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5 Ways To Stay Away From Fraud When Paying Online
With more things being paid for and bought in the online space, there are now more online payment methods for everything from gaming to groceries. The fact that this space is so ample and you can buy anything from anywhere has been hailed as a revolution.
However, amidst the hype, several dangers have appeared. Fraudsters have pounced on online payments as one of the top ways to scam online shoppers and sellers alike. With that in mind, here are a few tips to avoid online banking and payment scams.
1. Be Alert
This may seem like the most basic advice, but remain aware when you’re about to make or are making any financial transactions or payments – this is one of the top ways to avoid scams. Double-check the confirmation screen and the account details used to pay the money. If you have any concerns, cancel the payment and never feel you need to complete a purchase.
2. Communicate
As soon as you feel you may have been a victim of a scam or online fraud, you need to communicate this with your banking provider. Even if you need to cancel the transaction or suspend the debit or credit card, you can easily do so by using the free contact systems online or by telephone that most banks and financial institutions have available to converse with customers.
3. Use a VPN
After the increased amount of hacking online over the last year, we’ve been asked several times what the most effective VPN providers on the market are. After trying many platforms ourselves, we would say the winner is Surfshark. There are many reasons for this choice, but the Top 3 are:
- Not only do they have an awarded VPN service, protecting your privacy, securing your identity, and preventing third parties from tracking your device, but they have a super efficient antivirus program. It offers protection from viruses and zero-day threats, a lightweight, clean, and easy-to-use app, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
- They help you hide your online searches, which will get you purely organic search results, free from ads and tracking.
- They will notify you when your personal info is leaked online.
Awesome, right? The best thing about it is that Surfshark offers 76% off + two months free for the Scam Detector readers. You can get the deal HERE.
4. Use Crypto To Pay
Using crypto to pay for goods and services online ensures anonymity and is one of the fastest ways to pay for most things online. This anonymity provides the most significant safety online in that the main form of financial fraud is accomplished after the user’s personal details have been stolen.
Safety and anonymity are just two of the reasons why many internet users prefer using cryptocurrencies as their method of payment these days. If you want to use crypto too, you can use the OKX crypto platform – okx.com is a site where you can convert your cryptocurrency of choice and check and note all the values and exchange rates of all the crypto available.
Crypto offers more security and is thus one way to avoid being scammed if you use it correctly. No changes can be made to the public ledger or blockchain once a transaction has been made, and as such, no one can defraud the person paying or the recipient.
5. Don’t Click On Unknown Attachments
Unless you know the sender or have some reason to expect an email from them, you should only open some emails you receive from unknown senders. This advice must be taken and used, especially in online banking.
These are some simple ways to help you avoid being scammed when you make online payments for e-commerce and internet-secured goods and services. Stay safe out there!
How To See If A Website Is Fake
If you feel a website might be suspicious, feel free to verify it using our unique Scam Detector website validator below:
How To Report An Online Scammer
Let your whole family and friends know about these online payment tips by sharing this article on your social media. You can also officially report scammers and other suspicious activities to the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) using this link:
How To Protect Yourself More
If you want to be the first to find out the most notorious scams on a regular basis, feel free to subscribe now to the Scam Detector newsletter here. You’ll receive periodic emails – we promise not to spam.
Meanwhile, educate yourself with some other financial fraud-related articles right under this paragraph, so that you know how to stay safe online. Last but not least, use the comments section below to expose other online payment scams.
