Secure Shopping Online

Online shopping has grown tremendously in recent years. In order to remain competitive and gain a share of the online marketplace, major e-tailers now provide customers with more options and product choices, and physical stores offer their own online incentives. Additionally, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, hundreds of thousands of people have switched to online shopping for items that they previously purchased from local stores. Unfortunately, cybercriminals' efforts to target the unwary and uninformed have increased alongside consumer online activity, resulting in massive losses for those who have fallen prey to these dishonest individuals.

However, just because cybercriminals and scams on the Internet are on the rise doesn't mean you should stop shopping online. If you take the necessary precautions and adhere to important Internet security tips, you can shop safely online.

What makes cybercriminals successful?

Online shopping is actually quite risk-free for the most part. It is unsafe because of individuals and their online shopping and Internet habits. And precisely that is what cybercriminals rely on.

They rely on your ignorance of identifying phishing emails. They depend on you using weak passwords or the same username and password for each online account. They rely on you logging into private accounts via public Wi-Fi. In essence, they rely on you, the customer, to disregard a straightforward instruction.

And if you don't, they might be successful in their efforts, which could end up costing you more than just the money in your bank account; it could end up costing you your identity, which could result in a slew of financial and personal issues.

Internet security tips — for safer online shopping

This list of easy-to-follow Internet security tips was compiled by the Kaspersky team of Internet security experts to help you shop safely online. You will be able to shop online safely and engage in other online activities as well if you teach them to your family.

1.Use the internet in safety.

You run the risk of clicking on "poisoned" search results that could lead you to malware rather than your intended destination, despite the fact that search engines are very helpful when looking for product reviews, price comparisons, or other information. Your computer can be ruined by malware, which can also steal your usernames and passwords for online accounts. You absolutely do not want any kind of malware to infect your computer, regardless of the type.

So, how can you stay away from these tainted search results that are made by criminals online? You can make use of tools like Kaspersky's URL Advisor or add-ons for third-party browsers like Web of Trust. These can help prevent you from entering malicious websites and clicking on poisoned links. You can also shop safely online by following the next Internet security tip...

2.In the address bar, enter the URL

Phishing scammers rely on you clicking a link in an email to take you to a retailer's "website." Similarly, when it comes to links in sour search results. However, those links actually take you to websites that are cleverly designed to look like those ones. Therefore, you are actually giving your username and other information to a cybercriminal when you think you are entering them on Amazon's website.

Therefore, entering the retailer's URL into your web browser's address bar is much safer to ensure that you are visiting the genuine retailer's website. This easy step can help keep you from visiting a fake or malicious website, even if it requires some extra effort.

3.Get a credit card for a while

Cybercriminals have developed malware and extremely sophisticated methods that can sometimes thwart your best efforts to shop safely online. You can use a temporary credit card instead of your regular credit card to make online purchases as an additional level of security for safe online shopping. You might be able to get a temporary credit card number from your credit card company.

This will allow you to make a one-time purchase, and many credit card companies will do it. Swindlers who manage to steal your credit card number are prevented from making any additional fraudulent purchases as a result of this.

Note: Any purchases that necessitate automatic renewal or regular payments should not be made with these kinds of credit cards.

A virtual credit card is another option offered by some financial institutions. Similar to your regular card, this one generates a unique account number for each purchase to prevent hackers from using the number again.

4.Use a computer exclusively for online banking and shopping

If you have multiple computers, it might be best to use just one of them for online banking and shopping. You effectively create a "clean" computer that is completely free of computer viruses and other infections by not using the computer for any other Internet-related activities such as downloading files, checking email, social networking, or other online activities. Install Google Chrome with forced HTTPS for additional security and safe online shopping. This guarantees that the websites you visit are safe.

5.Make use of a special email address

You can do the same thing with an email address as you would with a "clean" computer. Make a new email address that you will only use to shop online. This will greatly reduce the number of spam messages you receive and the likelihood that you will open potentially harmful emails disguised as sales announcements or other notifications.

For instance, if you use your Amazon.com-specific email address for online shopping but receive a message from Amazon in your primary email address advising you of a problem with an order or your Amazon.com account, this could be a fake or malicious message sent by cybercriminals.