Despite the global economic uncertainty, one of the sectors that has shown exponential growth is e-commerce and online shopping. These figures are expected to continue to rise with a positive balance and a growth of 22% is estimated for 2023.
Although significant advances have been made to shield these operations, security when buying on the Internet is an issue that worries you and here we bring you some tips to make your online purchases a successful and risk-free transaction.
Impulsa Ventures gives you seven Internet security tips for your online purchases
1. Use known and safe websites.
Always use well-known sites when making an online purchase. You should never follow a link whose origin is unknown. In most cases, scammers send lures through fake emails, imitating the appearance of a recognized site, or even the portal of your bank. Also, do not be misled by false promises with discounts or promotions that try to seduce you into clicking on a malicious link.
Whenever you can, validate that the page you are trying to access has the security padlock, which indicates that the connection to the web page is encrypted. You can validate it in the URL, since the site will start with HTTPS.
2. Take care of the data you share on the Internet.
It is essential that the site you are accessing has a privacy policy where you can validate the treatment that will be given to your data. If it is not clear, or even worse, the site does not have these policies, it is best to prevent you from carrying out any operation there.
The data that will usually be requested to complete a purchase are: your credit card information, full name, email, shipping address, billing address and contact telephone number. It will never be necessary to provide other information such as your bank account, driver’s license or social security number.
3. Use strong passwords.
Perhaps you think that having a single password per site and having that password meet certain security standards can be overwhelming. But don’t worry, today there are password managers that will help you manage your passwords. Here are some tips when choosing a password:
Don’t reuse your passwords.
Try to change the password with some frequency. Ideally, it should be done every 90 days.
Don’t use your name, date of birth, or any other easy-to-find information.
Do not write down your passwords or leave them visible, for example in your office.
Combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters.
Brute force attacks are very common, but if you have a strong password, it will be an almost impossible task for hackers.
4. Protect your computer equipment.
An antivirus software is indispensable today, as new threats appear all the time. A security package for your computer equipment is a good investment as it will keep it updated and protected against new virus and malware threats.
5. Avoid shopping online using public connections
Use your own computer. Computers for public use usually save form fields, which may have sensitive data about your bank information, username and passwords. Similarly, try to avoid unknown or unsecured Wi-Fi networks, since it is possible to suffer a computer attack on these networks.
6. Check the seller’s reputation
Before you click the buy button, take a few minutes to look at the reviews of other buyers. Check how many positive comments and reviews the seller has. Avoid making purchases if you see that the seller has negative reviews regarding payments, shipping times and quality of the products they promote.
7. Use online payment gateways instead of your card
Lately it is very common for payment gateways to be used to make purchases online and many sellers and stores are implementing these payment processors as additional options that provide other payment methods to the conventional ones. Among the most common are Paypal, Mercado Pago, Amazon Pay, Stripe, among others.
Enjoy the different options you have to make your purchases online through the Internet without neglecting your security; If you follow these tips, it will surely be a successful operation.
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