Online shopping

Many of us have started shopping online these days as we find very little time to go to different markets and this is especially true for people living in metros or big cities. Most people in different jobs find it tough to go for shopping in real markets while the same items are available online and they have wider choice to compare and buy on a click. Different shopping websites help online shoppers to select and buy or even provide great online deals on some of the astounding item which is right there to grab online.

Make your online shopping safe

Before you decide to buy online, you must know some online shopping tips which would make your shopping experience safe and relish able. Please look at the following tips-

Tip1- There are thousands of shopping sites with online shopping facilities but you must not go for shopping on each and every site that pops-up in first place but you must go for reliable sites which have privacy policies and information about security measures. In a nut she you should only go for shopping on sites which are familiar and reliable or suggested by your friends.

Tip 2- There are certain basic thumb rules which keep your online shopping safe to a certain extent, first does the URL of a particular site starts with a HTTPS instead of HTTP and there should be LOCK icon on the status bar which indicates that you are on a comparative safer and secured website.

Tip 3- While it is good to use your own knowledge about trusted sites and you have full trust in that then there is no harm if you make a permanent account to come back and make a deal when you get news on other sources. But make sure that you take all precautionary measures because even the securest of sites may experience and fall prey to hackers. It is better not to provide any shopping sites with your real birth date or your ID number because combination of these two, make things very easy for internet hackers who are always on lookout for easy kill. You should keep your personal information very personal that will certainly keep your online shopping experience happy forever.  

Tip 4- It is better to use your credit card in place of using debit card, especially while shopping for smaller items because most credit cards provide fraud protection measures that is not available with debit cards. If you use disposable cards or gift-card that makes it another good option because it has limited funds and specific use. 

Tip 5- Do not, as a matter of policy trust whatever you read online. There are cyber criminals who are out to bring you to their fake sites. These sites are full of lucrative offers or fantastic prices, which you can believe only if you were sleeping at the time of reading them. Whenever you find offers too good to be true, you should know that you were on a fake site. The best for you is to google about the company especially if it’s lesser-known one.

Tip 6- Be very careful about your passwords. I have seen the most common password used is ‘your name1234’ that makes you very vulnerable to being hacked. You should instead use a unique password or better still a whole phrase like, I once used ‘iloveyou2honey’ I think its bit difficult to crack. 

Tip 7- Shopping online from public computer is surefire way to invite hackers. Never use a public computer to enter your personal data or vital information if you do not intend to fall an easy prey to ever-waiting cyber criminals.  

Tip 8- It is advisable to check your accounts at a regular interval, also you should check your monthly statements coming from different sources especially. You should make sure that what you are paying to credit card companies was for your personal use or someone else was having fun on your funds.

Tip 9- The worst strategy is to reload conformation pages which failed to load at your previous attempt because a site may charge you on your next attempt as well if you keep reloading that page. The best way in case you are not sure is to call the retailer directly to make sure your payment got through and get the confirmation of order paced. It is better to check credit card statement to make sure your charges were posted properly.   

Tip 10- Do not trust on reviews or depend on them because many sites host such reviews on their sites that may or may not be true. You never know how many sites use fake reviews to hook you so it is good to trust what you read in independent review sites or the best option is to go for experiences your friends shared. If you regularly shop for a particular brand online, it is good to keep an eye on activities of the retailer you shop with on regular basis.

Tip 11- It is safe to download an anti phishing toolbar a way to track sites with dubious intentions. These tools alert you help track sites with malafide intentions. Most of these tools come to you free but very helpful in protecting you from sites trying to cheat you under false pretenses. 

Conclusion

When I say keep a strict vigil on how you shop online, I have no intention to discourage you from doing it but being a little alert helps your cause. Some people feel there is nothing much consumers can do, where hacking online is concerned. That is only happening to people who are providing their data to third parties without a care of privacy in the cyber world. 

Many big companies are sharing our details with different data collection companies for a price therefore it's not safe to use same passwords on different sites. Security questions are also important in cyber security; you must not use such answers which are too obvious to crack. Once again reminding you that your safety is in your own hands and it is not related to online shopping alone but in every sphere of life because you cannot avoid online shopping in this computer age.