How to Protect Your Identity When Shopping Online
In 2019, there were 3.2 million identity theft and fraud reports, with about 900,000 of those being from consumers. And unfortunately, that number will grow if we do not learn how to protect ourselves online.
Though there is always some level of risk when shopping online, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself online. Imagine that a burglar comes to break into your home but finds himself met with an alarm system warning sign, a dog growling, and all of the doors and windows locked tight. What do you think he will do?
Truthfully, if he really wanted to, he could find a way to break into your home, but that’s a lot of work. Most likely, he’ll move onto the next house that has little to no protection- the path of least resistance.
The same is true with hackers and cybercriminals. Why would they need to work so hard to get your information when so many people leave themselves wide open?
How to Shop Online Safely
The steps here can make cybercriminals decide that it’s too much work to get to you. For the best results, try implementing them all.
Protect Your Devices
Be sure that you have antivirus protection on every device you use to shop online. Antivirus protection can help prevent phishing attempts and malicious attacks from hackers.
Use Private Networks
Never, ever, ever shop online with a public network- ever! Public networks are like a hacker’s playground, and using them can get you into trouble fast.
The best way to protect yourself from public networks is to use a VPN or virtual private network. They create a completely private and protected space for you to browse the Internet and shop safely, even in the middle of a coffee shop.
And while they are great for use in public, they are also very effective for home networks to save you from a lot. I do not want to creep you out, but it’s important to understand the things I’m about to tell you.
Not only can your home network be hacked to get your personal and financial information, but it can also give hackers access to your home. Bad people can even access your webcams, your smart TVs, and your home security systems that are hooked to WiFi and watch your family inside of your home.
Using a VPN can prevent all of that, and they are pretty affordable. Some provide unlimited connections, so you can connect every device your family has at the same time.
Be sure that you look for one with a kill switch. That feature means that if your VPN connection drops for some reason, your device will immediately get disconnected from the network. You will not go unprotected for a moment. Make plans to get a VPN to protect your family completed from hackers.
Verify the Site’s Security
You absolutely must make sure that the website you are shopping on is legitimate, and there are a couple of things to look for to be sure:
1. Secure sites do not start with HTTP://. You only want to shop from sites whose URL begins with HTTPS://.
2. Most secure sites have a little lock icon in the web address bar, or the word “secure” is in the address. This is not necessarily on every page of the website, but it is certainly true on the pages involved in the checkout process.
Beware of Sales Emails
At some point, you have no doubt got an email from a company telling you about a sale and maybe even giving you a coupon. While not all of them are scams, some are. To know if you can trust it, pay attention to the following:
1. The email address from which it was sent
Most companies have the company name in the email address. Scammers do not. If the email address looks strange, don’t even open the email.
2. Watch for spelling and grammar errors
For some reason, most phishing emails are fraught with bad grammar and terrible spelling. While we are all human and make mistakes, emails with too many of them are a pretty good indicator of something you do not want to mess with.
3. If you did hit the link, then the page it takes you to is telling
Unfortunately, hackers have learned how to mirror their sites to look just like a legitimate company’s site. You can determine that they are not legitimate, though.
To protect your identity when shopping online, it’s best not to click on links in emails as they are sometimes malware and phishing scams. Just because the link looks like it comes from the company does not mean anything. A cybercriminal can easily hyperlink a completely different address.
Instead of clicking the link, type the website’s address into your search engine. If the email came with a legitimate coupon, that coupon will work when you go straight to the company’s site. If the email says that it can only be used if you click a link, leave it alone.
You can always contact the customer service department of that company to see if they sent it to you. Until you know, though, please stay away from it.
Use a Credit Card
Another way to protect your identity when shopping online is to use a credit card instead of a debit card. Most credit card companies provide some form of ID protection, while most debit cards do not.
However, an even better idea is to either use a disposable card or a third party payment processor, like PayPal. Prepaid credit cards do not require that you add a lot of personal info, and there is only a certain amount available. For example, if you load $200 on a prepaid card to do some Christmas shopping, all a hacker could steal if they did get the information is that $200- not everything in your bank account or your entire credit limit. It’s not that the $200 isn’t a lot to lose. However, it is a lot less than your entire life savings. And if you add the money right before shopping, it will be gone before anyone has time to hack it.
Paying through PayPal means that the merchant does not get your personal information, which is great when you are trying to protect your identity when shopping online. PayPal sends the payment, so nothing else needs to be shared. Just be sure that you only do this through services that you know are trustworthy, like Venmo, PayPal, Apple Pay, and so on.
Do Not Add Unnecessary Information
Almost every merchant needs your payment method, your name, and your address. If one asks for personal information like your social security number, though, back away. No merchant needs that information.
Check Out Any New Vendors
While there are a lot of legitimate online vendors, there are plenty of illegitimate ones, too. It takes a lot of vigilance to stay away from them.
One way scammers get over on people is by placing insanely low prices. And why wouldn’t you look at them? We all love low prices, and saving money is on everyone’s mind. However, we are not talking about saving 20 or 30 percent here. We are talking about prices that are way too good to be true.
Let me give you an example: Last year, my sons wanted a PS4 for Christmas. They were about $400 at the time, give or take a little. Some were $350, but then there would be $50 for shipping, so...yeah, $400. There were a few cheaper bundles, but none that I could find were less than $350.
