Online shopping is convenient nowadays. We are not restricted by geographical location. In past times, without Internet, we are limited by selection and prices in the stores that are convenient to us. Online shopping usually offers us best price for some of your favorite stuffs and the sellers provide fast shipping. Those are the reasons online shopping has become easier and convenient for consumers.
However, online shopping has its risks. According to South China Morning Post, Liu Qi bought a style of sneakers through an online shop because he could not find in local shopping malls. The website claimed to be the internationally renowned brand of Chinese website and promised that all their products would not be fake or else compensation to consumers ten times the original price. As the online shop offered generous discounts and free delivery, Liu has saved up to 110 Yuan (RM53.70).
But once he received the sneakers, he found out that they were badly made and they were fake. After that, he was unable to contact the seller to request a refund.The Norton Cybercrime report 2012 calculates the direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at US$110 billion (RM334 billion) annually. This means that every second, 18 adults (46%) become a victim of cybercrime. This figure is actually increasing compared to 2011 which is 45%.
While somewhat alarming, these statistics should not keep you from shopping online. You simply need some of basic guidelines for safe online shopping and you can shop online with confidence.These are six of the tips of safe online shopping:1. Carry out your transactions from a secured PC. Many people are trying to avoid the installation of anti-malware software.
It is vital to secure your PC from viruses and other attacks. To make sure your PC is protected, keep the software up-to-date. As safe online shopping is concerned, this will help in keeping those malicious programs out of your transactions (Abhijit, 2010).2. Be well-versed with the website you use Never go through search engine results and get the online shop you have never heard before.
You need to understand that more popular the website, lesser the chances of being caught in any sort of web of deceit (Abhijit, 2010).3. Share payment information only with known or reputable vendors To protect yourself is to be careful when you are giving your payment details. You can do research to verify the authenticity and security of online store if you are not entirely sure of its reliability.Or you can use third party payment processors, such as PayPal or mobile 88 instead of giving your payment information directly to the online store. This reduces the risk of your payment details getting into wrong hands, because it is ultimately handles by fewer online entities (iolo, 2012).
4. Use a credit card instead of a debit card Remember always use credit card for payment options. Though many of us prefer to use debit cards for online shopping, they don’t have all the security features that credit cards do. For example, credit cards have spending limits, while debit cards do not, which are directly linked to your bank account, as well as, you can dispute the fraudulent charges made to credit card as long as you report the fraud within 30 or 60 days (depending on the company), but money withdrawn directly from your checking account by a debit card is much more difficult to recover. More importantly, if your debit card number gets stolen, it will give hackers total access to your account, and result in even more difficult situations for you (iolo, 2012).
5. Before you order the product You need to make sure that the transactions are secured, and the shipping policy is in the place. Make sure that there are no hidden costs in the shipping charges. You also need to consider the actual price of the item, handling fees and sales tax (Abhijit, 2010).6. After you order the product Never reply to confirmation mails that asking for personal details.
You need to print out all the online transaction records to use as proof, as well as to save the product description. Lastly, you will have to monitor the time required for shipping as well (Abhijit, 2010).To ensure your safety of online shopping, you need to follow these six general tips. If you end up having a bad experience, you can report the company to the police station or Commercial Crime Investigation Department near to your area.
