Buying and trading online has never been so easy and so fast.There are literally thousands if not millions of websites dedicated to online shopping and all of them have their inherant risks.
The topic of Online Shopping safety is rehashed to no end I do imagine. But when it comes to your safety and security online, reminders of online shopping security are very much needed.
SSL Vs. Non SSL (Secured Sockets Layer)
SSL is an encryption service provided by Certified Certificate issuing authorities that encrypt your information when you enter in any information on a website so that prying eyes cannot see your valuable information.
When you are on a site that has this featured enabled, there are a few things to consider;
1.)Do they have any errors that pop up about mixed content? If so then I would re-think putting information on their site. Even though it is normally just an image that is loaded from a different website that is causing the error, it could possibly affect other information that is mixed in with it, such as name,address, phone number.
2.) Do they require membership? If they do, make sure that wherever there is an input field for information, it shows https:”thesiteyou’reon” and that there is either a lock closed or the left of the address bar has changed color. In either case, you should be able to click on that and it will release the certifying companies information for verification.
3) Look at the grade of encryption.The higher the grade the more safe you are. Personally I don’t shop anywhere with less than 256 bit encryption.
If you are on a Non SSL site, then you need to make sure that;
1.) They do not require you to create an account with sensitive and private information.
2.) When you purchase a product, they do not collect the information directly from their site and use a secure payment gateway such as PayPal, Google Checkout,etc… Do not put financial information on a Non SSL site. If they do not require information on their site and use an external payment gateway then they are still safe to shop with as they are only a hub for products to be displayed.Just make sure they have valid contact info to elimate them from trying to scam you.
Do you have Anti-Virus Installed?
Make sure you have a web monitoring anti-virus installed that can scan the webpage that you are on. With so many websites out there(I believe there were 240,000,000 domains registered as of December 2010), you could stumble upon a bad site that trys to download malicious software to your machine.
Contact and Customer Support
One of the most important things you can do, is to make sure the company you choose to do business with has verifiable contact information.Whether they are overseas or not, if you can’t get a hold of them very easily most likely they will leave you hanging.
Get Verified with PayPal.
Seemingly, this isn’t much of an issue, but if you do happen to get scammed, if you are verified you will have a better chance of winning a claim case with PayPal, especially if the seller is verified. Unverified buyers haven’t proven they are real and as such don’t have as much weight. Also make sure the seller is verified, this is important because with that simple thing you know that person is real and will be less likely to try and scam you(very few people will want to lose their way to make money and get arrested if the scam warrants it)
Do they have alternate ways to pay?
Even with the advances in security measures online, there are still some that are not comfortable with divulging information online. So do they have another way you can pay? Such as check or money order, even a fax or e-check? If they do 9 times out of 10 you can be sure they will provide you the service promised.
Do they have a clear and precise Privacy Policy?
How do they use your information? It is very important that they do not share your valuable information with others. But some sharing must occur for reasonable purposes, such as to facilitate delivery of your product or collection purposes if they offer some sort of credit. Beyond the normal scope of facilitating a successful transaction they should clearly state that they do not share your information with anyone.
Clearing your history.
Anytime you finish a transaction never press your browsers back button and always clear your browsing history and delete any tracking cookies that may be present. A lot of sites have tracking installed(completely normal) and isn’t a huge security risk, but make sure to clear them anyway. Tracking cookies for legitimate sites provide very useful information about demographics, search trends,etc.. so they can provide better services. However there are unscrupulous people who do use tracking cookies to spy on you so they know how to hit your hot buttons or yet worse, to guide you to a site that could download malicious software.
Online Shopping can provide you with a fun experience without the headaches of big crowds,traffic, and extremely rude sales associates. With every good thing though, there is always someone who will try and ruin it. So being proactive as a consumer, you can guard yourself by following just a few easy recommendations to keep it light,fun and safe for yourself.
My name is Sandra Warne and I run an Online Gift Shop. Security is of the utmost importance to me and value the security and privacy of our customers. We believe in internet accountability and as such we feel compelled to better educate our customers who aren’t as tech savvy. You may visit our site and use the contact form if you need help with doing anything described here.
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