Pay increased attention to these things when shopping online. Some pitfalls will surprise you

A new trick of cybershmejdům

Whether you notice special sites where something is not playing or avoiding offers that are too tempting to be true, it is important to remain vigilant at all times. The scammers have now come up with a new type of fraud with a credit card refusal. How does it work? After you enter your debit or credit card number for online payment, an error message is displayed with the announcement that your payment method has been rejected. Then the system will challenge you to try a new card. So you enter a different card number, and the same message will be displayed again. At that moment, you may start asking what’s going on.

So you call to your bank, where the situation will check and the operator tells you that you have been pulled down some amount and you will find that it is higher than the one that the seller originally demanded for the goods. Or a payment from each card you entered has been charged even when the message popped up that the method of the card was rejected. Then you only try to get money back in all ways. But where nothing, nothing. Therefore, we come up with a basic overview of how to avoid such incidents and protect our money and nerves.

Shop only on verified sites

Search results can be modified to deceive you or even infect your laptop with malicious malware. Remember, the great -looking offer of some goods is not worth it. Therefore, buy from verified retailers. For example, those that have stone shops and at the same time have included an e-shop in their business portfolio. Or those sites that you or friends from the surroundings or colleagues from work have already been shopping.

Grammatical mistakes and strange domains

Also beware of typos, grammatical mistakes, or even sites using a domain other than the highest levels, such as .io .com – just strange domains are among the old tricks. While the purchase of goods on this site may look irresistible, but believe that such sites with typos or unknown domain ending are misleading and their goal is to pull out sensitive data and then send you a bank account.

Look for an icon

If you are not sure if the page you have added to your cart, look in the browser’s address bar. Never buy anything online from a site that does not show the icon of the Padlock at the URL. This icon indicates that the site has an SSL encryption (Secure Socket Layer) installed. This means that your data transmissions are more secure than on a clumsy site.

One example in our market is MBank Internet banking. Immediately on the HomePage Bank has long been announcing with the Red Scripture inscription: https://online.mbank.cz/cs/Login and the symbol of the padlock or sliding controls, depending on the type of browser used. After clicking on the symbol, the connection details are displayed. Also, make sure you didn’t get here from the search engine, from a link in e-mail or on social networks. ”

Another way to find out whether the SSL encryption site has to search for the URL beginning https://which is also standard on websites where it does not buy. Google Chrome searches any page without another letter S as “unsecured”.

Go through reviews

Before you tap your credit card number and other information as the date on which your card is valid and CVV code on the back, take proper care of other users reviews. For example, on such a Google, it is just teeming with reviews of shops and services. On Czech Seznam.cz also. If users in reviews write that the goods have not received and the complaint department does not respond to emails, or that they received the goods, but did not even dig the quality of the product, let alone to have it and then return the goods, give it away.

Beware of fake reviews

But beware, even Google Maps reviews can be false and the positive ones with 5 stars can be bought. How the review is bought by the owner of a certain stand with the Prague ham on the Old Town Square and actually how the purchase itself works and how many stands described clearly the authors of the project Boys from Prague. When you understand the principle of false reviews on Google Maps, it will help you avoid favorable shopping.

Video boys from Prague about the purchase of Internet reviews can be watched here:

Personal Data in Forms

There is no reason why an online retailer need to know your date of birth, a second name or God forbid your birth number. The seller has the right to know only your payment information and the name with the surname, or the address to which the bank card is tied. Therefore, it is not a bit of a way to think of it, if you decide to buy on such a website. What will the dealer do for fictional data? Will he say that to you? Whom? How do you know that you have not given the right date of birth? The principle of Internet fraud costs you to get as much sensitive data as possible.

We will give you an example: you will receive an email that looks like an email from the tax office or the Czech Social Security Administration, with your birth number in addition to the description of the overpayment on tax. For some people, such an email seems to be plausible enough to click on an email provided with a link or enclosed file to install a malicious file on your computer. And you don’t want that.

Do not use your debit card

If your debit card is abused, fraudsters can get directly to your bank account. Instead, use a credit card or a mobile payment app instead. Some banks are already offering one -use credit card numbers to make online shopping even safer. Also, most renowned card publishers will not make you responsible for any unauthorized fees. At the same time, most banks also return any cash stolen identity theft, but often have to investigate and may take months to refund your money.

Pay in the brick -and -mortar shops by phone

Paying for a smartphone purchase has become quite standard in stone shops and is safer than using a credit card. Using mobile payment apps like Apple Pay and Google Pay means you verify your identity using your phone you have with you, so no one else can declare for you and steal your data or money. In addition, you will avoid the types of fraud that can copy data from your credit card if you put it in a payment terminal.

Beware of public Wi-Fi

If you buy via public hotspot, stick to familiar networks even if they are free. Think about using the virtual private network VPN to make your online purchases safe. VPN networks are often charged and both the App Store and Google Play offers a long range of mobile applications providing VPN network.

Our recommendations

Check electronic statements from your credit card, debit card and current accounts regularly. If you see something wrong, lift the phone and quickly solve the matter with your banker. In the case of credit cards, pay a credit account only if you know that all your outgoing payments have actually occurred. As a rule, you have 30 days to alert the bank or card publisher to problems.

Source: www.pcmag.com, www.zurich.com