Online Transaction Safety Tips
Online shopping has grown exponentially all across the globe in the past few years including India. Thanks to the technological improvements in bringing the purchases online and thereby saving the time and energy of the shoppers. Considering the easeful process involved in the system, it is also good to be alert and safe from any possible phishing attempts or hacking your account and steal your personal data on the world wide web.
Even though online shopping sites claim to have placed "Extra Security" to their system to safeguard your data, it's better to be on a safer side individually and be protected against the possible danger. Below are some of the suggestions to safeguard your online transactions on smartphones, tablets or desktop.
Image credit: www.featurepics.com
1) Give default information
When you save your personally identifiable information, please provide only the mandatorily asked details and try not to be proactive in providing as many data as possible.
2) Use unique strong passwords
Avoid using the passwords that consist of only alphabets or numbers. Avoid giving your name, place name etc as they are easy for the hackers to peep through your account. When you give passwords, ensure that they are difficult to crack. Generally, a strong password should be a combination of upper case, lower case, special characters, and numbers.
3) Transact using popular websites
When you buy something online, make sure to use the popular websites such as Amazon.in or Flipkart.in as they have the pan-India presence and majority are aware of. Before you sign up and transact, ensure to double check the website name spelling, URL, extension (meaning whether the site is ending with .in, .net, .com and so on).
4) Check the security level of the website
Another key point to be noted is to ensure to use SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) encrypted websites for all online transactions. It's very easy to understand! Please check out the URL of the website, which should start with "https://" instead of just "http://". To be in a preventive mode, never save your credit/debit card information on the websites for future use.
Every time you transact, please enter them again, I hope no one transacts multiple times in a single day that it is very much annoying to enter card information repeatedly! After all, it's for one's own safety and not for someone else! Secondly, never share your card details via mobiles or emails.
5) Protect against malware and virus
Protect your devices, computers, tablets or mobiles using a good anti-virus program like Quickheal or Norton Internet Security packages and have updated versions of the anti-virus programs. This will help to secure your account effectively from the bad guys who try to steal data using trojan malware.
6) Avoid transactions on-road
I know you are already aware of it:) When you travel, avoid transacting from a public internet or computer or wi-fi. In an emergency, even if you do, try to log out of your accounts, emails completely as early as possible. Always ensure to use a secured, password protected internet connection while transacting or browsing the internet.
7) Validate the promotional links, coupons, tags found on social media
When you click and buy thru referral coupons from social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter, validate them and ensure that you are not landing into a spam site or page even though it may appear to have been shared by one of your friends. You may personally check with the so-called 'sender' to verify manually or be vigilant about it.
8) Check card/bank statements
On a periodic basis, weekly or bi-weekly check your credit card or bank statements and monitor the transactions. If you notice any fraudulent transactions from unreliable sources, please report to your bank to take action. This would help even the bank to take action on the fraudulent entities. Generally, banks in India offer 30 to 45 days time period to solve these kinds of transactions.
Even though online shopping sites claim to have placed "Extra Security" to their system to safeguard your data, it's better to be on a safer side individually and be protected against the possible danger. Below are some of the suggestions to safeguard your online transactions on smartphones, tablets or desktop.
Image credit: www.featurepics.com
1) Give default information
When you save your personally identifiable information, please provide only the mandatorily asked details and try not to be proactive in providing as many data as possible.
2) Use unique strong passwords
Avoid using the passwords that consist of only alphabets or numbers. Avoid giving your name, place name etc as they are easy for the hackers to peep through your account. When you give passwords, ensure that they are difficult to crack. Generally, a strong password should be a combination of upper case, lower case, special characters, and numbers.
3) Transact using popular websites
When you buy something online, make sure to use the popular websites such as Amazon.in or Flipkart.in as they have the pan-India presence and majority are aware of. Before you sign up and transact, ensure to double check the website name spelling, URL, extension (meaning whether the site is ending with .in, .net, .com and so on).
4) Check the security level of the website
Another key point to be noted is to ensure to use SSL(Secure Sockets Layer) encrypted websites for all online transactions. It's very easy to understand! Please check out the URL of the website, which should start with "https://" instead of just "http://". To be in a preventive mode, never save your credit/debit card information on the websites for future use.
Every time you transact, please enter them again, I hope no one transacts multiple times in a single day that it is very much annoying to enter card information repeatedly! After all, it's for one's own safety and not for someone else! Secondly, never share your card details via mobiles or emails.
5) Protect against malware and virus
Protect your devices, computers, tablets or mobiles using a good anti-virus program like Quickheal or Norton Internet Security packages and have updated versions of the anti-virus programs. This will help to secure your account effectively from the bad guys who try to steal data using trojan malware.
6) Avoid transactions on-road
I know you are already aware of it:) When you travel, avoid transacting from a public internet or computer or wi-fi. In an emergency, even if you do, try to log out of your accounts, emails completely as early as possible. Always ensure to use a secured, password protected internet connection while transacting or browsing the internet.
7) Validate the promotional links, coupons, tags found on social media
When you click and buy thru referral coupons from social media accounts like Facebook or Twitter, validate them and ensure that you are not landing into a spam site or page even though it may appear to have been shared by one of your friends. You may personally check with the so-called 'sender' to verify manually or be vigilant about it.
8) Check card/bank statements
On a periodic basis, weekly or bi-weekly check your credit card or bank statements and monitor the transactions. If you notice any fraudulent transactions from unreliable sources, please report to your bank to take action. This would help even the bank to take action on the fraudulent entities. Generally, banks in India offer 30 to 45 days time period to solve these kinds of transactions.
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