Even if you are not a savvy shopper, you do admit to shopping on the internet sometimes, don’t you? It is just that Black Friday and Cyber Monday are going on already and then there’s Christmas – Hence I decided to put together a small guide for you to avoid online scammers.

Yeah, I know that you have been on the internet for a while and you know a lot about shopping. But still, It wouldn’t hurt to read what yours truly has to write for you. Maybe some tips from my side will add to your overall knowledge about avoiding internet based shopping scams; the one thing that’s active throughout the year.

• Time to Change Zee Passwordz:

Don’t know why the header for this passage came out with an accent, but I like it that way. Anyway let me ask you something: when was the last time you changed your passwords? Meh… it was a long time ago when the grass was still green and the girls were pretty, wasn’t it?

What I want you to consider right now is changing your passwords. A lot of times, people make the mistake of keeping the same password for all kinds of accounts. Even I did that because I thought that it was easier to remember. However, what I didn’t know was that I was compromising the security of all my internet accounts because of one “master” password.

Change your email account passwords, online shopping account passwords and online banking accounts’ passwords. Don’t use the same password, and try using spaces if the website allows you to. Don’t forget to log out from each website after changing passwords. Make it a habit – the log out button is your friend. Once you are logged out, your cookie information is safe to some extent.

• Two Browser Windows, Anyone?

You can use two browser windows to simultaneously minimize the risk of falling victim to an online shopping scam. At times, the “HTTPS” badge in the URL bar signifies the security of the website. However, there is a possibility that some websites may not have the “Https” wording written at the start of their URLs.

If so, you need to take a look at their URLs twice and prowl for fake user reviews if any. This will help to avoid phishing scams later on.

• Credit Card Shopping:

Credit card shopping has it benefits despite of their huge percentages. At least, on the bright side, you are buying things on credit, which means that you don’t have to pay for them instantly. The anti-fraud campaigns of credit card companies have become somewhat better at catching crooks on the internet. All transactions made from your card can be tracked, which is to attribute to the fact that you are eventually in safe hands.

• VPN Programs for Added Security:

The downside of using a VPN encryption program is a slight over consumption of your internet speed. Despite of this disadvantage, VPNs make up for the lack of internet speed by providing top notch web traffic encryption services. I use Spotflux; it is good. I also tried using HotSpot Shield and LogMeIn Hamachi but compared to Spotflux, they are not that impressive. 

In the end, put your gut feelings and common sense to good use. If a deal sounds too good to be true, it ain’t worth it. Always read product customer testimonials. Fake ones are extremely positive, so avoid buying those products on your favorite shopping website. Above all, if a website is asking for your home number, address and email account passwords; be a little cautious while spilling any beans.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2012 at 10:39 AM and is filed under Computers, How To. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.