When shopping online, it is necessary to provide personal and financial information, as credit card number, address and CPF. Sites without encryption or with weak security can expose this information to hackers and jeopardize user integrity. In this context, following some guidelines can help the consumer ensure a safe online shopping experience. Check the website's reputation, be alert to signs of fraud and use security tools, like virtual credit cards, are some of these actions.
See below six tips for shopping safely and avoiding scams and fraud:
- Company reputation
Before making an online purchase, it is essential to check the company's reputation. Use tools like Reclame Aqui and social media to research possible complaints about the store. When typing the company's name in search engines, you can get an overview of your reliability. Many complaints are a warning sign.
- Seemingly unmissable offers
Beware of overly generous offers. Extremely high discounts, especially when combined with payment options such as bank transfer, ticket or Pix, are a warning sign. These payment methods are the preferred ones by scammers. Furthermore, fraudulent sites usually offer products at prices much lower than the market. Deceptive pages often have low-quality layouts, with images, inconsistent texts and colors.
- Website Security
Before entering personal data or credit card information, pay attention to the technological security of the site. Check if the online store is encrypted, looking for the closed padlock icon in the upper left corner of the screen, both on desktop and on mobile devices. The icon indicates that the site is secure. For greater safety, use virtual credit cards offered by banks. If the virtual card data is stolen, it cannot be used again.
- Security Indicators Combo
To ensure that a website is safe for shopping, have prior knowledge about the company, confirm the presence of the closed padlock next to the website URL, analyze positive experiences of other consumers on social media, check if there is a low number of negative complaints and verify if the CNPJ registration status is normal with the Federal Revenue Service.
In general, large companies and Brazilian retail websites are reliable and invest in technology and security, including anti-fraud systems. However, many scams occur due to consumer distraction, that ends up providing their data to fake websites after being lured by unrealistic discounts. That's why, being attentive to these tips is essential when shopping online.
To conclude, it is worth noting: even on seemingly secure sites, the risk of data leakage exists. Large companies like Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Apple have already faced problems of this kind. Therefore, the care with your data and personal information should be part of your behavior in all online interactions
