With millions of products and websites, it becomes a challenge to be safe, and the biggest problem is to make an online payment secure without risks. Unfortunately, people still make the same mistake again and never make a simple investigation before making a purchase on a new website that they don’t know.
Today you’ll learn how to know if a website is safe to buy from, and how to look at things that scammers use to close your eyes when coming to their websites and pay them for nothing.
It’s not a secret that millions of dollars are spent on daily purchases on the Internet. websites like Google, Amazon, eBay use the latest security protection, and you’re really safe with them. But, when it comes to a new website, or, store that you see for the first time, you should follow my next steps, one by one, to guarantee that you will pay for a good product without being scammed.
Best of all, you will learn how to look behind these scammers and how they use simple things that you never thought can be used for fraud.
How to tell if a website is safe for shopping?
Secure web page with HTTPS
The first thing to look for in every new website is a secure and encrypted connection. Every website that sells items or services should encrypt the connection and information between the user and the server. This is an easy thing to verify in seconds. Secure websites protect their most important pages where people can log in, sign up, or make a payment.
You need to verify that the payment page is secured, all you have to do is to look if you see the green lock at the top left of your browser. That lock is a certification from trusted companies who verified the identity of the website owner, and they encrypt that page with SSL to make it secure. In Google Chrome, for example, the lock looks like the screenshot below:
To make sure that the website is really verified, you should click on that lock and see if the connection is encrypted. You can also see all the certificate details next:
That’s how you know if a website is secure. As you can see, the certificate is valid and delivered from one of the trusted sources which is Verisign. Now, you’ve just verified one single thing, find the next.
Trust and Verified icons
You don’t need skills to learn how to find out if a company is legit. There are a few companies in the world that are trusted by millions of users such as Truste, Norton, Geotrust.com, and Verisign.com. These companies deliver a certificate of trust and security, after doing their own check on the website that you’re looking for.
They check if a website is safe to buy from by verifying, and scanning the site pages and the business profile to make sure that all is OK. Also, they make sure that people can use that website without safety and security problems.
The problem here is that scammers know exactly that people trust those companies, and close their eyes when they see a trusted company’s logo at the bottom of a web page. They know if a website is trustworthy, and what scammers are doing is to copy the security, and trust logos and use them on their pages to show that they’re trusted and verified. The problem is how to check if a website is legit or a scam when they use these logos?
The answer is simple, click on any logo to verify it. A really correct logo will take you to the verification information when you click on it.
The next example is a screenshot from one of the best Payment processor Payza, they’re an example of trusted sites to use.
As you can see for yourself, these logos take the user to a page with business verification and secure information. You’re in good hands with that website.
Website traffic
This is another hidden and good way to see if the website is really doing business with real people or not. All you have to do is to see the Alexa traffic rank for that website, if you find a rank below one million, then you should stay away and never use that site. The main reason is that with that rank, the site receives a maximum of 5 visitors per day, and in most cases, the visitor is the website owner. So, nobody uses them, and you should do the same.
How to tell if a website is scamming you?
You don’t have to learn from books or tutorials, make it so simple if you can’t see a secure connection and without any verification links, that’s a red signal about a scam website. Of course, the business verification business isn’t always a thing to follow. There are many trusted companies that haven’t yet added those icons. But, when it comes to SSL and secure connection, things are different, you should buy an encrypted connection only.
Tips for secure online shopping
Find Reviews
To be able to get an idea about the website, do some Google search and see if you can find negative reviews about the website in question. One of the most trusted sites to find scam reports and reviews is ripoffreport.com just add the website URL or name to find reviews.
If you come across a website or online service and you find no one is talking about them, then, that’s also a red flag. you need to stay away from sites with no reviews about them. However, if the site is new to the business and just launched, then probably, they don’t have reviews for that reason. So, it’s relative sometimes to tell if a website is safe or not by seeing if there are reviews about them or not.
These are the most important steps to see if a website is secure, trusted, and verified or not. If you follow them all, you just walked halfway. Now, let’s take a look at the next tips to avoid fraud while shopping online.
Never make purchases from public places
Avoid using public computers or Wi-Fi for making a payment, even if you know the place. You should keep your details safe, most of the public places can be accessed easily from other sources, scammers search for any credit card details and use them. So, close that door and stay safe.
Update your Computer OS
Before you can check the security of a website, you need to secure your own computer first. If your operating system is up to date, you have additional protection, Microsoft, Google, Apple, and others add any new sources of fraud to their system, and distribute it to their users with a simple update. Make sure to update your OS before any new purchases online even with trusted sites, you don’t know how hackers can get your payment information.
Use virtual Keyword
To add extra protection, you should never enter your bank account and credit card details, directly from your keyword. People can see what you type online if your security system is bypassed for any reason, and, especially if you’re a known personality.
One of the best security systems and antivirus such as Bitdefender lets you use a virtual and secure keyboard to enter your details without being at risk. It’s the best website security checker that shows you if a website is legit or a scam. That happens instantly when you visit websites using your web browser.
Read the website terms and conditions
This is not a step to neglect especially with new websites, you need to agree on what you want to purchase and know your rights. Sometimes, you can find information that will shock you, as an example, scammers can add a paragraph that you should pay them other amounts of money, in order to get the full product. They know that most of the people never read the terms page, and quickly agree to things they never see. Be smart and never let simple things scam you.
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