After Black Friday, good news for consumers and merchants as Cyber Monday offers begin. However, online shopping has its own risks.
The products that are most in demand and attract the most interest in Black Friday and Cyber Monday offers are -according to research- the electronic devices, The smartphones and laptops.
In fact, according to a survey by SEPE, 7 out of 10 consumers are interested to buy electronics, smartphones, laptops, toys, white goods, furniture and home appliances. In fact, 6 out of 10 have pre-selected the 4 items they are, on average, interested in buying.
Experts from the global cybersecurity company ESET give three basic tips on how to protect yourself when shopping online these days of discounts.
Away from scams
The shopping season can usually be full of opportunities especially during BlackFriday and Cyber Monday, when shoppers are looking for discounts, but it is also the favorite time of the year of swindlers since they are betting that consumers will not be careful enough and will be more gullible. However, one thing that stands the test of time is the oft-repeated rule that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually is not.
So, if you come across ads that bother you or overwhelm you with pop-up banners with 90% discounts on luxury brands, you should probably avoid them. If you click on these ads, you may be redirected to a phishing website or a fake website that will try to collect your sensitive information, such as online payment data, or install malware on your device - whatever it may be. , the only one who will win will be the scammer.
In order not to fall victim to fraud, Your best bet is to limit your purchases to legitimate stores and authorized platforms that you can trust.
Connect to secure networks
Since you will be shopping online, the first point you should check is the right internet connection.
You may be tempted to do your shopping in your spare time and this sometimes means that you will do so when you are in a cafeteria or outdoors - however, public Wi-Fi hotspots are not always safe. In other words, when you are connected to public Wi-Fi try not to make any online transactions which includes sensitive data such as payment information.
In such a case, your device could be infected by malware or your sensitive data could be stolen. It is better to limit your online shopping to secure and intimate internet connections, so the best thing to do is to use either your phone data plan or connect to your home network.
You should also not neglect it security of your home network. If you have not touched the security settings of your router since its installation, now would be a good time to set it up properly.
However, humans are busy creatures and have chores to do during the day, so they may secretly make some online purchases here and there. So if you still want to do this in a public hotspot, use a virtual private network (VPN) so you can shield your browsing and shop safely.
Secure your device
As you can make a lot of your purchases from your smartphone, just for convenience, its safe use should be self-evident.
However, a significant number of people still believe that smartphone its just a phone and not a pocket computer, which they carry daily and use to perform all kinds of work.
This means that they underestimate how much personal data is stored on these devices, from photos and personal information to payment cards in their wallets that they use to pay for their shopping.
Hence, these devices must also be protected. At this point you need a reliable security solution - these protect your device from all kinds of malware, as well as from malicious activities carried out by threat carriers, such as phishing attempts or sending malicious links.
You should also consider enhancing the security of your device by adding lock screens which are a combination of both biometric locks and passwords.