not forget to log out of sites which you have logged in or registered before.

3-Avoid Over-sharing your information

Remember, you only need to fill out required fields at checkout. An online purchase should only require credit card information, address, and phone number. If the website is also asking for your social security number, you should be careful because this information can be used to steal your identity and should be unnecessary for online purchase. If it asks for anything else, such as a Social Security number or a driver's license number, you should probably try to shop from another site. No legitimate business needs that information for a simple purchase. Using a virtual credit card or an e-money service like PayPal is worth considering as you don't have to give out your actual card details.

4-Secure Wifi

Do not pay for goods when using an insecure Wi-Fi connection in coffee shops, shopping centers, and other places to shop online, use internet banking or anything else requiring you to send personal information. Make sure the internet connection you are using is secure. This is because public Wi-Fi is often insecure; our private information will be saved where others can access it. It would be best if you also were careful about making a purchase even with your laptop in a public place; someone from behind can see your data.

5-Buyer Protection

Before entering payment card details on a website, ensure that the link is secure. Do not make purchases on websites that don't have Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption. To check if that your website has SSL: notice if the URL of the site starts with "HTTPS," instead of just "HTTP." This added "S" means that the transformation of your information is secured. Check the company's privacy policy and read return policies and other website information, so you know what to expect if the purchase doesn't go as planned. Keep your receipts and make sure that your bank details stay safe. You can use a secure payment site such as PayPal, where the money transfers between two electronic accounts. When shopping online, check your credit and debit card statements frequently. Watch for suspicious charges and check charges against your records.