The ongoing pandemic has affected users' online shopping habits, as shown by Kaspersky research which revealed that three out of five online users (64%) in Southeast Asia (SEA) have shifted their shopping activities from physical to online shopping.
Welcoming the end of the year, there will be many attractive online shopping offers, but also opening up gaps for online fraudsters. Well, Kaspersky shares three simple tips on how to use a card safely when shopping online.
Ideally, use a credit card
This does not mean that credit cards are safer than debit cards. However, it will be easier to solve if there is a malicious transaction involving your credit card.
Banks have insurance schemes and grace periods that allow you to alert them if you find a suspicious transaction, so be sure to keep an eye on your card balance, list recent transactions and turn on transaction notifications.
As for the debit card, the lost money will be withdrawn directly from the account. That is, you lose your own money. And getting it back usually takes longer than a credit card - and you don't have to make a payment until the bank investigation is complete.
Use the minimum balance, only for online shopping
If compromised, you can easily bypass the card without affecting the main bank account. Make sure if you find anything suspicious, contact your bank immediately and try to cancel the transaction - the sooner it's resolved, the better.
The same principle applies to having an email specific to your online shopping needs. This will limit the number of spam messages you receive and significantly reduce the risk of opening malicious emails disguised as sales pitches.
You should also only use a low limit credit card, or adjust it to your spending pattern. This is to ensure that if cybercriminals gain access to the card, they can only use it in a limited (lowest) amount, so as not to incur huge financial losses.
Although life would be easier if card details were stored across all the e-commerce platforms you use, the various data breach incidents that occurred should be enough to warn us to keep our financial data more secure and responsible.
"The more data that is shared and stored online, the higher the security risk you assume." Yeo Siang Tiong, General Manager for Southeast Asia at Kaspersky comments in his comments.
"You can use security solutions with protection against phishing and online fraud, such as our Kaspersky Internet Security which features Safe Money. The global cybersecurity company also revealed its Q2 2021 mobile threat report for Southeast Asia which has monitored a 60% increase in the number of attacks using bankers. malicious cellular phones detected and blocked in the region, he added.
