How To Keep Your Online Shopping Sprees Risk Free

Online shopping can be risky at times, especially when you’re looking for something that seems to be out of stock or unavailable in all of your regular stores. Searching elsewhere is where the risk comes into it, as you can’t always tell a fake shop from a legitimate one. Falling for a scam website can be very costly for you, and you’ll end up having to deal with the fraud department of your bank if want to minimize the loss. 

The problem is, you won’t always find out straight away if it’s legitimate or not, because online shopping is something you always have to wait for. Long deliveries can be normal, so you should always check on your accounts when trying new sites.

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Check the reviews

Just because the site is new to you doesn’t mean that others haven’t experienced shopping with them in the past. If you’re unsure about a new site that you’re using, read up on what other buyers have said. You might find that the reviews are overwhelmingly positive letting you know that it’s safe to order; on the other hand, you might find that a large percentage of the customers are saying that they never received their product. Reviews aren’t the most reliable method, but they can give you a good idea of what to expect.

Don’t click on random links

If you ever receive emails from a store that you never signed up for or a link in an email that’s too good to be true - you should never click on it. In fact, you should never click on a link from anyone that you don’t trust. These emails are known as phishing and can compromise any of the sensitive information or accounts that you have on your device, which can be very difficult to recover.

Check the security

The first thing you should do when entering any website is to check its security of it. Just next to the URL, you should see a symbol of a padlock, letting you know that the site is encrypted. This won’t tell you that you can 100% trust the site, but it’s a step in the right direction. Giving your information to sites that aren’t encrypted leaves your details open for potential hackers to access and use. 

Don’t stray too far

It’s generally best to make sure you’re not going too deep into the results pages. Even if your trusted sites aren’t turning up any results for the Jeffery boot or specific jacket that you’re looking for, entering eCommerce websites that are late into the results pages is risky. Search engines rank sites, and the order is the way it is for a reason. Later doesn’t always mean less trustworthy, but the later sites will generally be less relevant to what you’re looking for.

Online shopping is a great tool that we can all make use of, no matter what you’re looking for; and it can save you money - but it doesn’t come without its dangers. Giving your details away to a scammer may allow them to empty your bank account in seconds.