Technology is becoming more and more sophisticated with each passing day, leading to advancements that optimize the way people communicate, interact, work, and purchase goods. However, people’s ingenuity focused on finding new ways to harness this technology combined with their trusting nature has resulted in new realities. Some examples include recent breaches of business and political institutions using methods such as phishing scams and social engineering scams. Hackers (opportunistic data hijackers) use various channels to reach their victims, from telephone, email, websites and even postal mail. This article will go a little deeper into how you can avoid being a victim of malicious activities perpetrated by hackers. Below are 3 things to consider before shopping online.

1) Security

Security is paramount to protect your financial profile, but also your most intimate information. Before shopping online it is important, and sometimes crucial, to avoid trivializing the security measures that websites take. For example, does a third party certificate provider protect the website? Do they use certificates like the Extended Validation Certificates offered by leading web security vendors like Verisign/Norton Secured and Thawte to validate a company’s authenticity and credibility? Looking at the address bar and confirming that there is a green security symbol next to the URL and that it begins with “https://” helps confirm the security of a site. You may also want to confirm that the website is PCI compliant, an accreditation established by major credit card providers to confirm that the website handles credit card information securely.

2) Credibility confirmation

Confirming the credibility of an entity is another important factor to consider. There are many sites online that are created for the sole purpose of collecting end user information, such as emails, passwords, secret security questions and answers, in an effort to exploit and use this information to gain access to even more personal information and private. One way to verify a company’s credibility online is to validate that it has a historical presence, which eliminates the notion that it could be a one-time operation. One resource you can access that might provide you with a trustworthy rating would be to check with your local Better Business Bureau (BBB). They can be helpful in getting information about the company behind the website along with their respective qualifications. You can also do a simple search against reviews for that same business and confirm that a third-party vendor has tagged the business as a trusted entity, such as “Google Trusted Stores.” Some of these third-party seals also provide additional consumer protection against potential fraud.

3) Price transparency

This topic is easy to write. Consumers expect clear and unambiguous sales policies. That means the product being sold on a website must be clearly priced and any additional fees clearly outlined. This is of paramount importance to the inexperienced shopper who assumes he is dealing transparently while surprises lie in wait. Deceptive traders are sometimes very obvious with their tactics and at other times they can be quite covert about it. Some of the tactics may include hidden fees described as processing, insurance and handling fees or variations of these. The simple result is that the consumer may be subject to a substantial increase in the cost of their item. In fact, the order total may increase by ten to fifteen percent. Fortunately, there is a simple way to avoid these bogus tactics. Go back to simple addition and confirm that the total value of the ordered items adds up. Once you do, it will immediately highlight any discrepancies related to possible additional fees that the provider might be trying to add. This opaque sales strategy is a popular deceptive means used to trick the consumer into buying from a supplier who advertises low prices up front to entice the consumer, after which they may charge hidden and/or processing fees at the back-end during the checkout process. It is important to identify vendors that practice price gouging tactics because once all the hidden and/or processing fees are added to the order, the savings the consumer expected could be significantly diminished or even eliminated entirely.

Although the Internet offers many benefits ranging from open competition, shopping from home, orders conveniently delivered to your doorstep, it is necessary to remain vigilant in an effort to safeguard your private information while enjoying your shopping experience. By following the tips above, you can greatly reduce the risk of these threats from occurring and avoid opaque pricing schemes from misleading vendors.