Handy Tips for Online Shoppers
December 21, 2012 | Life & Leisure
The 26th annual survey conducted by Deloitte reported that 69% of Americans prefer to shop from online stores that do not charge shipping costs. According to the Australian and New Zealand Online Shopping report, 53% of Australians are online shoppers.
November and December are the months when online shopping is at its peak. Consumers who have hectic schedules and do not wish to shop in crowded stores find online shopping to be very convenient.
Studies revealed that most of the online shoppers are people who are educated, with higher level of income and have better understanding of the advances in technology.
As e-commerce grows in all parts of the world, the online scams and cybercrime activity also increase. It is important for online shoppers to be vigilant and aware of the new forms of cybercrime.
Here are some useful tips:
- Use credit card and not a debit card. Credit cards offer safety measures to easily detect theft. It is better to use a disposable credit card which is similar to a gift card which you can purchase and simply put an amount on it. The best part is if a disposable credit card is stolen other people cannot access or use the card.
- An online shopper must check the security of the website. You will know if a website is secure if it starts in HTTPS:// rather than HTTP://. Do not shop on websites that are not secured.
- The best place to shop online is at home. Do not try to shop using public computers because you cannot control some malware or spyware that can infect the device.
- Do not put or store your information in online shopping websites. Instead of saving your information, just put it again every time you shop.
- Change your passwords regularly.
- Ensure your computer is protected with up-to-date antivirus software.
- Always check with your friends whenever you receive suspicious emails or text messages from them.
Some popular online shopping website:
- The Amazon.com – The largest online shopping site that opened in year 1995. It is an American multinational electronic commerce with its headoffice located in Seattle.
- Ebay.com – This is an American company that was opened in year 1996. It deals with furnishings, electronics, automobiles etc.
- Best buy.com – This largest online shopping website sells camera, mobiles and televisions.
- 7dayshop.com – This is an online electronic shop in UK which does include tax on your purchase.
- Playasia.com – This is the shop for most of the latest Japanese gadgets. They are selling video games and famous for offering products at cheaper prices.
Watch out for the following scams and forms of cybercrime:
- Emails, using stolen details from friends, with links and attachments asking for personal information and passwords.
- Text messages with links or unknown numbers to dial to retrieve voice messages.
- Breaking into your social networking accounts and using your information to send malicious messages to others.
- Infecting your computer or mobile phone with malicious software via email or text message.
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