Stay Safe Online – 5 Safe Online Tips
April 15th, 2007
Today, shopping online is getting bigger and bigger it is becoming increasingly important to stay safe online. Everyday new e-commerce shopping sites are started which sell everything from baby products to cars, and you can purchase these items and even have them delivered to your house as soon as the very next day.
It’s not surprising that with the amount of credit card fraud on the internet, a lot of people are still very scared of purchasing online, even though in many ways it’s just the same as purchasing over the phone, if not safer.
Below is a list of easy steps which anyone can follow in order to stay safe online and make their online shopping experience more secure:
1. Keep your passwords secure – To stay safe online, the only person that should know any of your passwords is you. Make sure your passwords are not easy to guess, and don’t use things such as your birth date, address or any information that anyone can find out about you.
2. Only shop with reputable online stores – Making sure the merchant you are shopping with is reputable is another big step towards shopping safely online. Customer reviews are a great way of getting feedback on a store, and in my opinion, the older the online store the better. I would not suggest shopping with a site that is less then 1 month old unless you can verify it is safe. Shopsafe is a site which lists only safe and secure shopping sites.
3. Ensure the site has encryption – When ever you shop online, make sure you can either see the padlock logo in the bottom right corner of the internet browser, or that the url starts with “https”. Any site that does not have these characteristics means is not encrypted and any credit card details will be transferred in plain view to prying eyes.
4. Always make sure you print or keep record of a receipt – As a general rule always make sure you keep your receipt from the purchase. If a receipt is not provided, then request one from the merchant to stay safe online.
5. Check your statements – Always be sure to check your statements regularly, if you ever notice anything odd report this to your bank immediately.
And there you have it, 5 easy steps that will make you stay safe online and your online shopping experience much more safer and secure.
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