How do I recognize secure online shops?

Online shops offer almost limitless shopping options on the go or without leaving your own four walls. Convenient payment options and delivery to your front door guarantee a lot of convenience. But criminals with so-called fake shops lurk behind some online shops.

Surprisingly cheap products are a popular lure. Payment should then be made in advance. Afterwards, the victims usually have a rude awakening: after the advance payment has been made, the goods arrive damaged, if at all, or do not correspond at all to the buyer's expectations. Our recommendation: Before you make a purchase, take a critical look at the company behind the online shop, the payment methods offered and reputable user reviews.

Seven features to recognize safe online shops

In order to avoid any unpleasant surprises, we use the graphic below to show an example of the signs you can use to recognize a secure online shop in the future. In the further course of the text, we will go into the individual points in more detail and show in particular what special features online auctions bring with them.

1. Clear order button
   The order button is labeled “Order with obligation to pay” or with other clear wording such as “Buy now”. Unclear terms such as “Register”, “Complete” or “Order” are not permitted and are an indication of a fake shop.
2. Padlock in the browser line
   A padlock and “https://” in the browser line indicate a secure connection. But be careful: Fake shops are also increasingly using a secure connection. Caution is advised with conspicuous addresses, including those with domain endings such as “.de.com”.
3. Existing contact
   telephone number and email address are available for contact. Signs of a fake shop include a paid telephone number (abroad), a post office box or being limited to a contact form.
4. Complete imprint
   Information on the company name, legal form, names of authorized representatives, full address and contact details are included. An indication of a fake shop is that the address is correct, but the supposed company - after an internet search - cannot be found there.
5. Realistic and transparent prices
   The price is realistic. Shipping, return and possible additional costs are listed transparently. An unusual price can be an indication of a fake shop.
6. Seal of quality
   The shop uses a well-known seal of quality. When you click on the seal, further information about the shop and ordering process appears. In fake shops, the seal logos are often not clickable or are invented.
7. Multiple payment options
   There are several payment options - purchase on account, by credit card or via a reputable online payment service. Typical for fake shops: First there is a selection of methods, but when ordering, payment in advance is only possible.

Again in detail: What should I pay attention to in online shops?

Before making any purchase, you should carefully check the relevant online retailer. This will probably be easier for you when ordering from well-known, larger providers, as they are more in the focus of data and consumer protection officers. Any lack of the criteria of a “reputable online retailer” would immediately have a massive negative impact on the company.

If you are unfamiliar with a provider, you should definitely check the following information from the provider before ordering:

• Does the retailer offer full vendor identification?
  • Last name, first name and full address of the provider
  • Information for quick contact (telephone number, email, fax)
  • Trade register and trade register number
  • Company name and legal form supplement
  • VAT identification number
  • Information about the supervisory authority (if the offer requires approval, e.g. pharmacist)
• Are the general terms and conditions available for review?
• Is information on data protection and data security available?
• Is information about the right of withdrawal, right of return and purchase price refund available?
• What different payment options are there?
• Are shipping costs, return costs and possible additional costs transparent?
• Is there an email confirmation of the order process?

Fake shops of well-known brands

So-called fake shops appear again and again on the Internet whose URL refers to a well-known brand. They can be recognized, among other things, by spelling errors in the descriptions, uniform and very low prices for all products, a lack of imprint and limited contact options via email or telephone numbers abroad.

In addition, you can usually get a good idea of ​​a provider using customer reviews or forums. You can find relevant experiences in rating portals or research them using a search engine.

Check quality seal

Another popular way for online retailers to underline their own seriousness is seals of quality. These indicate that both the shop provider and the various processes triggered by an order have been independently verified. The individual quality seals indicate different verification methods and quality requirements for online shops.

They therefore do not always offer reassurance about the security of the tested online retailer. Therefore, check which minimum requirements a quality seal confirms before you trust an alleged quality mark. Also be aware that online fraudsters also falsely and illegally mark websites with a seal in order to appear trustworthy. If in doubt, it is better to choose an alternative shop for your purchase.

