Shop securely online!

With the advent of Advent and Christmas, online web stores are already preparing for the festive onslaught. The number of online shoppers is growing year by year, and last year mobile users have further increased this proportion.

Thanks to inexhaustible online web stores, we can shop stress-free from our own home 24 hours a day, thus avoiding the lengthy queues caused by crowded stores. However, this seemingly pleasant shopping alternative can also cause a lot of headaches as cybercriminals become more active as the holidays approach. The following tips can help you get Advent ready safely:

Protect your computer from malware

This advice is not just for online shoppers, but can affect all Internet users. Anyone who browses the Internet must have at least one firewall and an up-to-date antivirus program, as well as the latest operating system.

Don’t fall for suspiciously favorable offers

Online shopping is not only convenient, but can even offer more affordable solutions. With the help of product search programs we can easily find the cheapest prices, but we must not forget that online stores are virtual storefronts, ie we can only rely on the seller for the price, quality and delivery conditions of the product. Therefore, it is worth choosing between products with the utmost care, especially when we come across a suspiciously favorable quote on the internet.

Recognize fake websites

How can we tell that the extremely low price is not just a scam?

One of the most common methods cybercriminals use is to copy the image of a particular online store in an attempt to obtain registrants ’login information (for example, a pop-up window that immediately asks for credit card information) could be a telltale sign. Trusted online stores also disclose company and contact information as well as their terms of use. It also hurts to check privacy policies, security certifications, and other customer reviews.

We disclose your personal information carefully

When shopping online, we must always provide the shipping address, which also requires our personal information. Before giving these, it is worth noting that the provision of our personal information is completely unnecessary before selecting the product, and it is worth reading the fine print to make sure that our data is not disclosed to third parties.

Only buy on an encrypted site

Encryption is key when shopping online, as no one wants access to your sensitive data. If a page is encrypted, the browser's address bar will show an http connection and a small key or padlock will appear, and in some cases the address bar will change color.

Use a separate credit card for online purchases

Another way to protect against cybercriminals is to purchase a separate low-credit card reserved for online shopping. If our personal data falls into the wrong hands, we can avoid major damage.

Use strong passwords

The importance of complex passwords cannot be stressed many times. Passwords containing personal information such as date of birth are easily cracked by criminals. A really secure password contains the following elements: letters, numbers, special characters that are at least eight characters in total.

Save the receipts

You may want to save your order confirmation, invoice and receipt so we can easily track and document our online purchases. Be careful not to lose emails from the seller either.

Let's take advantage of the refund

Online stores provide a refund guarantee in almost all cases. This means that purchased products can be returned within a certain period of time without justification and free of charge.