We all love to buy our goods online – it’s so much easier and more convenient than heading out to the stores. It can be a lot cheaper too. However, it can also be a minefield of problems, not least of which is security. Keeping a store safe from shoplifters is one thing, but keeping the entire internet safe from cybercriminals is another one entirely, and one that, if you don’t take care, can cause you serious problems. Here are some tips on buying online in a safe way that will help you keep your details secure in the future.
Research
Whether you are buying goods for personal use or for your business, you need to ensure that the site you are planning to buy from is legitimate. There are various ways that you can do this including:
- Check out online reviews to ensure that other people are using the site (this will also give you information about the site in general, which can be helpful)
- Look for spelling errors in the domain name (is it actually the site you thought you were using, or something similar?)
- Look for spelling errors across the site in general
- How can you pay? Can you use cards, or is a bank transfer required? If the latter, you should think carefully and ideally step away
Don’t Use Public WiFi
Even if the site you plan to use is entirely safe and legitimate, if you log on to public WiFi and then proceed to input your payment card details or log on to your online bank account, you are potentially letting cybercriminals have all of this information without even realizing it. Public WiFi should only be used for browsing, not buying, and should never be used to gain access to any password-protected sites such as your bank or your social media pages.
Have A Backup Plan
Sometimes things will go wrong despite the hard work that you put into ensuring they don’t – we can all be victims of scams, and online criminals are becoming more and more sophisticated. It’s always a wise idea to have a backup plan in place should anything go wrong and you need to recover essential data either at home or in your business. Find out more about Secure Data and discover what can be done to help you should you need assistance.
Use A Credit Card
For added security, it’s a good idea to use a credit card rather than a debit card when paying for goods online. There is much more protection for you should something go wrong, plus, even if money is stolen, it won’t impact your main bank account, and you will still be able to pay your bills and rent or mortgage without any problems.
If you are concerned about using a credit card and getting into debt, you can quickly solve this issue by ensuring that whatever you spend on your card is paid off entirely each month. That way, you will keep to a sensible spending limit, and you will be safer online in the process.
