With increasing adoption of digital services for payments and other activities, along with increasing cyber crimes like phishing, malware, ransomware and spyware attacks, it has become imperative that we must protect ourselves from these frauds. You may have seen public service announcements by the government and police where they advise caution when receiving unsolicited links or emails. This is because the job of cyber criminals is to create a genuine looking website and dupe people after entering their personal information on it.
Read also: Oppo Reno 7 series will be launched in India on February 4
Now, while antivirus software can protect you from malware and viruses, there are some ways that can also prevent you from falling prey to fraudulent websites.
Read domain name: If you are redirected to a website while browsing the Internet, never proceed to enter any information before checking the domain name. Fraudsters often create addresses that look very similar to addresses from popular sites like Amazon or Flipkart. But, if you look closely, there is always a slight difference in the name that you must differentiate between the real and the fake.
Use a secure payment gateway: Whenever you are shopping online especially from new sites, always choose a secure payment gateway when you check out. As you enter your important bank account and credit card information, it is advised to be extra careful and use trusted gateways like Paypal, Paytm and Razorpay.
address bar: When surfing the web, be sure to look for ‘https://’ at the top of the page. The ‘S’ here indicates that the website is secure and uses encryption for the transfer of data. However, a missing ‘S’ does not mean that the website is fake, but it is still advised to avoid entering your personal data on such sites.
Run scan: There are various website scanners that ensure whether the website you want to visit is secure or not. These tools like UpGuard, SiteGuarding and Quttera scan sites for malware and exploit vulnerabilities to detect fake website. Running a site through these software can provide an additional layer of security for you.
Look for Lock: If you look carefully at the website address you will see a padlock icon. That icon technically indicates that the site is secured by a TLS/SSL certificate. Of course, one can click on the lock and then click on ‘connection is secure’. A text box will appear indicating that your information such as passwords and credit card numbers are protected when sent to the site.
read all breaking news, today’s fresh news And coronavirus news Here.
,