Online Shopping With Peace Of Mind
Shopping online is really convenient, easy, and open all hours of the day and night. It’s like having nearly any shop you like, coming into your front room for your comfort and convenience.
Since the widespread instalments of optic fibre cabling have massively speeded up computer interactions, online shopping has become more and more popular, encompassing almost everyone in all walks of life.
Taking care and keeping your money safe when out shopping, is second nature, you don’t think twice about checking your change, or shielding your PIN when using a terminal, and it should be the same when shopping online.
Much of online security is down to common sense, and just being used to casting a q uick eye over one or two bits and pieces.
The obvious start, is, if you’re not on a well-known or established site, such as Amazon say, or eBay for instance, ask yourself, “does this site look ok, or if you look hard, does it seem dodgy?” If it has spelling mistakes, or scruffy graphics, it’s probably best left alone.
Make sure your computer’s security programme’s protection stays current by keeping its virus and malware up to date. Most programmes do this automatically, but it’s worth checking on.
Modern security software can automatically block unsafe links inside emails and texts when using your smartphone, which could be waiting to take you to a phishing site.
If you have found a site that you fancy buying from, check that it’s secured for financial transactions, with a quick look at the address in the browser bar. It will start https, however, if it begins just http, do not use it
The missing S is a very important letter. It stands for Socket Security Levels, which means that information leaving your computer is encrypted, and can only be un-encrypted by the sellers terminal. This does not guarantee 100% security, but without it anything could happen.
Another provenance of security, also in the browser bar is the symbol of a closed padlock. If this symbol appears in a different part of the page, again, avoid the site.
When paying for goods online, always use your credit card, as your debit card will not offer you the same measures of protection, and may open a portal direct to your bank account.
The credit card gives you the cover of the Consumer Credit Act which makes the card company legally and severally liable for any breach of contract, i.e. if the transaction didn’t go as planned, the card company have a vested interest in getting your money back, because it is mostly their’s.