Health Wealth and Happiness Blog

Online Shopping Tips

Posted on March 30th, 2007 by admin.
Categories: Online Security, Shopping.

Online shopping is often convenient, and can save you a lot of time. However a lot of people are wary of it because of stories that they’ve seen on TV or read in the newspaper about identity theft. Other legitimate concerns that many people have are that their email address and personal information will be sold to a third party, and either not receiving their purchase, or receiving something different that what they ordered. Before you reach for that credit card, there are a few things you should keep in mind and practice when shopping online to protect yourself.

1. Shop only at reputable shopping sites. By going with lesser-known online retailers, or mom-and-pop sites, you might get a better price sometimes, but you might be setting yourself up for disaster.

2. Shop only at secure websites. Reputable sites are typically secured, but double check to make sure. You will be able to tell whether the site is secure by looking for one of these three signs: https:// in the address bar instead of http://, a pad lock displayed at the bottom of your screen, or an unbroken key symbol. These all indicate that you are on a secure site, and that your data is encrypted to protect it from being intercepted by a third party.

3. Research the website/business before you order. Verify the validity of the business by looking for a phone number and seeing if you can actually reach someone. You can also check with the Better Business Bureau, as well as various consumer protection agencies. Lastly, a quick Google search on the company can also be helpful.

4. Always pay with your credit card. This is the safest way to make transactions online because in the case that something would go wrong, you are fully protected by the Fair Credit Billing Act. Never send wire transfers or money through Western Union, and don’t send cash. Paying by check can leave you susceptible to bank fraud.

5. Never give out your Social Security number. This is absolutely not necessary to make a purchase, and should immediately be a cause for concern should an online merchant request it.

6. Check the website address. Make sure you are on the website that you think you are on. Sometimes phishers will send you an email with a link to a site that looks legitimate, but when you click it you are redirected to one of their bad sites that they use to steal your personal information.

7. Print a copy of your order. You’ll want to have proof that you in fact placed the order and paid for it.

8. Before you buy, find out the merchant’s cancellation, return, and complaint policies.

9. Read the web site’s privacy policy and security policy. Make sure that they are doing everything to ensure your safety, and aren’t selling your personal information to third-party organizations.

If you follow these tips and use your intuition, you should be pretty safe in your online shopping ventures. Have fun, and shop safely.

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