Safety While Ordering Online

With the increasing gas prices, more and more ordering will be done online. So have you considered what risks are out there during this, and different ways of protecting yourself?

My premise is that self-defense is not limited to just potential physical altercations. When ordering online or frankly any online activity, there are a variety of risks: 1) getting a computer virus, 2) shopping on a fake site, 3) getting your payment information intercepted, etc.

Let’s start with a antivirus program for your computer and phone. If you don’t have and use one, you are having unprotecting computing and can not only get virus from others but can also give them. Apple products are more difficult than others to get virus because you have to type in the admin password and accept it, but it does not mean it is impossible. So if you don’t have one, get one.

Next, be sure you are using some kind of VPN – ESPECIALLY ON A OPEN AND PUBLIC NETWORK. An open network is some place that does not have a password to access. Be sure you home and office use a password to access the wireless network. Also do NOT USE “PASSWORD” as your password.

Bookmark sites you tend to shop with, and do directly to the bookmark to get to the website. If the site does not look right (i.g. different font than usual, misspellings, etc), do not log in or place an order. Sites can be hijacked and redirected.

Another great online safety protocol is to use something like privacy.com. This is a service that essentially allows you to create a custom debit card for a specific vendor or a single one time use. With this specific service, if I have any issues with a merchant, I can just pause any future payments via this method. This is paused until it is unpaused. This is far more convenient that having to pause your bank debit card. I have heard there are other services, but this is the one I am familiar with.

After placing orders, review the order confirmation. If there are any issues, CONTACT THE COMPANY IMMEDIATELY. I used to work for one of the top discount brokerage firms in the country, and I spent most of my time in the electronic order division. If you wait, and they are able to tell, they may hold you accountable for any additional losses that occurred because you failed to bring it to their attention.

Always check your order carefully before placing the order. If something does not look or feel correct, DO NOT PLACE IT.

We have all heard that we are not suppose to reuse passwords. Many of us still do. Using unique passwords is far more easy with an electronic password keeper. I have had great success with 1Password.

Last piece of advice, is to always review your email order confirmations. It is easier to fix something early on.