Introduction
Christmas is usually a perfect holiday where everything else has to wait. Apart from the endless festivities, the season is also a perfect opportunity to show love and care to those you hold dear in your heart. With the day now fast approaching, there’s no better way of showing love than thinking of an ideal gift for loved ones.
Ecommerce now reduces this burden of worrying about where to buy the best gifts. You can purchase the gift you want from the comfort of your home. However, the numerous online transactions involved have also led to an increase in online fraud. Cybercriminals are now taking advantage of unsuspicious users by compromising their data and eventually stealing it.
Tips for Your Online Shopping Safety
The high prevalence of these cybercriminals means online users have no choice but to ensure their data and other information are kept safe. This can only be achieved by strict adherence to the following tips.
Use a Secure Network to do Your Online Shopping
Not all networks guarantee your online security. This insecurity arises where the network is not well encrypted to protect your data from being breached. Lack of protection means that cybercriminals spy on you ready to pounce on any critical information you share online.
Therefore, this will leave you vulnerable, especially if your sensitive information is hacked. In the case of online shopping, you’re most likely to leave your financial information exposed. This information may be compromised and used to the benefit of hackers.
The solution lies in first ensuring your network is secure. This can be achieved if you use a VPN to hide your IP address and encrypt your online traffic to avoid being spied on. To understand and learn more about what a VPN is, click here.
Research About the Website and Seller
The online shopping craze may sometimes take control of most people until they lose focus on key considerations. The truth is, many online selling websites are legitimate; however, identifying the sham ones will take a bit of your time.
Falling in the hands of a fraudulent website or seller means you have more than one reason to worry. First, they’ll have access to some of your essential information and then use it fraudulently. These websites are also vulnerable to pharming attacks.
You need to research a website online and find out about the feedback. This also applies to any online seller you’ve not purchased from before. Reputable and better-known e-commerce platforms will always have positive reviews when you research them online.
Avoid Links to ‘Super Deals’
This being a festive season, the internet is awash with super deals and Christmas offers for gifts. Though some may be legitimate, we still have a few bad ones in the midst. Such websites usually send emails and messages with provided links to ‘super deals’.
This may all be a phishing attempt as clicking on the email links may direct you to a fake website. Therefore, you’re at a considerable risk of losing your personal information to third parties.
It would help if you had your guard up on emails bearing links from unknown sources. Some may seem harmless, but a simple click on the link may lead to data compromise. If you see an appealing ad on social media, don’t click on the ad directly. Visit the website independently instead to find out what they are offering.
Don’t Do Your Shopping While on a Public Wi-Fi.
Performing online transactions while on a public Wi-Fi is relatively common than thought. What most of us don’t understand is the low level of security on those networks. The networks usually have no encryption that protects you from third-party attackers.
Therefore, making online payments on such networks is always a massive gamble as hackers can easily snoop and access vital personal information. Your information may end up being used fraudulently. The hackers may also use this information to access other online shopping sites you’re registered to.
Your best chance of staying safe in this case is to avoid doing any online shopping over public Wi-Fi. Private and already above mentioned encrypted networks are the only ones with guaranteed safety for online transactions.
Use Secure Payment Methods
When doing online transactions, protecting yourself during payments is very vital. The process and the platform of payment should be able to safeguard your details from getting stolen. The good thing is; most online payment platforms have extra safety features that safeguard your details.
Using an insecure platform only exposes you to more losses. The breach of data means your financial information is in the hands of a third party.
Online payment platforms with two-factor authorization provide much safety to your data. Thus, when doing an online checkout, you will need to prove that you make the purchase.
Conclusion
Shopping online this Christmas may be pretty rewarding, thanks to the numerous deals and offers for huge discounts. However, you should first ensure your details are safe before engaging any online seller. The above-shared tips will also help protect you from any form of cybercrime.