14 DAY TRIAL // A study commissioned by Avira revealed that 70% of consumers don't like to shop online because of the potential threats revolving around the virtual commercial environment.
Online shopping clearly has grown in popularity in the past years, many people preferring it because it's more comfortable to acquire something from behind the screen of a computer or due to the fact that in some cases the products come at a better price than those purchased from a physical location.
When faced with the question “Do you feel secure while shopping online?” internauts responded in various ways, but as the numbers will later reveal, most of them fear phishing attempts or fake products.
15% of the respondents don't fear online fraud, being their belief that the phenomenon is not too common.
On the other hand, almost 30% of those who do buy on the internet always fear that their personal data might end up in the wrong hands and used for illegal purposes.
The security measures implemented by the store seem to be of some comfort to the customers as more than 15% don't have any issues with purchases made on the internet as long as the website offers secure financial transactions.
Just under 20% don't visit virtual emporiums at all, while a bit over the same percentage trust only well-known sites such as iTunes or Amazon.
Sorin Mustaca, a data security expert from Avira, believes that “Because of the continued data breaches, phishing attacks, and security vulnerabilities, that get reported on almost every day, consumers have every right to not feel 100 percent safe while they shop online.”
In order to keep yourselves protected from cybercriminals make sure that the payment page is using a secure transfer protocol, usually HTTPS. Also, check out the website's reputation. People who have been duped by a fake store will in most cases come public and report the fraudsters.
The use of intermediary parties such as PayPal is always a good solution as long as they're trusted.
Finally, double check your bank accounts after a purchase has been made to make sure that a wrong sum was not subtracted.