A Online shopping in India is on the rise. More and more people are opting to sit back home and surf through 100s of market together on their fingertips. They get to choose from as many options in 10 minutes as they would after around 10 days of store shopping. However, not many give the security of their money a thought. Though Cyber Security is a priority of many of the top online shopping portals, they do not focus much on Cyber Security awareness which leaves their security system vulnerable to hacks and breaches.
When it comes to anything that involves spending money online, hackers give in their everything to break through the transaction security. Irrespective of how strong the online shopping portal claim their security to be, one small slip up from your side can easily allow the hackers to breach it. From wooing users with out of the box click bait offers to fooling them with survey offers, hackers try everything to get the user's personal info. To ensure you don't fall for any of the traps while shopping online, we, at the Indian Cyber Army (ICA) have come up with this little guide covering the basic thumb rules to help you make sure you don't fall prey to any online shopping scam or hack.'
1. Research before you buy.
When you enter the online shopping world, you start finding websites offering you the products of your choice at prices ten times lower than the authentic websites you used to buy from. The temptation of buying ten at the price of one lures you to make the payment in a haste without giving it a second thought. After waiting for over a month or so, when you dial up the customer helpline numbers of the seller and websites, you start realising that you've ended up getting robbed of your money. To avoid that from happening, you just need to stay in your senses and do a simple google check with the website's name. If google doesn't help, you can simply dial up ICA's Cyber Crime helpline numbers to check if the website is authentic or blacklisted.
2. Buy only from Secured Sites.
When shopping online, at some point of time you'll have to provide your credit/debit card details online. Putting up any information online is as risky as anything else. To make sure your information remains secure, all you need to do is make sure you check whether the website you're putting up your details on is secure or not. For that, the first thing you need to do is check if the website address starts an https or not. The "s" after http indicates the presence of an extra security layer called the Security Socket Layer. Secondly, you can check the create date of the website by searching for it on any domain search website. Newly formed websites are less trustworthy while the old ones are more reliable. The website should also have the security passed signs from VeriSign or McAfee. Finally, the payment gateway should have third party options like Visa, and Mastercard. Websites offering money orders or wired transfers only are bound to be misleading or a scam.
3. Ensure Credit/Debit card Protection Services.
Even after you've ensured the security of your website, the security of your card details are not entirely assured. There are ways that hackers adopt to get your details even through secured websites. To make sure you avoid that, you need to find a credit card company that offers a unique card number that you can use on specific websites. There are companies that even offer insurance against fraudulent charges charged online. You can simply opt for such card companies and save yourself from all the hacking threat prevalent in online shopping.
4. Secure your personal information.
No online shopping websites needs your personal information and the ones that do are the ones you're supposed to stay away from. This basic thumb rule needs to remain intact no matter what happens, you're not supposed to submit personal information like your mother's name or your social security number on any online shopping website. Your credit/debit card companies will also never ask you for any password online or over the phone. So without a second thought any such calls or requests for passwords.
5. Read the detailed terms and conditions too.
Offers and promotions are the biggest threats while shopping online. While there taglines sound good enough to lure you, the terms and conditions associated with it may end up scamming you. For instance, you sign up a premium membership for free and earn some cash back as a reward, a month later you find a bill pending on you for the membership you opted for free. To avoid postpaid scams, you're supposed to simply read all the small sized fonts that come along with the offer taglines.
6. Buyers can be Scammers tool.
Online shopping sites are more customer oriented. Many a times buyers order something and then ask for a cash back claiming that the item delivered was damaged or something that wasn't ordered. To avoid this, sellers are supposed to provide the complete product description with every single detail of the product included in it.
With more and more people turning up to internet, it is imperative to come up with a strong Cyber Security system. The basis of which will start from spreading Cyber Security awareness extensively. The Indian Cyber Army (ICA) through it's Cyber Crime Helpline numbers keeps striving hard for spreading cyber security awareness and making the internet a safer place for everyone. For any assistance on any online shopping scam, contact us on the Cyber Crime Helpline numbers +91 99686 00000.
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