A huge section of the people nowadays, prefer online shopping to real world shopping. Researchers are of the opinion that in the US by 2023, the total percentage of online shoppers will reach 91% of the total population.
One of the main reasons why online shopping has gained so much popularity is because of how convenient it is. You can buy almost anything you need from the comfort of your home with the help of a couple of clicks. But still there are people who would rather go to a store than make transactions online. One of the main reasons why they prefer real world shopping to online shopping is because they aren’t sure about the safety of online purchases. Hackers or other people with malicious intent, oftentimes steal information or money, sometimes both, with the help of the internet. Reports of online identity theft along with a number of fraudulent behaviors can very easily be found in the news on a regular basis. This makes a sizable number of population fearful of their safety when it comes to online shopping. That is why; you should exercise caution while buying materials online.
Below are a few tips you should keep in mind while buying objects online:
- Buy goods from those websites that are trusted by the online buyers– In most of the cases of fraud or theft, the victims were using websites that are not commonly known. It is also observed that a number of fraud or theft cases happened while the victim was trying to buy something from a social media website. This is the reason why it is recommended that you do your online shopping from well known and well reputed websites.
- The safety features offered by these sites are world class and they’re also very easy to use. Once you get the hang of online shopping using the top websites on the internet you can decide to shop in the some of the lesser known websites but you should make sure that the websites you visit should be legitimate businesses.
- Popular websites are always recommended for online shopping because they have earned the trust of their customer base because of the security mechanisms they’ve put in place. If you look into their websites, you’re likely to find testimonials of their customers, which further validate the authenticity and reliability of those websites.
- SSL encryption– After you’ve made sure that the website you’re purchasing from has a large and loyal customer base, the next thing you should make sure is that the website uses SSL encryption. SSL stands for “Secure Sockets Layer” encryption. It is a mechanism that ensures that the information you provide a website is kept secure and private. If the address of the website you’re accessing starts with https, you can be sure that that website is SSL encrypted. If the “s” beside the http doesn’t appear then you’ll know that the website is not SSL encrypted and your information is not completely secure. Presence of SSL is also denoted by a lock symbol, which you may find beside the address of the website.
- Information you shouldn’t share– While buying online, it is normal that certain information will be required from your end. But you should make sure that you do not give out any extra information that is not directly related to your purchase. Generally, the information that the companies legitimately require are your name, age, address, contact details and details pertaining to the mode of payment you’re opting for. Any personal details can enable persons with malicious intent make you a victim of identity theft.
- Antivirus– For protection against online theft, you should consider installing an antivirus on your computer. This antivirus will be able to protect you from malware and other tools that online thieves use to steal data from your computer. In other words, to protect your privacy, having an antivirus is a must.
- Check your balance after each purchase– Another thing that you should practice is to always check the balance in your bank account after you make an online purchase. This will help you become sure that only the purchase amount was debited from your bank account. In case you’re paying by a credit card, you should check the latest transaction that was made. These steps should be done to make sure that you are not being charged abnormally for your transactions.
You’ll be able to complete online purchases safely and successfully, if you follow the above mentioned steps.
