{"id":7,"date":"2015-11-30T18:33:03","date_gmt":"2015-11-30T18:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qd-design.co.uk\/blog\/?p=7"},"modified":"2020-12-01T10:47:13","modified_gmt":"2020-12-01T10:47:13","slug":"shopping-safely-online","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qd-design.co.uk\/blog\/shopping-safely-online\/","title":{"rendered":"Shopping Safely Online"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to the Centre for Retail Research<\/a> in the run up to Christmas 2014, on line shopping in the UK comprised very nearly 25% of\u00a0all\u00a0sales made<\/strong><\/span>.\u00a0 This was up a whopping 19% on the year before.\u00a0 We spent over \u00a317bn<\/strong> on-line in the six weeks before Christmas 2014.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

As the BBC reported<\/a> Scammers, hackers, thieves and crooks of all persuasions are gearing up to take advantage of our increasing adoption of online purchasing and are planning even more cunning ways to part us from our money.<\/p>\n

Here are 10 ways to shop safely\u00a0on line….<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Visit familiar websites that you know and trust; if you find a site offering incredible deals way\u00a0down on page eight of a\u00a0Google search , there is likely to be something awry.\u00a0 If the deal was that good, it should have appeared on the first page or two.<\/li>\n
  2. Be aware of ‘look-alike’ sites that either use a misspelling of a real business name (e.g. johm<\/strong>lewis.com) or a different ending to an existing\u00a0web address (for example .net rather than .com or .com.uk instead of .co.uk).The \u2018look-alikes\u2019 are sometimes all but identical to the real sites since the crooks have simply cloned the site they are pretending to be. \u00a0Always check in the address bar of your browser to make sure you really are where you think<\/span> you are.<\/li>\n
  3. Look for the lock icon.\"\"When sending details of your credit card always look to see if Secure Socket Layer<\/a> encryption has been enable.\u00a0 This is shown by the web address changing from https:\/\/www.. to https<\/strong>:\/\/www.. (the all important ‘s’ indicating that it is a secure connection).Depending on your browser you should also have visible confirmation that a secure connection is now in use. \u00a0A padlock is added either in the status bar or right next to the site address in Chrome. \u00a0If you are being asked for your card details and there is no padlock the absence of the lock icon should have alarm bells ringing immediately.You wouldn’t stand in the middle of the street shouting out the details of your credit card, so why do the equivalent on line!<\/li>\n
  4. Keep your browser and computer operating systems up to date.\u00a0 Same goes for your anti-virus and other security programs.\u00a0 Hackers in particular, attempt to exploit known weaknesses in programs. \u00a0Omitting to update key software is like\u00a0leaving a window open in your house. \u00a0You are making it easy for the crooks to gain entry.<\/li>\n
  5. \"\"Consider using a browser with the\u00a0Safe Browsing<\/a> function installed.\u00a0 Browsers that incorporate Safe Browsing include Google Chrome, Firefox & Safari.Safe Browsing warns the user when they are about to access a site that may<\/span> have\u00a0potential\u00a0threats. \u00a0More than 5 million warnings per day<\/strong><\/em> for all sorts of malicious sites and unwanted software are provided by Safe Browsing.<\/li>\n
  6. Credit rather than debit. \u00a0The payment protection afforded by using a credit card rather than a debit card is usually greater.\u00a0 Whilst no one ever wants anything to go wrong, at least this might offer a little more peace of mind.\u00a0 Even better than that, try switching to a payment service such as PayPal<\/a>.
    \n\"\"These services never reveal your credit card to the online merchant meaning that if you do inadvertently fall foul of a look-alike site, then at least your card details are still secure.<\/li>\n
  7. \"\"Exercise caution when downloading new apps.\u00a0 Only download apps from trusted sources such as Google Play<\/a> (for Android) or the Apple App Store<\/a> (for Apple devices).\u00a0 Cyber-thieves have\u00a0deliberately\u00a0made similar looking apps to existing ones that can harvest sensitive information.If in doubt, thoroughly read the reviews of the app before<\/u> installing it to see what other users have to say about that app.<\/li>\n
  8. If something seems to be “too good to be true”, it probably is<\/span>. \u00a0Unsolicited email containing details of incredible bargains are almost always bait to get you to access a site that cyber-crooks will use to steal data, information or money from you.A common ploy to encourage people to click a link in an\u00a0email is to make the offer time sensitive,\u00a0“Hurry, only available for 24 hours<\/strong><\/em>“, or saying it is for the “first 200 customers only<\/em>“. \u00a0\u00a0Even if the mail comes from a friend you should still exercise great caution; it is easy to ‘spoof’ an email message so that it appears to come from someone other than the true sender.<\/li>\n
  9. This is a good time to check that you are using strong, unique passwords for all of the sites where you have set up an account. Using weak, easily guessed passwords or using the same password across multiple sites is simply making it easy for the cyber-thieves should your details fall into their hands. If you are not sure what makes a good password, here are some great\u00a0password tips from Google<\/a>.<\/li>\n
  10. Finally, once you have those strong secure and unique passwords in place, you don\u2019t want to forget them (which let\u2019s face it, is easily done when you have tens of sites where you have\u00a0an account). Password vaults such as Keepass<\/a> or LastPass<\/a> are an excellent way of managing numerous passwords.
    \n\n\n\n\n
    Keepass<\/td>\nLastpass<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
    \"\"<\/td>\n\"\"<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Shopping on line is convenient and brings a world of choice and convenience to your front room. \u00a0Done with a reasonable amount of caution, it is no less risky than shopping on the high street. \u00a0Done with less awareness and a degree of carelessness or naivety, and you face a chance\u00a0of getting scammed, fooled or sadly robbed.<\/p>\n

    Take care and above all, stay safe.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    According to the Centre for Retail Research in the run up to Christmas 2014, on line shopping in the UK comprised very nearly 25% of\u00a0all\u00a0sales made.\u00a0 This was up a whopping 19% on the year before.\u00a0 We spent over \u00a317bn on-line in the six weeks before Christmas 2014. As the BBC reported Scammers, hackers, thieves … Continue reading Shopping Safely Online<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[6,10,7],"class_list":["post-7","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-on-line","category-security","tag-on-line","tag-scam","tag-shopping"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t