This year, Black Friday falls on Friday 25th November but many retailers have already started offering some great deals. So, is it really Black Friday or should we call it Black November instead? Anyway, here are some online shopping tips you will be glad to read.
Online shopping has its great benefits: it’s fast and easy, regardless of if you shop from home, local café or train it’s convenient. So, make sure it is safe too. When shopping online your intentions are obvious but know there are some really bad characters out there too, just waiting to take advantage of your online safety.
Here are some basic online shopping tips you’ll be glad you read.
USE UP-TO-DATE ANTI-VIRUS AND ANTI-MALWARE SOFTWARE FROM A TRUSTED SUPPLIER
…and run periodic scans
Every business is different, and it is important to keep in mind the specific needs of your business, the scale and type of protection needed, the budget and so on when deciding on the solution.
So, remember although antivirus is one of the most positive steps in business security it does not guarantee total, 100% protection.
USE STRONG PASSWORDS for online safety
You don’t like super long and complicated passwords? Oh well, you need one these days. Therefore, make sure all your accounts, whether it is your email account or bank account, is locked down securely with an impossible to solve password.
Don’t use the same password for each online account.
If you want to read about the best password strategy for future here is the link
USE FAMILIAR WEBSITES
…and beware of misspellings or sites using a different top-level domain (.net instead of .com, for example).
LOOK FOR THE LOCK
Never buy anything online using your credit card from a site that doesn’t have an SSL certificate (secure sockets layer).
Further to that, if a site is secure and encrypted, you will get a little padlock icon in your browser address window. If you cannot see a padlock, look for https:// in the website address. This is a notification that you are sending information directly to your merchant and there are no “man-in-the-middle deceptions”.
WAIT FOR YOUR ADDRESS BAR TO GO GREEN
That’s an indication the website is safe and that you are on the website you are intended to be on and not a fake malicious one. So basically, if you are going to enter a password or any information like an address or credit card number, you want to make sure the website is using HTTPS – see point 4.
LOOK OUT FOR THE TRUST SEALS
They are usually on the bottom of your merchant home page or on the payment page.
For online safety USE SECURE VIRTUAL PAYMENTS SYSTEMS
Whether it is PayPal or another online payments system, you can sometimes avoid using your main credit card entirely. PayPal offer the ability to get a debit card that you can use to shop online.
CHECK YOUR BANK STATEMENTS REGULARLY
PRIVATISE YOUR NETWORK
Lastly, aim to shop from your private network, however if you’re shopping via a public hotspot such as Starbucks or Costa use a virtual private network (VPN) to be safe.
Need more information on online safety?
For more hints and tips on how to shop online with confidence speak to our trusted team members.
