Thanks to the digital age, e-commerce has made it very easy and time-saving for shoppers to buy things online. Just with a few clicks customers can get any product delivered right at their doorstep. According to a recent survey, approximately 50% of shoppers now prefer to buy their goods online. Shopping online benefits both buyer and seller in many ways. Sellers do not need a physical store or sales representatives to sell their products. This helps them to sell things 365 days 24*7 online from their homes and at cheaper rates as compared to physical stores. On the other side, the buyer can make comparisons from his comfort zone and order products from anywhere conveniently at cheap and discounted rates. Consumers don’t need to go to the store physically or stand in queues at cash counters, this helps them save time and money. Online shoppers can purchase things any time any day in a much safer way with even better trackability.

In 2019 approximately 1.92 billion people bought goods through online stores. The total of e-commerce sales was around $3.5 billion and it increased by 18% in the first quarter of 2020 due to COVID-19. In 2001 GSM was introduced in Nigeria and had a total of 0.2 million internet users only. However, in 2016, Nigeria was ranked seventh in the list of countries with the most internet users. Nigeria has a total population of around 196 million and approximately half of its population has access to the internet and it's increasing by 10 million on average each year. In 2018 Nigerian e-commerce was estimated to be valued at around 13 billion dollars. Nigeria's e-commerce sector is growing rapidly with a rate of 25.8 % approximately and by 2030 Nigeria is predicted to be the largest economies in Africa.

However, there are few risks also associated with online shopping. The popularity and profitability of online shopping has attracted malicious people who engage in fraudulent activities to take advantage of innocent and naïve shoppers. You may not have to bother about pickpockets as you are not visiting physical stores but many other ways allow fraudsters to steal your financial information. The era of digitalization has presented fraudsters with a huge possibility. With tens of millions of private credentials easily available on the dark web, it is now way easier for fraudsters to hide behind false information and cover up their tracks. Online shopping-related scams increased drastically in 2016 and the FBI registered 0.3 million online data theft complaints in the US only. In 2018 people lost around 1.4 billion dollars in online shopping related scams and it was increased by 38% as compared to 2017. In 2019 the loss was around 1.9 billion. E-commerce related scams are increasing by a rate of 27% each year resulting in loss of billions of dollars. But you can avoid the 'scam trap' by observing secure protocols and doing your due diligence.

We are now going to look at some safety tips to consider when you want to go shopping online;

⦁ Before entering your credit/debit card details on an online shopping website make sure that it's safe and legitimate and the website is not fraudulent. Thoroughly check the website URL and do ensure that the connection is secure by checking the lock sign and ‘https’ in the URL bar of the web browser. All legitimate shopping sites are ‘s’ protected, they use ‘https’ instead of ‘http’ for securing user data.

⦁ Beware of links or Ads to deals that are too good to be true offering unrealistic discounts, bonuses, and holiday gifts. These links usually take the internet user to a phishing website which looks exactly like a real one. Hackers host these sites to steal personal information like credit card details, passwords etc. So, always be wary of those unbelievable offers and do some research if the offer really looks convincing to you.

⦁ Always use a good anti-malware and anti-virus software on your personal computer. These software protect you from downloading any kind of malware or ransomware and also alerts you or removes the virus if it gets downloaded accidentally. Most anti-virus software have a database of malicious websites and alert you if you visit any of those websites or any other website that seems illegitimate. Do keep your anti-virus software up to date. This enables them to keep virus or malware signatures up-to-date and to work more effectively.

⦁ Use safe and secure browsers like Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, etc. for online surfing and always keep your browsers up to date. Browser updates contain security patches against any known vulnerabilities or loopholes so install the new updates as soon as possible. This protects your system from malware and keeps your data safe. If you’re installing any plugin in your browser do check thoroughly if it is trustworthy.

⦁ Be careful about the vendors you choose to share your payment details. Many online shopping websites use third-party applications like PayPal, Stripe, Paystack, Apple pay, Google pay, etc. for their payment processes. Do check thoroughly how the e-store is handling its payment process and whether its a secure process or not. Try not to save your credit/debit card related information on the shopping web site. Incase the store gets hacked it will not affect you.

⦁ Try using credit cards instead of debit cards while shopping online. The credit card is a much safer option as it allows you to set the maximum spending limit it generates an alert and blocks the transaction if the paid amount crosses the limit. On the other hand, debit cards do not allow you to do this. If any fraudster has used your credit card you can dispute fraudulent charges made to a credit card but if the money is withdrawn from your debit card, then it’s very difficult to recover them. Always set a low credit or transaction limit on your credit cards for online shopping because this will lessen your loss if your card information gets lost somehow.

⦁ Always use strong passwords on your online shopping accounts. Your password is the key to your personal kingdom. You must follow the best practices to make it stronger so that your kingdom will always be protected from cybercriminals. Hackers usually crack your passwords by making different combinations using word dictionaries and they use automated cracking tools to speed up the process. So always set the password to have 12 or more alphanumeric letters, use both upper- and lower-case letters, and use at least one special character in it. Also, try using two factor authentications for your online shopping accounts if possible.

⦁ Try to not use your card information on public free Wi-Fi networks. These networks are usually less secure and are favorite for hackers. Don’t use your banking sites or other online payment systems on these networks. These networks are vulnerable to the Man in Middle attacks. This means that any hacker or user with malicious intention can easily intercept your internet traffic. Hackers usually make their networks public so they can monitor the traffic connected to their networks and steal the juicy critical user’s data.

⦁ Last but not least, always check your bank alerts or payment accounts regularly for recent transactions done. Enable SMS and email alerts on your payment accounts for all transactions so you can be alerted in real-time of every penny going out of your account.

SOURCES:
1. https://www.statista.com/topics/871/online-shopping/
2. https://import-export.societegenerale.fr/en/country/nigeria/ecommerce
3. https://d21buns5ku92am.cloudfront.net/39131/documents/28448-E-commerce_NG-d42f69.pdf
4. https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-identity-theft-and-cybercrime
5. https://www.ravelin.com/blog/5-types-of-fraud-that-is-used-to-target-e-commerce-retailers
6. https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/the-state-of-online-shopping-fraud/
7. https://www.africaoutlookmag.com/industry-insights/article/842-nielsen-survey-reveals-nigerias-online-shopping-potential
8. https://www.statista.com/statistics/183849/internet-users-nigeria/
9. https://accountlearning.com/advantages-disadvantages-online-shopping/
10. https://www.oberlo.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics
11. https://sleeknote.com/blog/online-shopping-statistics

Content curated by Ogbonnaya™

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