image from www.metanomics.info

Many people nowadays are shopping online. I, for one, buy books from eBay and other bookstores on the Web, pay for my blog’s advertising online, and transact some business through the internet.

Indeed, shopping online is becoming popular these days. There are now tens of thousands of people coming online everyday from around the world to buy and to sell products and services.

Therefore, it is important that you know exactly how to shop online to make sure that you are safe, get a good deal, protect your rights as a buyer, especially your money. Below are the five important tips to make your online shopping hassle-free.

1. Use Your Credit Card

When shopping and purchasing online it is safer to use your credit card, as against your debit card.  Why credit card and not your debit card?

This is because when you use a credit card you can charge-back the merchant if you are not happy with the goods or service that you have bought.

In addition, you can safeguard yourself from online fraud. If there’s a fraud committed against your credit card you can just inform your issuer or the credit card company which will always give you a refund.

In case you use PayPal, which is linked to your credit card, you can dispute the charges with PayPal within 45 days.

On the other hand, if this happens to your debit card usually the bank will not give you a refund.

2. Shop Around, Compare Prices

When you shop online you will be surprised to know that there are many stores selling the good or service that you are looking to buy.

So, before you make purchases there, shop first by looking (browsing) in many online stores in relation to the product or service that you need. And don’t forget to consider shipping cost which is always part of the transaction.

For example, when I needed a rare book written by a well-known Japanese author of the 18^th century Japan, I’ve found it in a bookstore selling online, with a $12.00 price only. Yet, the shipping cost is another $15.00, making the total cost of the book to $ 25.00.

3. Look For Secure Payment Gateway

When shopping online it is important that you only enter your payment details via a secure payment gateway. Some stores put this in a notice, but others don’t.

How do you identify a secure payment gateway?  Look in the address bar on the page where you are going to enter your payment details. If it reads https:// rather than http:// then it means that your data is being encrypted and as such will likely get to where it is supposed to.  A case in point is PayPal, which has https:// in its address.

4. Read The Terms And Conditions

This may seem unimportant, but you should always read the terms and conditions before you make a purchase. This will forewarn you should anything goes wrong.  As a wise online shopper you must always understand the terms and conditions of sale before you click the “purchase” or “make payment” button.

5. Check For Contact Details

When you deal with an online store and pay them money it is safe to assume that you should be able to easily contact them when there’s a problem. For example, the product is not the same as ordered, arrived in a bad condition, or if there’s a warranty or a money-back-guaranty.

The rule of thumb to follow is: If you cannot find anything other than an email address then don’t give them your money!

Conclusion:

Shopping online provides you with convenience and fun, and is hassle-free, without leaving the comforts of your home. Following the foregoing tips will protect you and your money, making your shopping online always an enjoyable experience.

Paypal is an e-commerce business, a global leader in online payment solutions which allows you to receive and send cash, to pay and get paid online, using your e-mail address.

Image from www.neteco.com

It serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods such as checks and money orders. Paypal’s website says its services are available in 190 markets and 19 currencies, with over 70 million active accounts worldwide.

It is no wonder then that scammers and hustlers are on the loose, devising clever and innovative schemes to fool unsuspecting Paypal users. This proves once again P.T. Barnum’s  famous dictum that there’s a sucker born every minute.

I’ve read of people complaining that their credit cards had been charged through Paypal though they did not purchase the particular goods or services which they were billed for. It is a case of unauthorized transactions, of hustlers successfully hacking Paypal users’  e-mail addresses by accessing their passwords.

Then two days ago, I personally received an e-mail from “service” update@support.com supposedly coming from Paypal.

The e-mail states in part:

“Dear PayPal user,

“As part of our security measures, we regularly screen activity in the PayPal system. We recently contacted you after noticing an issue on your account.

“We requested information from you for the following reason:

“We recently received a report of unauthorized credit card use associated with this account. As a precaution, we have limited access to your PayPal account in order to protect against future
unauthorized transactions.

“This is a reminder to restore your account as soon as possible.

“Please download the form attached to this email and open it in a web browser. Once opened, you will be provided with steps to restore your account access. We appreciate your understanding as
we work to ensure account safety.

“In accordance with PayPal’s User Agreement, your account access will remain limited until the issue has been resolved. Unfortunately, if access to your account remains limited for an extended period of time, it may result in further limitations or eventual account closure. We encourage you to restore your PayPal account as soon as possible to help avoid this. We thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. Please understand that this is a security measure intended to help protect you and your account. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Sincerely,
PayPal Account Review Department

PayPal Email ID PP89387365″

The e-mail has an attachment which is a form titled Restore_Your_PayPal_Account.html (4KB) which when downloaded, has instruction to fill in all fields —  full name, credit/debit card number,  card expiration date, CSC , and the ATM PIN.

What? My Palpal account was suspended due to unauthorized credit card use associated with my account?  I usually use my account to send payment for this blog (Business Sphere)  advertising to Adgitize, Project Wonderful and CMF Ads.

So, what would I do now that my account was suspended and I could no longer access it and pay or send cash online?

My first reaction was to fill in the attached form as instructed. But on second thoughts I decided to go to Paypal website and check my account to know the details why it was suspended.

Presto! I was able to log in to my account, and there was nothing wrong with it. All the transactions that were recorded in My Account were all made by me and nothing was irregular.

To confirm my suspicion that I was nearly victimized by scammer or hustler, I then wrote to Paypal using the Help button, asking if they are sending e-mails  such as the one that I received.

After two days came the reply from Paypal, from a certain Angeli of Paypal Resolution Services.

Angeli said that after their review, she confirmed that my account was perfectly in good standing and the suspicious e-mail that I received was not sent by Paypal. She added that any website which may be linked to the suspicious e-mail that I received was not authorized or used by Paypal.

This only goes to show that there are many suckers who are now collecting e-mail addresses and use it to send e-mail to these users, with the sole objective of  “extorting” money through credit cards  and/or money in the bank which are linked to their Paypal accounts.

How about you? Did you also receive e-mail from “service” update@support.com supposedly coming from Paypal.

To be continued in my next post