Things to watch out for when shopping online

Are you aware of online threats when shopping online? Unfortunately, not many of us are.

Many Singaporeans perform online shopping and according to a recent PayPal research, Singapore online shopping market is estimated to hit S$4.4 billion in 2015. This significant figure definitely draws cybercriminals who are looking to steal identities and hijack online accounts. As the growing trend changes, so are the tricks and scams done by these lawbreakers. Many Singaporeans are not aware of these dangers in online shopping and hijackers take advantage of their lack of online safety knowledge. This misdemeanour can be prevented if shoppers are savvy enough to avoid falling into their traps. So what are some of the cunning ways that these hijackers do to steal your info?

First, do know that these cybercriminals are motivated financially by making you pay for goods that you will never receive. Worse, they steal your credit card details and authentication details for their own gain. Secondly, the misconception about targeting individual is invalid as they target big organizations and popular websites as well to advertise their goods and services but upon payment, nothing gets delivered. Phishing emails and installing malicious software are their weapons. Unwary users key in their personal information in e-commerce sites and that is how their identities get stolen. This is a worrying issue as most shoppers aren’t aware and cybercriminals are most likely to succeed in this scam. Thankfully, as of now, it is safer to shop on a smartphone or tablet as there is less malware and fewer attackers targeting users on these platforms. Nevertheless, with the advancing technology, this problem can also creep to these platform in a few years time.

Knowing that there are cybercriminals out there should put us on alert mode whenever we perform any sort of online transaction. How can we stay safe? Always do a background check on the websites before purchasing any goods. It is better to be safe than sorry. Also, a personal tip includes googling for reviews done by other shoppers on the websites. Sometimes, all it takes is a little patience and effort to read through those reviews to ensure scamming isn’t involved. Do your online shopping wisely.

Source : Singapore Business Review

Image Credits : Quaero