Although more and more businesses are moving forward with discounts to increase sales, the start of the sales season as such coincides with the end of the Christmas season and it is time to remember the basic protective measures to avoid falling into possible threats.
If you want to take advantage of the promotions launched by retailers and avoid possible fraud, take into account these cybersecurity recommendations so that before shopping online, you can ensure all the guarantees necessary and total security. Take note of these tips for your online purchases:
1. Activate your card only when you are going to make a purchase: institutions such as Banco Sabadell allow users to activate the online purchase option when they wish to make a payment and deactivate it once the transaction has been completed.
2. Be wary of emails and social networks: These days, you may receive EXCLUSIVE promotions and offers through different channels. Be wary of emails or messages from which you do not know the sender, and if you are interested in the offer, we recommend visiting the official website of that shop or brand directly.
3. Buy only from trusted websites: Online shopping must be reliable and secure. To check that this is the case, locate a green or white padlock that should appear in the address bar. You can also look to see if the merchant URL starts with HTTPS or SHTTP.
4. Research the online shop before you buy: Always check the shipping costs, return policy and customer service among other things.
5. Avoid using public unsecured Wi-Fi networks when shopping online: these networks do not usually require authentication to connect to them, and this makes us more exposed as we do not know who else is connected at the same time and whether they have malicious intentions.
6. Protect your passwords: use unique, distinct and strong usernames and passwords for each of the accounts you use to make your purchases. If possible, enable a second authentication factor on the platforms where you are going to perform them to strengthen security when accessing.
7. Browse in incognito mode: this is a way to block cookies and prevent others from accessing your login details or search history.
8. Always have an antivirus installed on your device that is active and up to date: this is a basic strategy to minimise the risk of being infected by malware.
9. Be cautious when providing bank details for purchases, take into account our recommendations above.
10. Turn to your trusted bank: in the event of detecting a suspicious movement, notify your bank immediately. At Banco Sabadell, we give you the option of notifying us directly from the app of any movement you consider suspicious.
We remind you that our customer service and phishing team is available 24×7 to help you every day of the year at 963 085 000, at info@bancsabadell.com or on our social networks (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram).
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