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Unconditional ease and comfort in the digital world are totally out of the question nowadays. As much as things are going online, the chances of being cheated are increasing simultaneously. Online shopping is not out of it either. In this article, we are going to share with you the Dos and Don’ts while shopping online to protect yourself from Fraud and Identity.
Why is online shopping so popular nowadays?
Online shopping has gained great popularity in the last decade. Not only because of the growing digitalization but also for the covid-19 pandemic emergency. People are becoming more familiar with the terms like online shopping, add to cart, pay on delivery, promo codes, gift cards, etc.
Now, its popularity is depending on some convenient features, what are they? Let’s discuss the next points.
- Easy to order anytime, from anywhere.
- Get things at your doorstep.
- Easy return and cancellation policy.
- Choose the best one from many options comparing them.
- Save your time and by with just one click.
- Pay online, with cards or UPIs, or with internet banking.
- No pressure to buy anything.
- Open 24*7, buy any time of your choice.
- Get exciting offers and sales on special occasions.
- Many more.
These rummy essential features of online shopping make people more interested to buy online than offline.
But there are certain crying matters you should take into consideration while making an effort to buy online. Otherwise, you can lose your information and become a victim of deception by hackers.
Here in the following points, we are sharing with you what you should Do or what you should not Do when buying from an online store.
Online shopping--Dos:
- Keep your personal information limited. Share information as much as necessary for making an online purchase.
- Do good research before choosing a site for online shopping.
- Check if the shopping website is secured with an SSL certificate, which provides a secure connection to its customers. The website with an SSL certificate must show ‘HTTPS written instead of ‘HTTP.
- Instead of using a debit card try to use a credit card. This is more secure than debit. And always check your credit card bill. It will be safer if you use a virtual credit card.
- Choose strong passwords and change them every few days.
- Always keep an updated antivirus program on your device.
- Confirm every stage of shopping with emails and track them consecutively.
- Always try to buy from reputed sellers and online stores.
- While using public wifi, use VPNs to secure your information.
- Report scams immediately if you face any.
Online shopping--Don’ts:
Don’ts are the same as important as the Dos. They are in the following.
- Do not reply or fall for scam emails.
- Try not to use public wifi
- Do not save your payment info especially on the site where you never purchased.
- Do not buy goods that are too good to be true type.
- Do not buy from a site to which you are not comfortable enough.
- Do not wire money.
- Do not buy anything blindly.
What consequences you might face while shopping online incautiously?
- If you do not choose your desired product wisely, without considering the reviews of the customers you might end up getting bad to the worst product which you never thought of.
- Your online payment can fail or create issues while debiting money.
- You may get a damaged product and the policy of returning it is unclear to you. You clearly will get robbed.
- The security issue is a big concern. What you are putting while filling up the form of making a successful purchase, matters. You can be a victim of identity theft or fraud if you do not be cautious.
- It is also possible that your identity can be stolen and someone else will use it for crime and you get involved in that crime without even knowing a single thing about it.
Anything can happen anytime with your precious information. Beware of what you are doing and why. Every single detail of you is important, so do not share any of them with anyone other than you know them correctly.
What to do when you face Fraud and Identity Theft
What will you do, if one day you found yourself to be scammed?
Do not do anything in a hurry. It can spoil everything. But do not even be late to do something for it.
- Think the whole situation calmly. What you have loose and what you can lose.
- Do not pay more money.
- Collect every data you can get about them from whom you suspect you have been cheated.
- Report immediately to the cybercrime station.
- Show them your proofs and present the whole situation before them fearlessly.
- File the police report
- Tell your bank and ask to cease the account or try to do it yourself simultaneously.
- Do not reply to any suspicious calls or emails or messages.
- The rest will handle the police and cyber department.
FAQs
1) What information can be used for identity theft?
It can be your name, address, date of birth, father’s name, mother’s name, social security number, passport or driving license, account information, card information, etc.
2) How to recover from fraud and identity theft?
Report to the police station nearby, then to the cybercrime department, they will guide you afterward.
3) How to avoid fraud and identity theft while purchasing online?
It is all discussed above in this article please go through it thoroughly, you will surely get your answer. If not please let us know about the particular topic commenting below.
Conclusion
So, you can see how important your data is and how that can be manipulated in doing evil things. These frauds have spoiled many people’s lives. Be cautious in every step you take in this digital world. Fraudsters and hackers are waiting for just one single mistake you make and they are going to use them for their vile purpose. Be careful, be happy and do online shopping vigilantly.
