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Online Shopping, Cyber Smarts For The Online Shopper
by Susan Esterbill
Online shopping malls, the newest shopping destinations in the face of the planet composed of 100% electronic goods and shoppers. It may look quite novel for most people but enter unprepared and you just might find yourself ripped off must faster than in the real world.
It’s true, being somewhat new to most of us and thus populated with relatively wide eyed naive people; the internet is fast becoming a melting pot for crooks, thieves and criminals out for easy targets. The absence of any sort of internet police also doesn’t help.
Nevertheless, knowing nothing about the complexities of cyberspace doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re weaponless against these kinds of people. Armed with a bit of cyber smarts, you can even pass for a local in this electronic frontier.
Cyber Smarts Start at Home Nobody goes into the wilderness without some sort of survival kit, which is why you must be equipped with the basic tools and weapons before making your first foray into this world. Here’s what your Cyber switch knife should contain and what they are for: Anti-virus: Against online Viruses that may corrupt your files and make your computer vulnerable to other malicious software.
Anti-Spyware: Protection against software that could monitor your online transactions and hack personal data from your computer.
Firewall: Your computer’s security guard against intrusions from outside your network.
With these three basic tools, you can improve your online security a lot and make it much safer to shop online.
Know who you Deal With The advent of online shopping has made it a lot harder for people to verify who they are dealing with. One thing most people forget to do before going on an online shopping spree is to check the credibility and reliability of the online store. Remember unlike a shopping mall in the real world which may have cost millions of dollars to build, online shopping malls can be built for as low as a hundred dollars maybe even less. Moreover, anyone can build these sites for whatever purposes they might have.
For this reason, do a little background check before paying for the products. Does the website contact information include an address and a customer service contact number? If not, chances are the store is not a legitimate one. You can also look up Better Business Bureau to cross check the address written on the website.
Minimizing Risk It wouldn’t hurt too to use low risk cards for online transactions. For this reason use credits cards with low maximum withdrawable balances. This way, if someone gets through and hacks your account, you will only lose a small amount of money. Refrain from using debit cards for your online transactions too as debit cards have less protection against fraud.
Likewise, stay away from online stores that ask for your social security number as a prerequisite or requirement before making an online purchase, this is because online merchants do not need this information to process a sale. Moreover, refrain from sending sensitive information to merchants asking for your bank account number and password. Some of the letters they may send might look official but keep in mind that passwords are never meant to be shared.
Electronic Guards Make sure that the site is secure. You can check this by looking if the RL has an s after http. The presence of this letter means the site is encrypted and thus all information that passes through will be protected. Moreover, check if the website has a padlock or key icon, an open padlock or a broken key symbolizes an unsecured site vice versa.
About The Author: Susan Esterbill particularly enjoys travel, festivals, and online shopping. http://www.ezOutlets.com
These articles on lifestyle and more
Return to the selection of online shopping
You may want to try these articles on online shopping
Online Shopping, Looking For That Perfect Gift? Introduce Friends And Family To The Ultimate Online Gift Registry by Oded Berkowitz Approximately 492 Words
Online Shopping, Ipod Eco System by Chris Young Approximately 467 Words
Online Shopping, Is Online Shopping Really Safe? by Stephanie Foster Approximately 556 Words
Online Shopping, Bringing Back The Friendly Country General Store......online! by Rick London Approximately 1462 Words
Online Shopping, Experience Online Retail Store Shopping by Roy Shepherd Approximately 324 Words
Online Shopping, Online Discount Shoe Shopping by Roy Shepherd Approximately 316 Words
Online Shopping, 5 Compelling Reasons To Learn To Shop Online - Today! by Diana Ratliff Approximately 775 Words
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://shop.extension.umn.edu/
http://www.onguardonline.gov/docs/onguardonline_online_shopping.pdf
http://www.catalog.com/
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
Online shopping malls, the newest shopping destinations in the face of the planet composed of 100% electronic goods and shoppers. It may look quite novel for most people but enter unprepared and you just might find yourself ripped off must faster than in the real world.
