How to Stay Safe When Shopping Online | PIA VPN - Privacy News Online

We’ve each been there, particularly during the holidays. You spot a Black Friday oregon Cyber Monday deal, it’s from a retailer you’ve not seen before, and it seems excessively bully to beryllium true. Spoiler alert, it astir apt is. You mightiness privation to deliberation doubly earlier clicking connected a random advertisement. Why? It’s astir apt a scam and you’ll ne'er person the item. Worse yet, your fiscal and idiosyncratic accusation is present successful their hands. 

Shockingly, over 50% of Black Friday emails sent betwixt October and November 2022 were detected arsenic scams. It’s not getting immoderate amended either. Americans are 59% much acrophobic of online buying fraud than they were past year, and many spot being scammed arsenic an unavoidable effect of online shopping. 

Don’t judge online scams arsenic an mundane broadside effect of cyber shopping. You tin get astonishing online deals without putting your idiosyncratic and fiscal accusation astatine risk. We’ll amusement you however a fewer elemental steps tin marque your online buying acquisition safer. 

What Are the Risks of Shopping Online?

Not utilizing harmless online buying habits presents a hazard to your idiosyncratic and fiscal information, device, and network. Let’s cheque retired immoderate of the astir costly online buying risks. 

• Financial/credit paper fraud — Credit paper fraud unsocial outgo Americans $38 cardinal during the tallness of the Covid-19 pandemic. Scam sites, deceptive advertising, and cybercriminals summation the imaginable for duplicate transactions and fraudulent purchases portion buying from home.

• Non-payment/non-delivery — Non-payment/non-delivery scams outgo Americans over $337 cardinal successful 2021. The temptation to click connected Facebook, Instagram and Twitter advertisements is real, but galore of these sites are scams. You either don’t person the point oregon it isn’t thing similar the statement oregon image if you do. 

• Phishing emails — Around 90% of each information breaches successful 2022 are owed to spear phishing emails. These emails effort to get you to uncover backstage idiosyncratic information, and often result successful spamming your instrumentality with malware, trackers, ransomware, oregon different harmful software. 

• Identity theft — Online individuality theft is simply a large interest for online shoppers, with astir 33% of each Americans experiencing it astatine immoderate point. Giving your idiosyncratic and fiscal accusation to an untrustworthy retailer tin effect successful them utilizing your information to open fraudulent accounts, marque unauthorized purchases, and more.

5 Tips for Safe Online Shopping

The net is filled with scam advertisements and shops. Being scammed is disappointing and humiliating, but the bigger contented is the magnitude of accusation you springiness scam retailers. They get entree to your name, address, fiscal information, and email. At the bare minimum, you should get acceptable for an influx of phishing scams disguised arsenic peculiar offers connected Black Friday. 

Luckily, you tin avoid scam advertisers and retailers by pursuing a fewer basal rules portion buying online.

1. Buy Directly from Retailers

Avoid scammers by purchasing straight from retailers. If a retailer, similar Amazon, offers respective antithetic stores, marque definite you wage attraction to complaints and reviews. Buying straight done a retailer doesn’t marque a acquisition 100% safe, truthful you request to travel a fewer basal guidelines to support your accusation safe.

✅ Use a retailer’s designated app — Don’t travel links from societal media oregon different sites to acquisition items. Use the retailer’s designated app erstwhile buying connected a mobile instrumentality oregon its website via PC. If you spot thing you like, instrumentality a mates of seconds to jot down the shaper and point name, even if the nexus leads to a morganatic tract similar Amazon.

Then look it up connected the authoritative retailer tract oregon mobile app and marque your purchase. Additionally, lone acquisition acquisition cards from authorized retailers oregon the retailer itself, to guarantee you get a valid card. Being diligent helps you debar trackers and tons of personalized ads from web browsers and societal media.

✅ Look for the lock — A fastener icon to the near of a website URL successful the code barroom means it uses unafraid socket furniture (SSL). Another casual mode to archer if a retailer uses SSL is if the URL begins with HTTPS. When a website uses SSL to encrypt online communications, it keeps immoderate delicate accusation entered connected the tract private. Try to avoid utilizing immoderate retailers who don’t usage SSL to support your idiosyncratic and fiscal information.

⛔ Don’t disregard information prompts — If you person a VPN, antivirus software, firewall, oregon different information and privateness bundle installed, don’t disregard information prompts. They usually popular up due to the fact that a tract oregon app is buggy oregon considered unsafe. You tin ever find the aforesaid point determination else, without perchance putting your idiosyncratic accusation astatine risk.

✅ Stick with acquainted retailers — When successful doubt, instrumentality to retailers you cognize and trust, whether section oregon mainstream. Amazon, Etsy, Wayfair, Walmart, and different large retailers each supply astonishing deals for the holidays oregon mundane shopping, and are acold safer than chartless retailers.

✅ Check retired retailers you’re unsure of — Not each chartless retailer oregon caller buying app is scammy. It’s perfectly good to usage 1 if you bash your owed diligence first. Pay attraction to comments and complaints, do probe connected the Better Business Bureau (BBB), and work reviews for retailers online. If much radical are complaining astir a retailer than promoting it, it’s a bully indicator to enactment away.

2. Use Digital Payment Methods

Check retired utilizing ApplePay, Google Pay, PayPal, oregon cryptocurrency erstwhile available. Digital outgo methods supply added privateness and protection. You won’t request to continually participate your recognition paper oregon banking accusation connected aggregate sites. Just take your outgo method (log successful if needed) and cheque out.

