The advent of online shopping has made retail shopping a lot easier and less of a task. Sparing the consumer from archaic methods of shopping, the trend of shopping online has gathered its own fan base, thanks to its time and money saving tactics. Online shopping is rather fun, you don’t have to run around in circles to find your fix; just Google in your desirable products and you find more than a hundred buying options for it, compare them and get the best deal. And if you don’t like the product, the websites send people to your home to pick up the product and refund your money, than earlier times, when you had to pester the manager to hear your plea.
Checking for loopholes
But the picture is not all things rosy. Sometimes, you might not even know if you are getting duped. Though this happens more with unknown online shopping websites, anything is possible. You could get involved in a pool of fraudulent activities or unlawful ones that might land you in a soup. Not only on the behalf of the website, but hackers who deal with phishing emails or making use of your personal bank details are some known dangers of shopping online. However, there are some unknown dangers to shopping online and we give you tips on what things you should avoid when shopping online.
1. Unknown websites
Stick to known and reputed websites and online stores that have built a reputation for them and have got to maintain it. It is very much unlikely that dishonest activities will be conducted by these websites. If you’ve never heard of a website you saw, or it looks shady, try avoiding buying anything from there, no matter how attractive the product is.
2. Cash on Delivery
Try going all in for cash on delivery and avoiding online payments. It’s not that they are unsafe or anything, but if you can pay cash for something when it comes to you, save yourself the risk of sharing your account details online where hackers might be looking out. Also, try avoiding the websites which don’t have COD on offer which probably hints towards something a little suspicious.
3. Terms and conditions
The long unreadable list of terms and conditions is generally ignored by most shoppers online but this is the one mistake we make which can cost heavily on us. The website, if a little shoddy may state their ‘policy’ of using your e-mail data or more horrifically, your passkeys and you may end up paying profoundly. So, read the terms and conditions that the website asks you to agree on, and if you feel they are outrageous, skip the website.
4. Golden deals
There are so many deals every day that are just too good to be true. Winning iPhones when you never participated, winning what when you never did anything related to the website are ways of phishing. Do not entertain such offers or emails and keep your spam on for such things. If you come across an online shopping website that offers deals with unbelievable and unbelievable discounts, it’s better you take a skip on that one!
5. Giving out personal details
Avoid giving out personal details on shopping websites like e-mails, phone numbers or your date of births. These are ways to spam you at regular intervals and you may even have to pay for this. Don’t shop for anything on a site you are redirected to from one website as these are probably phishing websites and may steal your personal information and even passwords.
