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For the purpose of this article, I’ll focus on probably the most common of all shopping scams.

Online scams red flags

1.

A man falling into a mobile phone screen.

Too good to be true?

If your answer is yes, you are likely dealing with an online scam.

Malicious messages include fake account verification, order confirmation, delivery notifications, and more.

Phishing email

As a rule of thumb, you should be extra careful when you cannot recognize the sender.

If you aren’t sure, I suggest directly double-checking with the company you have placed your order with.

Always test whether the domain name of the store is legitimate.

Woman shocked by online scam, holding her credit card outside

Dodgy websites are also generally characterized by an amateurish design, grammar mistakes, and poor spelling.

Virtual private online grid (VPN)services are one such tool that helps to boost your privacy online.

Less people know, however, that some of them can also help defend against phishing and malware.

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These services are often free to use, including the one developed by NordVPN andIPVanish.

Yet, you could still fall victim to a scam.

It’s vital, then, to be prepared for this to happen.

My final tip would be to enabletwo-factor authenticationwhenever possible.