Five tips to safer online shopping
Love online shopping? You’re not alone. It’s actually becoming a popular pastime in Canada. But in order to protect your computer — and your personal identity – be sure to take heed to these online shopping safety tips.
More Canadians are planning to do some online shopping this year, says Amex Canada. Based on a recent survey they commissioned, 56 per cent of Canadians say will do some online shopping this year, up 5 per cent over 2011.
If you’re one of them, be sure you’re safe about it.
The following are five ways to esnure you have a smooth online shopping experience.
1. Secure sites: Always use a secure Internet connection when making a purchase. Reputable websites use technologies such as SSL (Secure Socket Layer) that encrypt data during transmission. You will see a little lock icon on your browser (and usually “https” at the front of your address bar) to confirm it’s a secure connection. Some browsers will tell you it’s safe to give out your credit card by showing you a green address bar, while unprotected ones will be highlighted in red.
2. Secure payment: Only shop on sites that take secure payment methods, such as credit cards, as you’ve got “buyer protection,” in case there’s a dispute of any kind. While not accepted at as many sites as credit cards, there’s also PayPal, which is electronically linked to your credit card or bank account. Never send cash or a cheque (the only exception is if you use online classifieds, like Kijiji or Craigslist, and meet with the person to conduct the transaction).
3. Avoid Wi-Fi hotspots: Resist online shopping when you’re using a public computer (such as in an airport lounge) or when you’re using a public Wi-Fi network (say, at your favourite café). You never know if your information is being tracked and logged — so it’s best to wait until you get home. On a related note, be sure to use the browser’s “private” feature if it offers one, which helps prevent your browsing history, cookies, and other information from being retained on the computer.
4. Do your homework: Reputable shopping sites should post a privacy policy that outlines what they do with customer information, so be sure to review before you buy. For example, some might sell this data to third parties as an additional revenue stream. On a related note, some sites might attempt to collect personal information such as your shopping habits and annual income. If you’re not comfortable answering these, don’t, or leave the site altogether.
5. Stick within your comfort zone: Finally, if you’re new to online shopping, start small until you become more comfortable, with inexpensive products such as DVDs, books and small electronics like memory cards and USB Flash drives. Also, feel free to stick with businesses you already know and trust as most traditional “brick and mortar” retailers now offer online shopping — and one advantage is that some let you return merchandise to their stores, instead of shipping it back, if need be.
Great advice one caveat I might add to point number three:
If during the use of a secure public WIFI connection a popup displays a warning that the security certificate of the website connection does not match or is otherwise questionable. Do not continue, cancel the attempt and retry until the warning does not happen or better yet, forget it. The warning is telling you that a third party has hijacked the sign on and you would be signing into the hackers system. Giving him/her full access to your system, where he/she can capture your passwords and other valuable data.
Also, if you’re using a laptop ensure your software firewall is well set-up. If a using a pad, phablet or phone, use common sense. Remember to turn WIFI, Bluetooth and file sharing off when not in use.
Most information found relating to WIFI security usually uses a PC signing into a bank using the Man In The Middle (MITM) scenario. This same scenario is relevant to any communication via PC, phones, tablets, etc…
Great tip, Phil, thanks. But I still thin people should resist doing any online banking or shopping until they’re on a more secure network at home (with a solid password) or even 4G/LTE connectivity which is also safer than a public Wi-Fi hotspot.
Marc
Absolutely Marc, I am of the same mindset. When in public don’t use WIFI or carrier communications for banking or purchases.
Thanks Phil !
I have come across so many tips about online shopping security but your tip is totally new for me. Although I generally use my PC at home. But I will keep it remember this one if I will have to use a medium while going out.
Agree with both of you. A little care and attention to details doesn’t hurt