Top 5 Risks of Online Shopping and How You Can Avoid Them
We here at Quick Heal love spreading the word about online safety and everything that one can do in order to strengthen their online presence without compromising on security. We recently hosted a successful webinar in line with our knowledge sharing activities, and we were overwhelmed with the response and support we received. However, for those of you who were unable to make it for the webinar, this blog post will outline what we spoke about and how you can implement that information in your day to day activities.
Webinar Topic: Top 5 risks of online shopping and how you can avoid them
Hosted By: Swanand Shinde, Education Director – Cyber Security, Quick Heal Technologies
It’s an Online World After All
When it comes to online shopping, there are several benefits that one can immediately take away. It is quick, easy, flexible, and cost efficient. One can find better deals on online stores and compare goods in a way unknown to physical retail stores. As a result, B2C e-commerce sales all over the world exceed $1,250 billion – more than the national income of several small countries.
However, with such large volumes comes the very real threat of cybercrime. Naturally, cyber criminals do not want to miss out on this extravaganza. As a result, online shopping portals and shoppers are their fateful targets. This is especially true during the festive season as there are several online sales and discounts flooding the marketplace. As customers rush to grab the best deals, cyber criminals wait in the background to trap them.
What all online shoppers should beware of
For shoppers, here are the common risks that they need to be wary about. Knowledge about these common attack vectors will help people avoid potential crimes against them and also enable them to educate their friends and family members as well.
The risk of ‘Phishing Scams’
These are the most common kind of threats to be careful about. It is very simple to make a fake page that resembles a genuine shopping site or page, and then get a buyer to enter his details there. Once the user has been tricked into sharing his personal details or bank details, he becomes a victim of an online scam or malware campaign.
The risk of ‘Online Theft’
When a user visits a site and makes an online purchase, his details entered are up for grabs. This is the prize that online attackers look for and makes their efforts worthwhile. These details can be acquired by an attacker either by phishing the user, or by hacking the server of a genuine site and stealing details. Once a cybercriminal has in-depth information such as Name, DOB, Contact details, Address and more, he can cause a huge financial dent in the victims account.
The risk of ‘Specialized Malware’
The most common cases of data loss or theft stem from exposure to malware. Malicious software enters a machine through email attachments, downloads, infected websites, infected devices and more. Once inside, they can spy on a user’s activities, redirect him to malicious portals, track keyboard inputs and perform other highly dangerous activities. Malware authors deliberately target such malware during times of high traffic, so as to get maximum exposure and hits.
The risk of ‘Fake Stores’
Fake stores and deals are the bane of all online shoppers. How many times have you seen an ad for a really sweet deal and clicked on it only to be directed to a fake and shady looking website that has absolutely no sign of the deal you clicked on? Such sites often become malware distribution centers and also offer inferior or fake goods. Mobile shoppers in particular, need to be wary of fake websites or pages that make high promises.
The risk of ‘Fake Apps’
With a large population of smartphone owners, app developers are having a field day at the moment. However, online shoppers need to look out for fake online shopping apps that make lofty promises of several great deals. Once an app has been installed, it has access to several system files and data and can also ask the user to save his card details for future purchases, and then transmit all of this information to a remote server. Smartphone owners need to be even more cautious since their devices are highly vulnerable through multiple channels.
While these online shopping risks can disrupt many people’s lives, there are many solutions that can be adopted as well. These range from effective antivirus solutions to propagating knowledge sharing platforms. Stay tuned for the next post in our series about safety tips for online shoppers for more information on this subject.
We have another upcoming webinar on 29th October, and the topic for discussion there is “How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online”. All who are interested in attending this webinar, can visit our social media platforms for the registration portal for this webinar. We look forward to seeing you there.
52 Comments
ThanX for all ur secuirity tips
Thanks
THIS PAGE IS VERY USEFUL FOR ONLINE SHOPPERS
Please fix the pc problem
Hi Ganesh,
Could you elaborate on the issue you are facing.
Regards,
Dear sir,
your are the best to decided genuinity of any site. You can also flash the alert whenever visitor is visiting fake site. Also you can also certify mobile apps. Why don’t you start this service to the buyers of quick heal protection.
regards
Hi Mrutyunjay Bhide,
Thank you for your suggestion. Whenever our user visit a fake, phishing, or a malicious site, Quick Heal automatically blocks the site and flashes a warning message.
Regards,
Good piece of advice. You could make this even more effective by publishing the list of currently widespread phishing scams, malwares, key loggers, fake apps and other such defrauding and damaging tools floating in internet space from time to time…
Thanks
thanks for acknowledge us.and please continued….
