How to Check if a Website is Safe and Legitimate?
Ecommerce has become a very popular venture throughout the world. Businesses have turned online, where sellers and buyers meet and trade online. As a result of business transformation from physical markets to e-commerce, it has become vital for customers to know how to check if a website is safe to get into and buy from it. Staying safe online is now a priority for anyone that is utilizing the internet.
Internet security processes have improved since the initiation of the internet. This has made online shopping largely secure. However, there are still numerous risks that online consumers can experience.
Data leakage plus fraudulent websites have persisted. As an online shopper, you may experience challenges such as being sold for items you did not order for, mainly replicas of the original items. The goods you buy online can also get you damaged.
The greatest risk that comes with eCommerce is fraud. If, for instance, you are at a public place and consider utilizing the public Wi-Fi, you stand a great chance of getting a risk of being scammed. That is due to the fact that public Wi-Fi is prone to hackers plus malicious software attacks.
Safest way to Check if a Website is secure
Hence, before you make a purchase online, it would be best to first be in the know in regards to the website’s safety. There are varied ways for checking whether the website you want to purchase from is legit or otherwise. They are as follows.
1. Locate The Seller’s Privacy Policy
A privacy policy statement details how the online seller intends to collect, use, and protect the customers’ sensitive financial data. The privacy policy should be out there for all to see.
Hence, before you make any purchase from an online retailer, look for the privacy policy statement. If you cannot find it, then, you should not go forward with any purchase, as it could put your financial data at risk.
2. Find an Address Plus Phone Number
Consider confirming the legitimacy of the retailer before you go ahead with any transaction with them. The best way to find out if an online retailer is legitimate is through the use of a contact number plus a physical address.
Genuine business sellers have phone numbers plus physical address details that you can use to locate them. they are usually displayed either on the header or footer of the retailer’s website.
However, if you have your doubts about the address, you can double-check by copying the dress and contact details and search them through search engines like google. If you find the address and confirm they match, then you can be sure of the retailer’s legitimacy.
Some fake retailers go online to avoid getting detected. Hence, they will have no physical address nor contact details. Hence, check for this to determine the website’s safety before taking any action.
3. Find Out Whether the Website Accepts Credit Card Payments
Credit card payments are widely accepted and are considered the safest mode of transaction online. That is because it is difficult for credit card agencies to certify fraudulent websites. Also, in the event of loss of money due to fraud, it is easy for refunds to be made by credit card providing agencies.
4. Find the SSL certificate
The Secure Sockets Layers (SSL) certificate is a great sign of trust plus legality on websites. There are two common means of determining whether an online retailer is SSL certified. First, you will be able to locate a locked padlock attached to the URL bar. Secondly, you will be able to find that the retailer’s domain name starts with the ‘https://’ and not ‘http://’.
It is a requirement for every retailer dealing with credit plus debit card details to have the SSL certification. Otherwise, their business is illegitimate and is risky buying from them. consider locating the SSL before you make any purchase from an online retailer.
5. Find The Seller’s Authentication Certificate
‘Trust marks’ are often employed in distinguishing legitimate online retailers from fake ones. Legitimate sellers’ websites have trust marks displayed on the header or footer of their websites. You can double-check the trust signal by clicking on them, which should direct you to another site explaining the trust mark.
Hence, before you can go ahead to check out the items being sold by an online retailer, look for the trust mark, and if you cannot see it, then you should reconsider buying from them.
6. Look into Customer Reviews
You can also check out what other customers have to say about the retailer online. This should act as a great foundation for decision-making. There are websites such as Trustpilot, which are a good resource when it comes to accessing customer reviews and experiences with certain online retailer sites. Doing great customer review research can help you in determining the safety of the website you want to buy from more often than not.
Conclusion - Check Website Safety
Trading safely online requires great caution. Many have fallen prey to fraudulent online retailers for not taking their time to check if a website is safe to trade with, in addition to not observing the right safety procedures. The above seven processes can save you a lot of money if you are the type that likes online shopping.
