Online shopping is getting popular these days and you must be aware of some safety procedures. Though you are obtaining high quality products through very fast shipping process, there remains a question about your financial security. If you can follow some basic guidelines, you can definitely participate in the world of online shopping.
Search for Lock: You must buy from the sites which are secured or locked in nature. The sites must have the SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encrypted. Now, how can you identify whether the site is SSL encrypted or not? From the URL itself, you can notice that ‘https://’ instead of the normal ‘http://’ When you type the URL in the address bar, a padlock will appear within the status bar just at the bottom of the browser or it may appear in the address bar. You should never send your credit card information via mail to anybody.
Check Statements: Try to check your statements after the transactions and should not wait till the end of the month for your credit card bill. You can go through all the electronic statements of your credit cards, debit cards and savings accounts. Go thoroughly with the statements to avoid any fraudulent charges originated from any online shopping sites. If you can observe anything wrong in your statement, just try to resolve the matter by phone as soon as possible. You must pay the bill when you are clear about all the charges mentioned on it. For identifying the problems, you are provided with 30 days of time. After this time period, you are required to pay anyway. Therefore, it is advisable that you make use of the time and try to identify the problems, if any.
Secure Wi-Fi: If you want to make cheap online shopping, you must use a private Wi-Fi connection. When you are using a VPN (virtual private network) connection, you can use the wireless by assessing the web. You must be connected with the known networks rather than connecting to the free unknown networks.
Right Passwords: You must use strong passwords which ensure the un-crackable nature. You can create new and unique passwords while shopping from various sites. Never keep all your passwords same for your bank accounts as well as ecommerce sites.
Gift Cards: Gift cards have now become the most preferred option while choosing the holiday gifts from various options. You must ensure the originality of the source and differentiate them from the scammers. It is best to choose the gift cards from the sites where you are comfortable in shopping your favorite products as well.
Too Good To Be True: There can be many lucrative offers which are too good to be true. You must identify them properly. Be careful before forwarding any messages, including offers which might not be true. Unless you talk to your friend personally about his/her experience about the offer, never forward the message blindly.
Avoid Public Terminals: You should not use public computers while making an online purchase. Even if you do, log out from every site you have been using, including your mail accounts. When you are inserting your credit card information by sitting in a public café, you are actually providing opportunities to the hackers.
Try shopping through trusted and branded sites instead of any site that comes up by searching. You must be aware of the misspellings or different domains like .com instead of .net. The similar looking fake sites may trick you so that you share all the financial information with them. Online shopping can be convenient and easy if you can keep the basic safety principles in your mind.
Author Bio: Michael Caprio is an online retail expert. In this article, he is suggesting some ways for cheap online shopping in a safe and secured manner.