2 . According to the Federal Trade Commission, nearly $5 billion has been lost to online shopping scams(诈骗）in the first nine months of 2021.

“     1     Often, these offers will more likely than not download some unwanted software onto your device rather than give you a good deal,” says Daniel Markuson, a digital privacy specialist. Here are some tips on how to avoid being scammed while shopping online.

Stick to “ https” websites. As a means of security, it’s important to visit and shop on sites that use “https”. The “s” stands for “secure”. While “https” isn’t everything when it comes to security, it definitely provides a level of protection.     2     You simply look at the URL bar(  网址栏 )   to see if it begins with “https://” the way it does on our website.

Check that the URL is right. It sounds simplistic.     3     Making sure you’re on the right online store could be the difference between entering your card details on “ Nike.com” and   “ n1ke.com”. This small difference in URLs leaves a huge opportunity for scammers to land you on a malicious(恶意的） website.

    4     It’s generally best to avoid shopping online using public Wi-Fi networks because public Wi-Fi typically exhibits poor security and is often scanned by hackers(黑客）.

Additionally, it’s always wise to practice good password security. Generally, websites shouldn’t ask for your personal ID number or your password to another site to sell you something.     5