How Can One Protect Their Privacy When Shopping Online?

A few things you can do to stay secure are listed below:

1. Do not be greedy, just because a particular store online is offering you prices you will not receive anywhere else, does not mean it is a good deal. If you do not pay attention to certain important indicators for security and read the description of the product properly you could lose much. Be sure that the website you shop from can be trusted.



2. When you are shopping online you need be careful about phshers and scammers and there are so many of them around. Though, there is a way to dodge them by ensuring that you are on the right website, a website you can trust and not on any other website that is a scam. Check the address, make sure it belongs to the website that you can trust and then enter your personal and account details. Always open a new browser window when you get a link in an email for online shopping.

3. Secure browsing is essential. Make sure that the address of the website you are shopping at starts with 'https'. Also look for the padlock symbol to ensure that you are not at threat.

4. Using a third party payment system could offer you additional security as well. These accounts work as a buffer between you and the merchants you are shopping with. Services like PayPall and Google Checkout offer third party payment systems so that you can stay secure by serving as middlemen. This will also reduce the hassle of entering in your account information every time you make an online purchase.

5. You could also consider keeping one credit card only for shopping online. In this way if your details do fall into the hands of someone you cannot trust, the limit will be too low to exploit.

6. Pre-paid credit cards are an option that a lot of people are using today to stay secure when they shop online. There are a number of choices you have and you can choose between CVS, Walmart or a number of other stores as well. In this way, if a thief does get a hold of your credit card details, you will not lose out on a lot of money, but just the amount that is loaded up on your card.

7. When thieves get a hold of your credit card information in the real world, they can use it online. To save yourself from this threat, you have to pay special attention to safeguarding your credit information in the real world as well.

8. Make sure that you do not share your online passwords for third party payment systems like PayPal with anyone. If you get an email from a bank that is requesting you for passwords or PINs, you can be rest assured that it is someone wanting to get access to your account, so refrain from divulging that information. Banks have a standing policy not to request their customers for their passwords or PINs.

9. It is ideal to change the details of online bank accounts once every two or three months. Make sure that it is a combination of letters and numbers and it is something that is difficult to crack. Ideally, if it is a randomly generated password, it is the best, however, you may have trouble remembering it. Once you have chosen a password, make sure that you do not share it with anyone.
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