How To Choose A Safe Online Shop

The benefits of purchasing in an online shop far outweigh the drawbacks

. The convenience of purchasing sitting at home, the great prices, the wide variety on offer - all these factors draw shoppers to online shopping portals. For people who do not like the crowded environment and long queues that are frequently seen in shopping malls and brick & mortar stores, there cannot be anything better than an online retail outlet that eliminates all these issues very well. As can be expected though, this increase in the number of people making their purchases online has been accompanied by an increase in the number of cases of cyber crime and theft. One of the common cyber crimes are phishing attacks. In these attacks, the cyber thieves try and extract login information and at times, even banking and credit card related information. This is done by creating and posing as a real website or in some cases, even an online bank. Sometimes, malware or malicious software code that aims to compromise security and privacy is also floated. These target innocent browsers and purchasers on the Internet who somehow are duped into downloading these codes. However, by taking some simple steps it is pretty easy to ensure safety while purchasing online.

Purchase from reputed websites

Instead of buying from a retail website that has been searched for, purchases should only be done from a reputed online retailer. Also, care must be taken while entering the domain name of website. It is a common trick to use different domains such as '.net' in place of '.com' for ripping the unknowing shopper. Once a genuine retail website has been selected for the purchase, it is important to go through the online reviews. These provide a lot of valuable information, especially about the products on offer as well as the customer service that the store provides. These reviews are an excellent measure of the quality of the retailer and the products that are sold.

Ensure the presence of the lock

No purchases should be made from an online shop that does not have a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption installed, especially when credit card information is supposed to be entered. The SSL encryption can be identified by the presence of a padlock symbol either next to the URL in the browser's address bar or in the status bar found near the bottom of the browser that is being used. Further, the website will start with 'https://' instead of the regular 'http://' indicating that it is a secure website.

Beware of websites asking for too much information

Websites that try to pry out information such as birth date and social security number should be avoided at all costs. Such private information is of no use for a genuine online shop. Cyber thieves often try and combine this information along with credit card number and can succeed in doing a lot of damage. Greater the amount of information that is passed on, easier it is for the cyber thief to perpetrate the theft. It is always advisable to stay away from any such website that demands too much unnecessary information.

Identification of a genuine online shop is one of the basic steps that ensure safety while making online purchases. Additional steps that increase safety include regular checking of card and bank statements as well as installing & updating anti-virus software in your computer. These simple procedures considerable increase the safety of online shopping.

by: Kurt Ross

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