The Internet has made many aspects of life simpler, straightforward, and easier. For example, if you need to purchase something, then you can put the order online and have it sent to your home in a few days! This luxury provides a lot of good, but also a lot of potential bad. For example, it has never been easier for people to be scammed through phony websites or insecure payment systems.
When you are purchasing something online, security is key. As every year brings increasing threats to online security, it has become incredibly important to make sure anything you are buying includes encrypted and safe payment options. Let’s take a moment to review buying online, and see who you can trust. In addition, we will take a quick look at some of the most popular and safe payment options online.
Who Can I Trust When Shopping Online?
Like learning how to read a language, figuring out what websites are trustworthy and what websites should be avoided takes time and practice. The more you experience, the better you will be at developing the skill-set necessary to dodge the less than reputable sites that may either expose your information accidentally or even try to outright scam you.
Keep an eye out for the little things. First, if a website is recommended to you via word of mouth, then it is probably trustworthy. Large sites online utilize complex network security to ensure that your data remains as protected as possible.
Understand that no information is safe for long, and you may want to change your passwords with some frequency to keep your accounts safe and secure. As a general rule of thumb, the more tidy and neat a website is, the greater the chance that you can trust it.
The HTTP Vs. HTTPS
If you have purchased things online in the past, then you may be familiar with the HTTP vs. HTTPS. Simply put, the http at the beginning of the website address helps to explain what language will be used to access the information online. Almost every reputable store on the planet does not use http when it comes to verifying payment information. Instead, they move over to an https address.
The https address is far more secure, and provides a standard for ensuring payment security when you are putting in things like your credit card information. With https, a lock image may appear in your browser depending on what browser you have, ensuring that you are aware of the secure status of the webpage. Do not purchase things from a website that does not include the https.
Purchasing things any other way opens you up to having your information stolen and used to purchase things you to not want to purchase.
Safe Payment Options
When shopping online, the majority of websites have a system in place where you can pay for things immediately through the use of a credit card. Visa, American Express, Discover, and Master Card are three popular types of credit cards. There are also alternative options if you do not feel comfortable supplying your credit card information directly to the company.
For example, say you choose to buy iPhone online via some companies offer payment through indirect systems, like PayPal. PayPal allows you to make purchase to and from an active bank account. So, when when you buy online, you provide your PayPal information, verify the payment through PayPal, and the company you are purchasing from never sees your bank account information.
No System Is Perfect
The last thing you should know about buying online is that no system is perfect. Just as you can get robbed while at a store and paying for something in cash, it is possible for people to break past even the best systems given enough intent and time.