Then, as I am looking again one night (I was a bit obsessive trying to find a lower price), I see one for $125 brand new. Now, I’m not going to say it’s never possible to find a really low price- it can happen- but I did not recognize this store. I went to the site, and there were no reviews from anyone.
I could not find information on them anywhere. Were they a legitimate company? I honestly cannot say. It might have been that they were just brand new and had not had time to get reviews. Maybe they were able to get a low-cost lot of PS4s somehow, or they were just hoping to use that low price to build a good reputation.
I cannot say anything for sure. What I did know, though, was that if they were not legitimate, someone was going to get my $125, and I still would not have a PS4 for my boys. In fact, I would be $125 further away from getting it, so I did not risk it. I have not heard anything else from that company, so I assume they were not legitimate.
The point here is to be very vigilant. When working to protect your identity when shopping online, try to stick to stores that you know. If you decide to venture, only do so if you can confirm that the store is legitimate.
Do Not Add Unnecessary Information
Almost every merchant needs your payment method, your name, and your address. If one asks for personal information like your social security number, though, back away. No merchant needs that information.
Check Out Any New Vendors
While there are a lot of legitimate online vendors, there are plenty of illegitimate ones, too. It takes a lot of vigilance to stay away from them.
One way scammers get over on people is by placing insanely low prices. And why wouldn’t you look at them? We all love low prices, and saving money is on everyone’s mind. However, we are not talking about saving 20 or 30 percent here. We are talking about prices that are way too good to be true.
Let me give you an example: Last year, my sons wanted a PS4 for Christmas. They were about $400 at the time, give or take a little. Some were $350, but then there would be $50 for shipping, so...yeah, $400. There were a few cheaper bundles, but none that I could find were less than $350.
Then, as I am looking again one night (I was a bit obsessive trying to find a lower price), I see one for $125 brand new. Now, I’m not going to say it’s never possible to find a really low price- it can happen- but I did not recognize this store. I went to the site, and there were no reviews from anyone.
I could not find information on them anywhere. Were they a legitimate company? I honestly cannot say. It might have been that they were just brand new and had not had time to get reviews. Maybe they were able to get a low-cost lot of PS4s somehow, or they were just hoping to use that low price to build a good reputation.
I cannot say anything for sure. What I did know, though, was that if they were not legitimate, someone was going to get my $125, and I still would not have a PS4 for my boys. In fact, I would be $125 further away from getting it, so I did not risk it. I have not heard anything else from that company, so I assume they were not legitimate.
The point here is to be very vigilant. When working to protect your identity when shopping online, try to stick to stores that you know. If you decide to venture, only do so if you can confirm that the store is legitimate.
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Use a Password Generator with Two Factor Authentication
Let a password generator help you create a different password for each of your accounts. Google provides one, as does Apple and several other companies. They are not difficult to find.
When you use two-factor authentication or 2FA, it’s like having two locks on your door. Your password is the key to one. The second factor is usually a security question or a rolling code that gets sent to your phone. That is the key to your deadbolt.
By using 2FA, you are greatly reducing the chances of a cybercriminal being successful. Even if they have the first key- your password- they cannot get in because they do not have the deadbolt key.
Lock Your Card
Most banks have a feature that allows you to lock your card when it’s not in use. It was originally advertised as a tool to use if you lost your card or thought it was stolen, but its usefulness does not stop there.
I keep my cards locked all of the time. When I need to use them, I just go into the app on my phone and hit the unlock button. As soon as my purchase is complete, I lock it back up. This prevents my card from being used without my permission.
As a side note, locking your card also prevents payments from going through that you forgot about. For instance, if you signed up for a free trial of something and forgot that it was about to come due, the payment does not go through. You’ll get an email from the subscription service, letting you know that they could not charge you. You can then decide whether to unlock your card to keep the subscription or cancel it.
If you don’t have a credit card yet, and you are interested to get one, check out our recommendations. Put in your information and you may get offers that suit your needs best:
Watch What You Post
This is not directly linked to shopping, but it is imperative that you watch what you post online. Hackers can use personal information they find about you on social media accounts to guess passwords and more.
As an added measure, never post pictures with your house number, street name, or any identifying information in them. Believe it or not, some people have accidentally posted photos with their credit card statements in the background.
Credit Monitoring
Having an identity monitoring service will not protect your identity when shopping online, but it will send you an identity alert when your information gets used. If it is not something you have done, you can get to work rectifying it immediately.
If You Think Your Identity Is In Jeopardy
If you think you have been a victim of identity theft, take the following steps immediately to minimize the damage.
- Report it to the FTC. They will help you develop a plan and provide a report that you can take to the police
- File a police report as soon as possible
- Freeze your credit and monitor closely. Sign up for a credit score tracker that will alert you when your credit gets used. If you notice anything odd, contact the credit bureau immediately
- Put your card on hold and call the issuer. Let them know what is going on so they can tell you any additional steps you need to take
- Call the credit bureau. If you report it to just one credit bureau, they share the information with the other two
- Immediately change your passwords on credit cards, bank accounts, and anything else that might be connected
Conclusion
Identity theft can wreak havoc on a person’s life, but you don’t have to let it happen to you. Take every preventative measure you can to protect your identity when shopping online. Hopefully, you will be able to deter cybercriminals from ruining your life.