Tune your shopping machine

Like the tune-up your car gets before a long drive to deliver holiday gifts to relatives, your notebook may need attention before going online for some power shopping. Give it some love, and improved protection, by updating your browser, operating system, and anti-malware suite. You can run a free antivirus scan of your Windows PC at www.eset.com/online-scanner.

Stick with familiar faces

Buy from websites that have established a reputation for doing what they say, providing accurate descriptions of merchandise, and delivering it in good shape and on time.

Be wary of amazing deals

If a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is, particularly if it's an amazing offer on one of the hottest products of the season. Such deals can be very tempting, but it really is safer to avoid following links that offer goods, services, or gift cards at impossibly cheap prices, they are just too risky. Google the offer and/or vendor to see what others are saying.

Insist on secure transactions

When you are in the ordering process on a website, check to make sure it is using SSL, the standard in secure transactions that shows up in several ways. You should be able to see 'https' in front of the web address instead of 'http'. There may also be a lock or key symbol in the browser window as well. Using SSL encrypts the exchange of information, such as your credit card, so eavesdroppers cannot read it.

Think before you act

Watch out for 'Urgent' deals that arrive in unsolicited email or purport to be from friends on social networking sites. Exercise extra caution if the message uses broken English or if it doesn"t seem quite right for some reason. If you think the deal is real, open a browser and type the name of the website directly into the address bar, instead of clicking on the email link.

Don't shop at a leaky hotspot

If you need to do any shopping over Wi-Fi, at home or at a hotspot, make sure it is secure (look for the lock symbol in the Wi-Fi connection dialog). The last thing you want is someone snatching your personal and financial details out of thin air as you transmit them from your notebook (or smartphone or tablet).

Use credit instead of debit

If you get scammed and try to get your money back you may have better luck with credit card transactions versus debit cards. Credit cards can put an extra layer of protection in between you and the bad guys.

Don't expect money for answering questions

There are many legitimate website satisfaction surveys, but when a window pops up promising you cash or gift cards just for answering a simple survey like “Do you use the internet?” close it and move on. And do not enter your cellphone number to claim the R1 000 gift card that a website is promising you, unless you are prepared to pay for premium services you never ordered.

Stay awake after the holidays

When New Year lull sets in, there's a tendency to avoid looking at the credit card statements arriving by mail (or email). But if you got scammed, that statement may be the first sign, so at least skim the statement to see if there are any transactions you don't recognise.

Lock up your devices

Password protect your notebook, tablet, and smartphone so that, if lost or stolen, your data will be harder for strangers to access. Choose a password or code that is easy for you to remember but hard for other people to guess. Set the timing so that the device locks after a short period of inactivity.

Backup your data

If you have to face a worst-case scenario this holiday season, like a notebook going missing or a smartphone being stolen, the situation will be a lot less upsetting if you have your device backed up, that is, copies of your files safely stored somewhere else.

Follow these tips and you should sleep a little better during the holiday shopping season. Remember, as in life, there are online deals that can seem too good to be true, and probably more of them during the holiday shopping season. A cautious and sceptical approach may sound boring, but it can pay off.

After all, if you feel you don't have enough time to get your shopping done, you certainly don"t have time to deal with fraudulent charges, flaky deals, or stolen data. For more information on ESET's range of internet security services, visit www.eset.co.za.

Article first appeared in TechSmart 111, December 2012. Read or download here.