Safer Ways to Use Money Online
In recent years, the internet has become an undeniable part of modern life. We use it for everything, from communication and work to entertainment and education. We also use it to shop and manage our money. Whereas not too long ago the thought of sending money across the world wide web would have felt risky at best (and downright dangerous at worst), these days it is a secure and convenient way to pay for goods and services, send money to friends, or manage bank accounts. Although platforms like PayPal, Skrill and https://neteller.com have proven how reliable they are, there are still some extra measures you can put in place to ensure you’re being as safe as possible when using money online. Here are a few of our top recommended safety tips.
Check Trusted Sources
First off, be sure that not only are you using a trusted e-wallet, online bank, or alternative payment service but that the vendor you are paying money to is also trustworthy. The initial thing to check is that the webpage has a secure address, starting with https. After this, you can take a look at the website or platform’s ‘About Us’ section and see how they work, keeping an eye out for any glaring omissions in their privacy policy or shady language in their mission statement. A great thing to do before committing any of your money to an online purchase or service is to check a trusted review site, like Which?, Trustpilot or Feefo. You can even go one step further and find a review site for the specific sector you wish to access. For example, https://arabianbetting.com/en/ offers a complete guide to online casinos and sports betting, focusing on Arabic speaking users. By covering this niche market, they can go into greater detail with their investigations and therefore provide a full review of each platform. They check out elements like customer support, site security and device compatibility so that you don’t have to.
2FA and Password Managers
When it comes to keeping your money safe, it’s a good idea to implement extra security measures around any online accounts that have access to your funds or bank account details. This could mean using a password manager, which will store all of your passwords in one place, accessible only to you. This method discourages you from applying the same password to every situation (an extremely unsafe practice) and means that there’s no need to write every password down and leave them all scattered on your desk. Depending on which manager you choose, it could also generate random secure passwords for you. Extra security could also mean instigating 2FA, or two factor authentication, on all your accounts. This extra level of protection comes in several different forms, including a one-time code texted to a trusted number or sent to a trusted email address, as well as software or hardware tokens and biometric data collection. It really depends on how secure you need to be, and which tools you have at your disposal.
Invest in a VPN
Finally, it’s a good idea to invest in a reliable VPN for when you’re surfing the net, whether you’re making a purchase or not. VPNs are one of the best defensive tools against nefarious agents on the internet. They can hide your IP address and location, deflect anybody who means you harm and, as an added bonus, open up the possibility of accessing websites which may be blocked in your country. Some of the best reviewed VPN providers like https://surfshark.com claim to protect against hacking, malware, phishing and other online risks such as identity theft, ad manipulation and even price discrimination. This is especially important if you are making purchases over the internet as it increases your likelihood of getting the best deal possible, rather than the worst. For example, popular flight comparison site Skyscanner is well-known for showing increasingly expensive flights the more you check the site, as it remembers that you are interested in making a particular journey. With a VPN, the website cannot know that you have visited the same page multiple times, and therefore simply shows you the same prices every time.
*This is a collaborative post.