Over the last several years we have been seeing a huge increase in non-cash payments and online payments in general – it is way more convenient for people, it saves time, it helps with buying from any location and not sticking to a certain city that you live in. However, online payments are less safe than payments with cash – overall there have been many cases of scams that people got into because they were not familiar with the rules of how to pay online and do it securely. In this article we have gathered 9 main principles that it is necessary to follow if you want to buy stuff online: generally, anything from using a chance to buy Instagram followers to a car or a house.
1. Do not trust unknown online stores or market platforms. If you come across some online store where prices are noticeably lower, you should not be content with that, beware. Such a store can be a “one-day shop”. Before using its services, it is better to check the reviews. Their absence is a bad sign, and if you cannot even talk to a manager who should be there to consult you on the products and services available, run for the hills. This is not a place to leave your money.
2. Enable the SMS notification function for card transactions. Any decent payment should be displayed on your smartphone’s screen. When paying for goods online, use payment systems that use two-factor authentication, which means that they send a message with an individual code for each purchase. Never save the data related to your card on any website, including the marketplaces that you trust and love. There have been many cases when companies couldn’t keep the data of their clients secure; sadly enough, this is not even completely their fault. Due to the huge popularity of online payments, today the number of scam groups have grown drastically as well, and their methods become more and more smart each day.
3. Use a separate card for online payment. If you often buy stuff online or have a subscription for any service it is better if you have a separate card and it is even better if it is virtual – that is, existing only in digital form. Such a card is linked to the account of the main card, but it has other data. It is advisable to transfer the amount of money necessary to pay for a specific purchase to it. Even if scammers receive the card details, they will not be able to withdraw money from it. And you will also be able to pretty quickly block it or even close it at all.
4. Do not respond to messages about unexpected winnings, participation in lotteries or the possibility of receiving prizes. In this case, you should never click on the links and enter the card details. Surely, all of us want to wake up billionaires one day, but if you’re not a child, you should realize that things like this never happen.
5. It is very important to observe all the rules of security and confidentiality.If you decide to buy followers instagram or any other services from an online format, you should pay attention to sites that have security protocols in place. These are sites that have a green “lock” or “tick” next to the address at the top of the page. If the site doesn’t have such a feature, it’s better to look for another resource for buying certain products or services.
6. Never pay for anything if you’re connected to the public Wi-Fi network: they are not protected enough, so fraudsters can intercept card data. They can even use your IP-address if they know how to hack the provider; and that can lead to them even getting remote access to your smartphone or laptop. In general, if you’re using public Wi-Fi it would be best to use VPN at the same time; it hides all of the personal data that you “give away” to the net and protects you decently.
7. Pay attention to what data the online store requests. Usually, to make a payment, you need to specify the card number, its expiration date, CVV code, sometimes the name and surname of the owner. If they request some additional information, it is better to refuse the purchase. Sometimes even giving away your CVV code can be dangerous, so do it only on the websites that have a “lock” next to their address and on the market places that you trust and use frequently. In all the other cases it is better to use the code that’s being sent to your smartphone to approve the payment transaction.
8. Request and save a receipt. Online stores are ready to offer an electronic receipt to a phone number or email, and you should always use that option if you want to be sure that later in time you will have something that is going to prove that you have transferred money to people who stand by that website. You might trust them now, but you never know what can happen later.
9. If you see that somebody is taking money from your card, block it first and then immediately contact the bank that issued the card. Perhaps the bank’s employees will have time to cancel the operation and return the money, there are cases when all the damage that has been done to a bank account can be refunded. Hurry up, because time in these situations plays the main role.
Now you have a total “safety guide” to a decent online purchase that won’t leave you robbed by scammers. The last thing that we’d like to say is that if you want to feel protected online in general, today the best decision would be paying for a qualitative VPN service that is going to save all of your data and give fraudsters fake info about you. Use it with all the pieces of advice that we have given you in this article and you are going to be safe and sound always.
