Safe Shopping Online Not everything on the internet is what it appears to be, and there are plenty of people out there who put a lot of time and effort into trying to cheat you out of your hard earned cash or steal your private details.
However, there is a lot you can do to help protect yourself.
Here are our tips for safe shopping online: 1.
Take a good look at the website you're thinking of buying from.
Does it look 'right'? For instance, are there proper contact details, (physical address, landline telephone number, email, disclaimer, privacy policy, etc?).
A 'Security Certificate' is always desirable as well, although not essential.
Do they have a returns policy? 2.
When you click to go through to pay, ensure that this part of the site is secure.
If you look at the address bar at the top of the browser, 'http' at the beginning of the address should have changed to 'https'.
The 's' stands for secure.
In the bottom right-hand corner there should also be a little padlock icon.
This should be in the 'locked' position.
You can click on this to check that the seller is who they say they are and that their security certificate is current and registered to the right address.
If one or both of these aren't present, proceed with caution.
If you're not sure, then shop elsewhere.
- NB; do not be fooled by the picture of a padlock on the website itself.
Anybody can copy and paste this image onto their website to try and appear legitimate.
The icon needs to be in the frame of the browser itself.
3.
Watch carefully the information you're being asked for at the payment stage.
Requests for credit/debit card numbers, start/expiry dates, signature strip number and issue number are to be expected.
Apart from any additional online security service you know you have signed up to, such as MasterCard's SecureCode, (which we would recommend that you do), nobody should be asking for any other details like your PIN number, online banking details, who the card was issued by or passwords that you use for payment with services such as PayPal or WorldPay.
Again, if any such information is requested, proceed with caution.
If in doubt, surf away.
4.
Use common sense! If something looks too good to be true, it probably is.
Try putting a vendors name into one of the search engines and see if anything comes up.
Chances are that if someone else has had problems with them, the information will be out there.
The internet is a huge resource of information.
Use it to your advantage.
5.
There are a lot of other things you can do to stay safe generally online; - Use a good quality anti-virus program and make sure it's up to date.
- Regularly update your operating system - Never click on a link embedded in an email.
Always enter the address yourself by typing it into the web browser.
- Use a spam filter with your email that will detect and block anything fraudulent.
- Be wary of hoax emails and fraud emails.
If it looks dodgy, it probably is.
- Don't give out personal information unless you initiated the contact and you are completely sure you know who you're dealing with.