Garda warning about safe shopping online

With the advent of Black Friday this week and Cyber Monday, which is next Monday, November 27, and in advance of Christmas, gardaí have issued a timely warning for people who may engage in online shopping in the run-up to the Festive Season.

Last Christmas over 50 per cent of Irish people shopped online with most experiencing no difficulty in completing their transactions. However, in a small number of cases issues did arise which resulted in fraudulent transactions with users either losing money or having their credit/debit card details compromised.

Sgt John Connolly, the Garda Crime Prevention Officer for Westmeath this week issued a bulletin entitled ‘Golden Rules Safe Online Shopping’ which is useful guide for both consumers and retailers.

Anyone shopping on the Internet is advised to take greater precautions given that they don’t have the security of having face to face contact with the seller. According to Sgt Connolly, people should only buy from trusted sources, retain all documents relating to a purchase, use credit cards when purchasing online and make sure their date is protected.

The list of ‘don’ts’ include: don’t use online sites which don’t use full authentication; never send card or PIN details by email, never send money to a person you don’t know online and never send card details in an unencrypted email.

Account holders are urged to regularly check their bank statements and transacations for suspicious activity and to report any suspicious transactions to the gardaí. Following all the above advice should make online shopping a happy and safe experience this Christmas.