Online Shopping Tips

As more and more shopping goes online you need to be extra careful in where and how you purchase goods online. Here are some easy tips to help keep you and your purchases safe.  

  • Make sure you are using a secure website when entering your credit card information. 
    • A secure website will encrypt your data that you enter, keeping it hidden away from malicious actors.  
    • To confirm you are on a secure website check for the “s” in the https:// before the website’s address 
    • Most web browsers will place a lock symbol in the address bar signifying that the website is secure. 
  • If you are needing to create an account on a website to make a purchase look to see if they have the option to add Multi-Factor Authentication to your account. 
    • This might be especially important if they keep your credit card information on file. 
  • Avoid making purchases on open public Wi-Fi. 
    • Open public wi-fi is vulnerable to people capturing and reading the network traffic. Especially if purchasing on an insecure website, your credit card and personal information might be visible to anyone else on the network.  
  • If purchasing something of high value have it set for pickup at the store or have it set to be picked up from the shipping company (Canada Post, UPS, etc). 
    • Most shipping companies will just place packages at your front door, leaving expensive packages vulnerable to theft.  
  • Almost everything is connected these days, leaving you vulnerable to having your privacy unknowingly breached. From voice recordings, to video/pictures, to personal information, anything can be shared these days.