How to Avoid Online Shopping Scams: 7 Online Shopping Safety Tips

Grabbing great deals on the internet is almost as fun as finding a bargain in person at a local store. Plus, the convenience of online shopping can’t be beat: Shop, order and pay from the comfort of your home, sit back and wait for delivery. Statistics show that more people than ever are shopping online:  A solid 40 percent of consumers now shop several times per month online. At the same time, a Forbes Magazine survey of 125 retailers showed online fraud attempts were expected to rise more than 40 percent.Bob Schulties is a content manager for Lifewire.com, a technology advice site. He loves to shop online just like anyone else. He’s learned a few secrets, however, that he wants readers to know.Schulties and other experts advise online shoppers to remember these tips:

• Use a site you or a friend are familiar with and have used before with success.
• Ensure you are truly on that site by checking the URL at the top of your web browser. It should not be missing letters (amazn.com) or have extra letters or numbers tacked onto it (www.123_amazn.com).
• Confirm the site is secure by checking for the lock to the right of the URL or an ‘s’ after the http. A secure site will have at least one and usually both. For example, the official Amazon link will look like this:
• Never follow a link to a site. If you receive an email from Kohl’s, for instance, don’t just click the link to get to the deal. Go to the retailer using the URL you already know. The deal will still be available. If you follow a link in an email, you could be setting yourself up to provide credit card information, passwords, and your personal information to a fake site.

• Use a credit card for purchases. You can use a debit card, of course, but that instantly withdraws cash from your account. Credit cards have a stronger layer of protection that keeps your cash in hand as you work out any problems with a retailer, whether it’s fraud or not.
• Never give a site your Social Security number. If a site wants that information, just leave it. There is never a reason, say experts, for a site to require your Social Security number to make a purchase.
• Always change your passwords. Even if you change it up slightly, use a different password for every site you shop. It’s a pain, but it’s a far bigger pain to have your information stolen from one legitimate site and then used on multiple sites to make purchases before you even know anything is happening.

Above all, he says, just stay vigilant. “Most sites are great—if you keep your eyes open, you’ll be just fine.”Source:  Society of Certified Senior Advisors Blog,  Wed, June 7, 2017Image courtesy of blackzheep at FreeDigitalPhotos.net