Nov 23, 2007 / by admin

tips to safely shop online

Padlock

With Black Friday officially here, tis the season of heavy shopping. Nowadays, taking care of holiday wish lists online can be a lot more convenient than hauling the family to the mall. Recall the late 90’s tagline: "shop in your pjs." With this convenience comes precautions, however. Check out our tips below for shopping safely online. For more online safety tips, check out the Get Safe Online website. It’s super informative and gives tips not only on shopping safely, but social networking, dating, even eBaying.

Deal with reputable sellers. Look for evidence of a physical address and telephone contact. Mapquest and/or call to ensure they’re valid.
Be sure to read all privacy and returns policies.
Use a secure website. Look for a padlock symbol in the bottom right of the browser window (NOT on the webpage itself). Click on the padlock to check whether the seller is who they say they are and that their certificate is current and registered to the correct address. Also, be sure the website address begins with "https://". Remember: a secure website doesn’t say anything about the seller’s ethics!
Beware scams by buying from reputable companies. If you’re buying from a company that isn’t hugely popular, be sure to cross-check information on the Internet to see if anyone else has had any problems.