The D21 initiative , an association of information society experts from politics and business, has quality criteria for online retailers. Based on these criteria, the D21 initiative recommends the following quality seals:

In any case, please note that the quality seal providers only check the shops and ordering processes. For example, a quality seal cannot protect you from phishing.

Online shopping: encrypted data transmission?

Regardless of the online shop and the desired payment method, always make sure that all data that you transmit to an online shop is encrypted. You can recognize this by messages such as “You have requested a protected document…” or “You are about to view pages over a secure connection…”.

In addition, with an encrypted data connection there is an “s” after the letters “http” in the browser’s address line. Another note about encryption: In many browsers, a small, closed padlock appears at the bottom or in the address bar. More on the topic of encrypted data transmission .

SSL certificates from online retailers

Some online shops try to symbolize a secure shopping experience with SSL certificates from independent certification authorities. The website operators use so-called Extended Validation SSL certificates (EV SSL certificate). On the left side of the browser's address bar, a field is also displayed in which the certificate and domain holders are displayed alternating with the certification authority.

In addition, depending on the browser and/or add-on used, the address line is (partially) colored green. In this way, you can see even more quickly whether the website you are visiting is “real” and can therefore protect yourself even better against phishing attempts.

Providers of SSL certificates include the following companies: VeriSign, GoTrust, GlobalSign, TC TrustCenter Gmbh and Cacert. Companies receive an SSL certificate with clear and authenticated information. When the certificate is issued, the certification authorities check the identity of the certificate owner. For example, VeriSign controls the existence of the company, the domain owner and the authority to apply for an SSL certificate. If you access an encrypted site that does not have a valid certificate, you will receive a warning message.

What data does the shop provider store?

Every time you order online, you must provide the online retailer with some personal information in addition to your credit card or bank details. Our recommendation: Make sure that you limit all information to the absolutely necessary data. Therefore, only fill out the mandatory fields.

A trustworthy shop provider will ask you at the end of an ordering process what should happen to your data. You can usually object to your data being passed on in this way. If you wish to receive newsletters or advertising mail, you must expressly confirm this.

Unfortunately, it cannot be prevented that the shop provider saves the products and services you have ordered and in this way automatically creates a profile for you. In addition to the product information stored by the provider, some providers combine this data with so-called cookies, which allow information about your surfing behavior to be made. It is possible that after purchasing a specific product, when you log in to the online shop again, you will receive a product recommendation or an offer that matches the topic of your previous order or your surfing behavior recorded by the provider.

10 tips for online auctions

Online auction houses are very popular. When you buy goods on the internet, you have to pay attention to even more things than when shopping “usually” online . How you should proceed with online auctions:

1. Check seller reviews before making an offer. Prefer auctions where the homepage or at least the address of the seller is known.
2. Check the product data carefully and, if in doubt, ask the seller. Especially for higher-quality products or new goods, ask for proof of origin or proof of purchase or guarantees.
3. Find out about the auction provider's security measures to help keep fraudsters away in the relevant section of the website.
4. Before paying, check whether you have received the address details from the seller. If not, research them.
5. When making the transfer, make sure that the seller and account holder are the same. Avoid international transfers.
6. For higher-value goods – if possible – use the auction provider’s escrow service. In this way, payment of the purchase price is withheld until the goods have arrived.
7. Be careful if a (supposed) seller wants to sell you an item directly after an auction has ended - for example on the grounds that a buyer has dropped out. Always ask the auction provider directly.
8. If a seller appears suspicious to you, report this immediately to the auction provider. Contact the police if you have been scammed out of money. If you suspect that the goods you have purchased are stolen, you should also report this to the police immediately - otherwise you may be liable to prosecution for receiving stolen property.
9. Be alarmed if a seller tries to persuade you to send them money using a payment method other than the one provided by the auction house.
10. Do not comply with requests to provide a copy of your ID card. This applies regardless of whether you are buying or selling.

Online shopping – what to do in an emergency? The SOS card helps!

We also show how quickly you can fall into a fraud trap when shopping online in our “How does the Internet work?” section . There we will show you a fictitious example of online shopping and give you tips on what those affected can do.

The SOS card on online shopping that can be downloaded and printed out helps those affected and shows further protective measures against crime when shopping online.

Source:

BSI

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