3. Secure Your Devices & Network

One of the champion things you tin bash to protect yourself against cyber threats is to unafraid your web and devices. These basal tips and tools tin assistance you get connected the close track.

✅ Use a VPN — Nothing tin springiness you implicit anonymity online, but a VPN tin summation your level of anonymity. PIA provides beardown encryption to marque your postulation unreadable. We besides usage unafraid protocols similar WireGuard® oregon OpenVPN for safer connections to and from the VPN server.

Ensure the VPN you take has a strict no-logs argumentation to forestall collecting, storing, sharing, oregon selling your data. This mode your idiosyncratic data, location, and browsing habits stay private. A termination power is besides an fantabulous feature, arsenic it helps forestall information and determination leaks if you’re abruptly disconnected from the VPN oregon suffer your net connection. At PIA, we connection both.

✅ Install antivirus software — Even if you person a VPN installed, you inactive request antivirus protection. PIA has an antivirus add-on, but not each VPN does. It isn’t modular signifier and astir VPNs can’t support you against viruses. Antivirus is indispensable due to the fact that it protects your bundle and hardware from microorganism attacks that tin cripple your web and destruct your devices.

✅ Strengthen the 3 P’s — Create strong passwords, PINs, and patterns for each delicate hardware and often utilized devices, including your router. Avoid utilizing sequential numbers (e.g., 1234, 7654, 0000) oregon easy accessible accusation similar your commencement twelvemonth oregon graduation year. Device patterns indispensable besides beryllium unique. Stay distant from simplistic lines and shapes (e.g., L-shape, consecutive lines successful immoderate direction, oregon a square).

There are tons of bully & escaped password generators retired there, similar the 1 from F-Secure.

When choosing passwords, use a operation of little and uppercase letters, numbers, and punctuation oregon symbols. Never usage your sanction oregon thing easy obtainable from your societal media, similar nicknames radical telephone you oregon your pets’ names.

✅ Use two-factor authentication — Using two-factor authentication (2FA), besides known arsenic multi-factor authentication (MFA), is an fantabulous mode to marque definite each acquisition is made by you. 2FA options see SMS (text), PIN, propulsion notifications, and one-time passwords (OTP). Some retail apps, email providers, and mobile devices springiness you the enactment to usage 2FA. GooglePay, PayPal, oregon ApplePay tin besides punctual you to participate a password oregon PIN anytime a acquisition oregon relationship entree is attempted.

✅ Personalize and privatize your network — Name your network, marque it private, and make a beardown password for your router. Private networks with passwords are much hard for cybercriminals to manipulate. It’s champion to store successful the information of your location utilizing your backstage network.

Avoid utilizing nationalist Wi-Fi to store whenever imaginable and, if you truly request to, marque definite you usage a VPN erstwhile you connect. A VPN masks your postulation with encryption and provides a unafraid transportation erstwhile you’re utilizing nationalist Wi-Fi oregon unsecured networks.

✅ Keep your firmware and bundle updated — Install information updates for mobile and desktop arsenic soon arsenic it becomes available, and download firmware updates to your router for optimum functionality. These updates hole existing issues, support hardware moving smoothly, oregon fortify your security. Regularly installing updates helps forestall anyone from exploiting weaknesses successful your web and devices.

4. Trust Your Instincts

When thing doesn’t adhd up, don’t propulsion your doubts speech — investigate. Deals seeming excessively bully to beryllium existent usually are. Websites and services asking for accusation you don’t truly request to supply are usually a scam. 

Most retailers and services don’t request your societal information fig oregon birthdate to merchantability you something. Of course, exceptions beryllium for sites needing to verify your age, specified arsenic an adult-only website.

5. Raise the Alarm

If you find a scam tract oregon person an unfortunate acquisition with a seller oregon retailer, rise the alarm. Leave a reappraisal oregon remark and report the fraudulent tract oregon service to the authorities. You tin marque a quality to idiosyncratic else who whitethorn not beryllium arsenic knowledgeable astir harmless online buying arsenic you are.

PIA tin assistance support you portion buying online.

Absolutely. PIA provides each the tools you request to support your online traffic. 

You tin prime your encryption level. Use our default 128-bit AES encryption for mundane tasks and faster streaming, oregon take military-grade 256-bit AES encryption for added information to disguise your traffic. Both forms of encryption are presently unhackable, truthful even if a cybercriminal could intercept your information, it’s unreadable. 

PIA besides comes with an all-in-one blocker (MACE) to block annoying ads and different harmful software astatine the DNS level earlier it reaches your device. That means you tin store online without being followed. You tin besides take add-ons similar our antivirus protection, to region malware and halt viruses without tracking and logging. 

Where you store online, what you browse for, and what services you usage are your business. PIA ne'er collects your usage data. Our No Logs argumentation is court-tested — we ne'er person immoderate information to manus implicit connected request. Since it’s the season, we besides person an fantabulous Black Friday VPN connection and you get a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Stay Safe Online Year-Round

Protecting yourself online is your responsibility. Fortunately, you tin person a safer online buying acquisition by pursuing a fewer elemental steps. Any clip of the twelvemonth is an fantabulous clip to beryllium mindful of your privateness and information portion buying online. 

PIA tin assistance you shop much securely each year – conscionable a azygous subscription covers up to 10 devices simultaneously. You tin safeguard your idiosyncratic and fiscal accusation from each your astir utilized devices for online shopping. We see antivirus, an all-in-one blocker (MACE), and you tin usage military-grade 256-bit AES encryption for added security. 

FAQ