How to keep your money safe when shopping online

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Safe online shopping is made difficult by scam websites, viruses, and hackers. Find out below how you can keep your money safe while shopping online. While convenient, online shopping isn’t always safe. Online criminals are constantly searching for new ways to scam money from victims. Here are 5 ways to avoid online scams and keep your money safe when shopping online:

1. Learn to spot an online scam

   Scam websites aren’t the only threat out there. Scams and phishing can also be sent to you in emails, instant and SMS messages and via phone calls. Often scammers try to appear as a trusted party, like a known brand or authority. Online scammers are usually after your money. Personal details are also valuable to criminals.
   Whenever a website urges you to act fast or it displays offers that are too good to be true, be on your guard. Treat any request for money sent by unknown parties as a possible online scam. The same goes if they ask for your personal details, like passwords or banking information. No trustworthy company will ever ask you for them.
   
   

2. Check the URL – the address of the page

   Whenever you’re making a financial transaction, check the site’s URL. Check from the browser bar that the site starts with “https” instead of “http”. “Https” means the connection between you and the website is encrypted so that hackers can’t spy on your traffic.
   To be sure that a page is not a scam website, check the URL also for typos or any other suspicious elements. Fake websites can look very much like real online shops. The URL can be the only visible warning sign. If you don’t know the online shop, look for their contact information. If they don’t have any, that’s bad. You can also search for user reviews on the internet to figure out if the site is safe or not.
   
   

3. Use an online payment service for safe online shopping

   When you enter your credit card details online, you trust the site to protect your information. That’s why an online payment service like PayPal can make sense. Instead of giving your credit card details to multiple online shops, you give the information only to the payment service. The service then acts as a middleman between you and the seller without sharing your details. This way you are less likely to give scammers your valuable information.
   Online payment services also aim to verify buyers and sellers to protect both parties from online scams. You can look, for example, for Visa Secure and Mastercard Secure Code icons. However, they could be fake too and thus not necessarily a guarantee of security.
   For safe online shopping it’s better to pay with online payment services and credit cards than it is with debit cards and money transfers. In case of fraud, it’s easier to get your money back that way.
   
   

4. Keep an eye on your credit card and banking transactions

   If your credit card information gets compromised, there can be charges without you knowing. So, it’s a good idea to review your monthly statements to find any suspicious activity. Contact your bank immediately in case of anything unknown.
   A good way to protect your money online is to restrict which countries your credit card will work in. Just remember to change the settings back when you need to use your card abroad.
   
   
5. Use antivirus on your devices
   Scam websites and spam emails can also infect your device with viruses. They can in turn record your passwords and banking credentials and use them to steal money from your bank account. To protect your money, use antivirus that blocks these viruses on your computer and mobile device.

Want to better protect your money online?

Keep your money safe online and avoid online scams by using strong internet security from a trusted company. TalkTalk’s SuperSafe Online Defence powered by F-Secure protects you from viruses, trojans, spyware, ransomware and other malware. It also includes a banking protection feature that ensures your connection to your internet bank is secure.

TalkTalk’s SuperSafe Online Defence internet security protects up to 10 of the family’s mobiles, tablets, and computers from Internet nasties for just £4 per month. SuperSafe also comes with a helpful Password Manager as well. Once you’ve selected SuperSafe, you will receive an email from F-Secure to install the apps onto your devices.

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