How To Shop Safely Online

Many of us are spending more time than ever shopping online especially over the festive period and during the Coronavirus pandemic. The North East Crime Reduction team can help you to avoid scam websites, and purchase items safely…

Choose carefully where you shop and research online retailers to check they are legitimate Use a credit card for online payments. Most major credit card providers protect online purchases, and are obliged to refund you in certain circumstances.

Only provide enough details to complete your purchase. You should only fill in the mandatory details on a website when making a purchase. These are usually marked with an asterisk (*), and will typically include your delivery address and payment details.

Keep your accounts secure. If you're using the same password for your online accounts (or using passwords that could be easily guessed), then you're at risk.

Watch out for suspicious emails, text messages and websites. Lurking amongst genuine messages, there may well be fake ones (containing links designed to steal your money and personal details) that can be very difficult to spot. If things go wrong. If you think your credit or debit card has been used by someone else, let your bank know straight away so they can block anyone using it.

More advice can be found at:

Shopping online securely - NCSC.GOV.UK

Original message sent by: Michael Urquhart (Police, Constable, North East Division)