5 Tips for Online Shopping
I love online shopping as much as the next person, but it's important that it is done safely and securely. Ensuring you're getting exactly what you've paid for and that your details are kept safe and private from the prying eyes of online scams and viruses. Online shopping is fun, especially with a glass of wine in hand, so lets keep it that way! Stick to these five, easy to follow hints and tips and come pay day, you can splurge safely but also in style!
Stick to Brands You Know & Trust
This is a fool proof way of ensuring you're getting what you've paid for. You may have friends or family who have ordered from certain sites or brands before, you may have been into one of their stores so you have an idea of prices and product quality. This is a tried and tested way of knowing for certain that you aren't being ripped off, or that your details aren't being put into dodgy websites and sold to third parties for example. I'm not saying this to scare anyone, I'm doing it for awareness.
Use Secure Payment Services
Your bank should have an option to set this up, whether you have a credit or a debit card, there's always a quick way to put more barriers in the way to stop the wrong people getting hold of your private details. Natwest offer a service where you must put in a sperate password after you've entered the details on your card, and even then, it asks for specific letters of your password rather than the whole thing. Something so simple can be the barrier that dishonest people cannot get past, thus keeping your money safe.
Look For the Padlock Symbols next to the URL
This generally means its a secure site, but if you have security measures on your computers and laptops already, such as Norton, it can alert you to a dodgy site before it's even loaded onto the page. It's a really useful feature to have and the padlock is something which can be found super easily (it usually appears next to the start of your URL, e.g. *padlock symbol* https://...etc.
Too Good to be True? It Probably is!
Be aware of offers which seem way too good be true. Don't even bother clicking the links to find out, it could be a way to entice people in, you click the link or the advert and boom, you now have a virus. Even if this isn't the case, unless the offer is placed on a trusted, legitimate website, by a brand you know, then the offer will probably be too good to be true. Don't get sucked in and don't ever enter your card details, likelihood is, you won't receive the offer or products you've bought, instead you'll end up getting yourself off to the bank to cancel your cards and change pin numbers.
Don't Shop on Public Wifi
This may not seem like such a big deal, but public wifi can be hacked into so very easily. You could be sat in Starbucks looking at the latest makeup palette or video game, you've decided you want to snap it up, you're on public wifi and you enter your card details. But around the corner, someone has tapped into that free public wifi and they now have your card details and they know what it is you've bought. Before you know it, your account has been used to book three holidays and a Rolex watch. If you really HAVE to shop online when outside of your home, use your mobile data, if you don't want to use your data, wait until you get home where you have a private internet connection. Simple right?
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I hope you found this useful, like I've said, I don't want to put you off shopping online, I just want to make you aware of some dangers and how you can avoid becoming a victim of fraud or a sordid financial scam. I will see you next time with a much more, cheery blog post ;)
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