Prevent Fraud and Personal Identity Theft When Shopping Online
While an online shopping site lets you pick the items you want without lining up behind others in the queue, it has also become a common tool to aid criminals in stealing your information online. Though you cannot get a 100% guarantee that you will be protected, you can make it extremely hard for cyber thieves to swindle you by following certain guidelines to prevent fraud and personal identity theft when shopping online. Here are five suggestions to monitor identity theft while shopping online – 1. Always ensure that the website is encrypted: It is important to make a purchase from a trusted and well-known site, but in case you decided to buy an item from an unknown site, make sure to check that the address begins with “https” instead of just “http” once you get to a purchase page. The “s” in “https” means that the site is secure and your financial and personal information is encrypted before being sent over the Internet. 2. Review the policies of the website: Before purchasing an item, make sure to review the privacy, online shopping, and return policies of the website. If a retailer’s site has no privacy policy, looks out of date or does not function properly, it shows a lack of attention to details. The bottom line for you in this context is – beware because they may be ignoring security updates which could risk your personal information too. 3. Keep your computer security current: Keep your system secure with regular security updates and use comprehensive security tools to help prevent viruses and identity theft and fraud. 4. Analyze your credit card bills and purchases: Save and print your online bills and compare them to your bank or credit card statement to ensure that you have been billed appropriately. Contact your bank in case of doubt. 5. Use an online identity theft monitoring service: An identity theft monitoring service monitors, alerts and helps online shoppers to protect their personal private information such as credit card and debit card details, full name, date of birth, address and phone numbers, which diminishes the risk of personal identity theft online. Along with that, it also identifies the misuse of your identity, stops unwanted catalog and spam mails, enables browser privacy through cookie removal tools and more. Maximize your online shopping experience by following security guidelines and enjoy the pros of technology in the comfort of your home. Get real time identity theft protection with MyID and monitor identity theft with instant fraud alerts. Protect privacy on the internet and be secure online.