During the much-anticipated Black Friday week, online shopping scams have surged in many markets, with more than 18,000 complaints filed in recent days.
As the holiday shopping surge approaches, consumers are urged to exercise extra caution to avoid falling victim to fraud during the busy season.
Online Shopping Safety Tips
1. Exercise caution with bargains. Scammers often lure buyers with items priced far below their typical value to grab attention and entice risky purchases.
2. It is prudent to use one-time use or prepaid cards. This way, if a breach occurs, the stolen card would have little or no value to the perpetrator.
3. Choose strong, unique passwords for each site and enable multi-factor authentication whenever possible, perhaps with a password manager to keep credentials secure.
4. Never click on links received via text messages or emails, as phishing attempts may claim packages are on hold at customs or request extra information. Clicking could compromise personal data.
5. Remember that banks will not solicit personal details, access credentials, or full card numbers through insecure channels. If such requests appear, treat them as suspicious and contact the bank directly.
6. If fraudulent activity is detected on bank accounts or social networks, promptly lock the account or card and change passwords.
7. Check that websites use secure connections indicated by https and a padlock icon in the address bar.
8. Conduct transactions only through official checkout pages, avoiding redirects or payments through unfamiliar third-party routes.
9. Verify that the retailer provides verifiable business information, including a registered company name, a physical address, and current contact details, which are often required by consumer protection rules.
10. It is advisable to assess the seller’s reputation and read user reviews across multiple sources to gather as much information as possible before purchasing.