The holiday season has arrived for many people from different countries and cultures of the world. This time of year is wonderful and special for everyone - it's the time for having fun, being with your friends and family, giving and receiving presents, and also making dreams come true!

For me, giving presents is simply as exciting as receiving them. And what fun it is to shop for gifts, knowing that they will bring happiness and joy to your loved ones!

I'm pretty certain that you shall do at least several of your shopping on-line. It is not a secret that online retailers offer great consumer appliances - https://aduanasescuelavlb.edu.pe/perfil/wesleyboland deals. But at the same time there is always a potential danger of your money getting stolen by shifty dealerships, scammers, and spammers.

OK, so maybe some of you do not mind giving a couple of hundred dollars to thieves. On the flip side, it would be much better to donate that money to charity.

If you want to protect yourself from online fraud, then read on! Here are five simple tips that may help you shop online safely.

Always Shop From Trusted Sites

There are plenty of sites that offer amazing bargains. The truth is, many of them are so amazing that they simply can not be true! Well, most likely they are not - a lot of websites only pretend to be shops. All they want is to steal your money. Bear in mind, nobody will probably offer you a vehicle for the price of a burger. As such, I strongly advise you not to use search engine shopping. Or maybe if you do, check and double-check the website before entering any payment details.

Pay focus on: security seals shipping, return, and refund policies

use of secure connection (https://) when the website asks you to enter payment details

You can also research unfamiliar shops on sites like RipoffReport.

Never-ever buy anything advertised via emails from unknown senders and never click on any links in those emails either. Those emails are more often than not a scam and links take you to sites that put viruses onto your system. And never shop at web-sites that ask you to wire money or send money orders.

Make use of a Secure PC

Regardless of how careful you are, there isn't any guarantee that the computer is not infected. Anyone who browses the net, visits social web pages, and downloads software simply can't be 100% sure that their PC is malware- and spyware-free. As such, before you start shopping, check that the computer has comprehensive protection and run anti-virus and anti-spyware scans. Use reliable up-to-date software.

I recommend using a reliable anti-virus solution which will protect you against viruses, spyware, and other threats. Also look out for features that offer privacy and identity protection - they are especially designed to stop hackers from stealing your personal data, so shopping on-line will be more reliable.

In the event you can, avoid shopping from public computers, or perhaps a PC that your particular kids use to play online games and chat with their friends. Those PCs are most likely to be infested with spyware, so your private data could get stolen regardless of how careful you are.

Control Spam

For anybody who is concerned about getting spammed by online retailers, you may always either create a separate e-mail address for online shopping, or create aliases. Here is how it's done using Gmail.

For example, your address is myemail@gmail.com and you are shopping at a website called greatoffer.com. As a result, when giving them your e-mail address, type it as myemail+greatoffer@gmail.com. That way all future communication from that shop will be addressed to myemail+greatoffer@gmail.com.

So whenever they or someone from their network try to spam you, you will know it's them and will be able to easily block them.

Pay With a Credit-card

Most of you may have several bank cards - some credit, some debit. Both can be used for shopping online, but it's safer to use a credit card. Experts say cards give you less hassle when dealing with your bank, should unauthorized charges show up afterwards a monthly statement. Besides, you would not want to pay huge interest on your debit card overdraft, would you?

Think about Alternative Payment Methods

Did you realize that you do not necessarily have to use a credit/debit card when shopping online? You can find lots of different ways to pay for the goods you purchased - pre-paid cards, gift cards and certificates, and sometimes you can pay in cash upon delivery. Also there are actually web pages like billmelater.com that make it possible for you to shop online without the need of to enter your bank card details. Besides, online retailers actually encourage you to use a service like that by offering free shipping and an option to postpone your payment for up to six months.

These tips should help you shop online safely so that you do not become yet another fraud victim. Enjoy your shopping and also have a wonderful holiday season!