Ofcourse there is information on dangerous malicious software and what it does. But where are the guidelines for safe shopping??? How to overcome this problem? How to find out which one is fake website??
Try giving the full information guys !!!
Very very good information
Thanks for notice about our securites
nice man..keep them coming…i read all your awareness articles…thanks!!
VERY GOODS
Thanks to Quick Heal
thanks
1.I would suggest all internet users to install an anti malware like Quick Heal to check malware and virus attack.
2.Instead of 3D verifucation which is carried for onetime regusteration for all purchases on that site preferably use OTP which is generated afresh for every transaction.
3.Use Credit Card with a limited purchase value.Do NOT use DEBIT card linked with your main account.
4.Ask for bank statement every month and compare it regularly.
Thanks for Advice.
Thank you for the useful information .
thanx
Thanks for that information, and I wish you keep us informed about such threats.
How can i know that the web page is fake or real ?
Hi Shibasish,
We have listed down some helpful tips on how to find if an online site is fake or real in the link below.
https://blogs.quickheal.com/spot-fake-online-shops-stay-safe-from-scams/
For more information, you can also follow >> https://www.wikihow.com/Find-if-a-Website-Is-Legitimate
Regards,
thanks for such a important information
The page is useful but it has been concluded abruptly. It would have been better if it would have concluded with five points in bold letters.
Thanks….
Thanks for this useful information, it will definitely help to online shoppers.
Thanks for ur useful advice
Thanks to QH for giving this type of valuable advice time to time.
very very useful info. but remedial action is also required in brief.
Dear Sir
I am using QH antivirus pro from last 4 years. It protects my PC superbly but whenever a malware enters the PC, it does not protect it in real time i.e. it does not stop it from entering the PC, rather i have to run a scan and then it detects and removes the same.
Is it not possible to protect malware infection in real time or is it possible with any other product of quick heal?
Is doing online shopping using mozilla firefox more secure than using chrome?
Thanks and Regards
Hi Aashu,
Quick Heal works on real-time virus detection technology, and that is why it keeps taking regular security updates. Could you kindly tell us as to how do you come to know when a malware enters your PC, so that we can provide you with an appropriate solution?
Both Mozilla and Chrome are secure browsers. However, it also depends on the site you are shopping from. This blog post has described all the important measures you should take.
Regards,
Dear sir
This is in continuation of previous discussion
Last time when i visited the e-banking homepage of a bank and logged in using chrome, everything was going fine but as i was about to do a transaction, google chrome stopped unexpectedly and it closed. when i tried to reopen google chrome, it didn’t. then i ran the anti-malware scan and a malware was detected which was removed by QH.Then again i tried to open it but it didn’t,so i did traansaction using firefox. Then i ran the QH antivirus scan. After some time when scan was just 10% complete, i tried to reopen. now it was working fine.
This problem has even occured few times while i am about to make payment on a shopping portal.
very very useful for on line users
Thanks for this Consumer educative information
Very useful tips giving how one can get trapped while online shopping. All need to read these tips and follow. Thanks for alarming us…
Thanks for this very useful information on fastive session.
I booked a flip cover of rediff shopping on 8th Oct 2014 but stil even there,s no conformation of the product ammt has already paid by debit card order no10524948 & awb no is 19811142864.
Hi Swadhin,
Have you tried getting in touch with the customer care of this site?
Regards,
THANK YOU FOR THE ALARM CALL .INFORMATION NEEDED T6O COMBAT THE RISK FACTORS.
Thanks a lot.
Very good explanation. It will be helpful, if you could give us some samples or examples of online fraud, that is happening right now….Anyway thanks for the informations…
Really, Quickheal dong excellent job. Yours is not only Money oriented business policy but you work for the People with honesty by giving Alarm for odd things.
Many thanks to all Quickheal Team.
Happy Dipawali to all.
quick heal is doing great work by publishing these articles
Thinkxxxx
Thats good information but how quickheal block phinsing websites can u eleborate me is this feature support on android device free version app plz mail me and give me an explaination plz on my above email plz
Hi Sonu,
If you click a link that can redirect you to a phishing site, Quick Heal will block the site and will prevent you from going any further.
Quick Heal Mobile Security does not provide phishing protection, but Quick Heal Total Security for Android does.
Learn more about the product here – https://www.quickheal.co.in/home-users/quick-heal-total-security-for-android
Regards,
THANX FOR YOUR VALUABLE INFORMATION.
THANKS
THANK YOU VERY MUCH, FOR YOUR USEFUL TIPS
Really, Quickheal dong excellent job. Yours is not only Money oriented business policy but you work for the People with honesty by giving Alarm for odd things.
Many thanks to all Quickheal Team.
Happy Dipawali to all.
Thanks for valuable information.