It’s true, being somewhat new to most of us and thus populated with relatively wide eyed naive people; the internet is fast becoming a melting pot for crooks, thieves and criminals out for easy targets. The absence of any sort of internet police also doesn’t help.
Nevertheless, knowing nothing about the complexities of cyberspace doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re weaponless against these kinds of people. Armed with a bit of cyber smarts, you can even pass for a local in this electronic frontier.
Cyber Smarts Start at Home Nobody goes into the wilderness without some sort of survival kit, which is why you must be equipped with the basic tools and weapons before making your first foray into this world. Here’s what your Cyber switch knife should contain and what they are for: Anti-virus: Against online Viruses that may corrupt your files and make your computer vulnerable to other malicious software.
Anti-Spyware: Protection against software that could monitor your online transactions and hack personal data from your computer.
Firewall: Your computer’s security guard against intrusions from outside your network.
With these three basic tools, you can improve your online security a lot and make it much safer to shop online.
Know who you Deal With The advent of online shopping has made it a lot harder for people to verify who they are dealing with. One thing most people forget to do before going on an online shopping spree is to check the credibility and reliability of the online store. Remember unlike a shopping mall in the real world which may have cost millions of dollars to build, online shopping malls can be built for as low as a hundred dollars maybe even less. Moreover, anyone can build these sites for whatever purposes they might have.
For this reason, do a little background check before paying for the products. Does the website contact information include an address and a customer service contact number? If not, chances are the store is not a legitimate one. You can also look up Better Business Bureau to cross check the address written on the website.
Minimizing Risk It wouldn’t hurt too to use low risk cards for online transactions. For this reason use credits cards with low maximum withdrawable balances. This way, if someone gets through and hacks your account, you will only lose a small amount of money. Refrain from using debit cards for your online transactions too as debit cards have less protection against fraud.
Likewise, stay away from online stores that ask for your social security number as a prerequisite or requirement before making an online purchase, this is because online merchants do not need this information to process a sale. Moreover, refrain from sending sensitive information to merchants asking for your bank account number and password. Some of the letters they may send might look official but keep in mind that passwords are never meant to be shared.
Electronic Guards Make sure that the site is secure. You can check this by looking if the RL has an s after http. The presence of this letter means the site is encrypted and thus all information that passes through will be protected. Moreover, check if the website has a padlock or key icon, an open padlock or a broken key symbolizes an unsecured site vice versa.
About The Author: Susan Esterbill particularly enjoys travel, festivals, and online shopping. http://www.ezOutlets.com
These articles on lifestyle and more
Reprint this article free of charge as long as you keep the author's resource box or bio intact and the links active. A copy of the ezine or URL of the page where the article was reprinted emailed to the author would be very much appreciated. online shopping
Return to the selection of online shopping
You may want to try these articles on online shopping
Online Shopping, Looking For That Perfect Gift? Introduce Friends And Family To The Ultimate Online Gift Registry by Oded Berkowitz Approximately 492 Words
Online Shopping, Ipod Eco System by Chris Young Approximately 467 Words
Online Shopping, Is Online Shopping Really Safe? by Stephanie Foster Approximately 556 Words
Online Shopping, Bringing Back The Friendly Country General Store......online! by Rick London Approximately 1462 Words
Online Shopping, Experience Online Retail Store Shopping by Roy Shepherd Approximately 324 Words
Online Shopping, Online Discount Shoe Shopping by Roy Shepherd Approximately 316 Words
Online Shopping, 5 Compelling Reasons To Learn To Shop Online - Today! by Diana Ratliff Approximately 775 Words
You may want to try these websites for additional information
http://shop.extension.umn.edu/
http://www.onguardonline.gov/docs/onguardonline_online_shopping.pdf
http://www.catalog.com/
The information provided in this article is the express opinion of the author. Exchangenet is not responsible for the content!
