Today we use the internet for almost everything, and as you’d expect, many people will leave buying Mom’s gift until the last minute, and for those thinking of shopping on the internet we have some tips released by a major online security company, Kaspersky, to help you protect yourself and shop more safely. According to specialist Fabio Assolini, consumers can avoid being deceived by paying attention to basically five details when making transactions on the web.
“Mother’s Day is the second biggest sales day of the year, so it’s natural for demand for e-commerce stores to increase at this time. To make matters worse, we’re experiencing a true epidemic of fake e-commerce stores on the Brazilian internet. Kaspersky Lab has even detected fake group-buying stores. If someone makes a purchase at one of these fake stores, they won’t receive the product and also risk having their credit card cloned when making the payment”, warns Fábio.
According to Fabio, one of the easiest ways to deceive consumers is through emails, so here’s the first tip, we should pay attention to emails received from strangers with very attractive promotions and especially not click the links in these suspicious emails. Most of these emails ask for a card number to “validate” participation in the “promotion”, giving scammers an opening to clone the credit card.
And Fabio’s second tip is to update Java, PDF, Flash programs and others, as well as have a good antivirus. Tip number three, pay attention to details such as a small padlock in the web address bar for sites that ask for personal or financial information, this gives you more security, because they guarantee safer browsing by following SSL protocols for encoding information.
“Also, once you’ve placed the goods in your virtual shopping cart, make sure the checkout and payment page is secure. You’ll know whether it is or not if the page’s URL starts with HTTPS instead of the usual HTTP; a padlock icon will also usually appear next to the URL. When you see it, click the padlock and check the information about the digital certificate’s issuer. It’s common for fake e-commerce sites not to display any digital certificate, so if you don’t see one, it’s not wise to continue”, explains Assolini.
Be careful about what you install on your computer is tip number four, you need to pay attention to emoticons, toolbars and applications that can be infected with malicious files. The main problem is spyware, which spies on your computer, collecting your browsing habits and thus displaying targeted ads – often with malicious links that will take you to pages where your data can be at risk.
And the last, but no less important, security tip is to pay attention to what you click on social networks. “Be especially careful with fake promotions and malicious applications distributed on Facebook. With attentive eyes, we can spot various suspicious promotions. Currently most have a Mother’s Day theme”, added Fábio Assolini, senior malware analyst at Kaspersky Lab.
And do you have any tips to share with us? We’re waiting for your comment.