What is it?

Online shopping is one of the great inventions of our time. It offers excellent time and money-saving opportunities, as well as convenience. Unfortunately, it also opens the door for criminals to swindle you out of your money by convincing you to pay for products or services that never existed in the first place. Alternatively, they could be after your credit card or banking details.

How can you protect yourself?

• Take note that the ‘s’ in the ‘https’ is no longer a guarantee that a website is secure.
• Choose strong passwords that incorporate different letters, numbers and characters.
• Don’t save your passwords on your devices.
• It’s good online practice to not use the same password for everything. Try to use as many different passwords as possible.
• Be vigilant about the information you share. Legitimate online sellers don’t need to know your ID number or birthday to sell to you. If someone asks for this type of sensitive information, you have reason to be suspicious.
• Double-check bank statements to make sure that your online payments reflect correctly and report fraudulent transactions immediately.
• Register your credit or debit card for 3D Secure.
  Contact your financial provider for details on how to do this.
• Use a robust and reputable antivirus programme and make sure it’s always updated.