Buying items or purchasing services online is a widely used alternative, however, as a result of the explosive growth of this type of transactions has given way to many scams or frauds that increase the reluctance of several buyers who avoid making purchases online with their cards For fear to be victims of fraud.
To avoid the fraud it is necessary to be careful of verifying two fundamental points, which are:
- Be a trusted site
- Be a known site
SSL technology
In order for these two conditions to be met, there must be a level of security on the site that is known by the acronym “SSL” (Secure Socket Layer). SSL is a security system that encrypts the information sent by the user, so that it can only be decrypted by the computer that receives the information and has the secret key to do so. What protects the SSL system? Mainly the credit card number, to prevent it from falling into the hands of unknown people and also the confidential data of the buyer, for that these are not stored in any commercial database.
How to know when a site has SSL security? One of the ways to know if the site has this security system implemented is because of the certification that is usually visible on the page, even though it can be falsified, so the most reliable method is to check the “URL” (Uniform Resource Locator) in the address bar of the browser where you will see the following https://, which indicates that it is a secure page.
To have a digital certificate
One of the most common forms of fraud is the copy of an original site, where you try to trick the user into persuading him to enter sensitive data. To avoid this type of computer fraud, you always have to look at the Digital Certificate, which is responsible for verifying that the site that you visited is the original and not a copy of it.
The data verified by this certificate are the names and surnames of the owner of the company, electronic mail, among other things. These certificates have validity period and the certifying authority. The certificate verifies that the holder of the domain of a website corresponds to the data of the owner and name of the company.
Verifying user identity
Usually one of the methods that verify identity of the users is the so-called “Digital Signature”, which is nothing other than a code that the buyer owns and allows him to make transactions with absolute security. When an associated digital signature system does not exist, conventional passwords are used, although this method is less secure because you can also be filtered such information.
Recommendations before you buy on the Internet
- As far as possible we must try to shop on sites that are known and have the necessary certifications and sufficient security measures to ensure confidence
- Keep your browser up-to-date
- Do not share the credit card number by email or other means that may be used for lack of a minimum security for the protection of the content that include
- Ensure that the site has SSL, Digital Certificate and Digital Signature security systems if possible.