Tips for safe online shopping in Kenya

Well online shopping in Kenya has been the talk of everyone, especially those people who love spending their time online.

However, it's very important that shoppers are educated on the need to be careful when online shopping since there are many online stores which are actually not genuine.

This is to ensure that people are not conned of their hard earned money by people or online stores pretending to sell products which do not actually exist.

Let’s look at some of the safety tips one can use to ensure his/her safety when shopping online.

Tips for safe online shopping in Kenya

Don’t tell all

You should never give out your private information when shopping online. This is because most reliable online stores do not ask for such information and thus you must be weary of any store asking you for such information because one can use it to steal your identity. One therefore needs to be careful and cautious with the information he/she submits because they might get into the hands of fraudsters.

Online shopping in Kenya

Check statements

If you are an online shopper, it’s important that you check your statements often so as to ensure that any discrepancies are identified early enough. Look at the electronic statements of your credit card, debit card so as to ensure that your accounts are OK and that there are no fraudulent charges. If by any chance something fishy, it’s better that you address the issue as first as possible.

Use familiar websites

It’s always a good practice for one to shop from one online shop that is very trustworthy other than shopping with search engines which can easily lead you astray.  This will ensure that you are able to shop without much trouble.

Avoid public terminals

If you  are going to shop online, it’s never a good idea to shop from a public computer. This is very important because in case you use a public computer to make any purchase and you forget to log out, one can easily access your account.

One also needs to be careful especially when you are outdoors. Ensure that there is no one behind you or close enough to see you’re the credit card number as you enter the digits.

Inoculate your PC

With the high rate of fraudsters trying to trap and steal from online shoppers, it’s important that one seeks some security measures to help curb this.

As a shopper, you always need to be careful and smart at all times.  This is because swindlers do not just sit around waiting for you to give them data. It's due to this that you need to always protect computer against malware with regular updates to your anti virus program.

Use strong passwords

Creation of strong passwords can be of great help, especially if when one is shopping from an online store. One can do this whenever he/she wants to shop online and they are required to create new accounts on the e-commerce sites.

If online shoppers would follow the above tips, I believe we will have lesser incidences of people being tricked into buying products that do not exist. This would therefore help online shopping in Kenya to continue growing.