Here’s why you shouldn’t care about being safe online

Who cares you just emailed someone from ‘PayPal’ your bank details or clicked links which looked unsafe, it’s only on the internet and won’t affect your real life!

Seriously if you get an email from bank3gb.info@inf.co.uk stating your account has been blocked for security issues. Login via the link to your online banking to unblock your debit card as it states because that is obviously a real email. If it asks for all your bank details you should do that too! It’s not like they will hack your account and steal your money…

You should never follow links from emails or texts that prompt you to login and then ask you to input account details, especially not bank account details. Companies, expressly banks and PayPal, will not email you and ask you to enter your account, bank or password details. If you have an email which does, they do it will be a phishing scam, you will be able to tell from the sender email.

If an offer looks too good to be true, it’s not, everything you get sent via email is the truth, so click that link, and it won’t harm you! Or favourite retailer emailing with a link to their site, click away without a care in the world, it won’t take you anywhere dodgy. You won’t get a nasty virus or malware attached to your computer which can glean your personal information and login details.

Phishing emails come in all guises, whether it’s to get you to log in to a fake account as above or with a link which will take you to a fake site, the only way to avoid being caught is to check the email address of the sender. Email addresses used in phishing scams tend to not follow standard address of company or have typos.
Who needs security and safety when paying online, it’s not real money is it!

Secure sites have https:// in the URL, with the S for security, this means they have been encrypted and decrypted to prevent unauthorised access to user data. This is especially important when you use websites that require you to add personal data or input bank account details for payment.

Never seen a too good to be true website with amazing offers and cheapest prices by miles before, don’t worry it’s not fake buy, buy away!

If you come across a website you are not familiar with, and are using it for the first time, research to ensure it can be trusted. So check online reviews, search to see if there are any warnings about the site before you use it.
Keep your passwords easily memorable with your name or birthday or favourite pet’s name (which you always talk about on social media).

Who cares who can see your personal information, friends and other details on your social media accounts, they probably can’t find out much else about you like where you live (online check-ins), work or anything else, its only online so not real life.

You can set up privacy settings for your social media accounts, this means you to keep control of what personal information people can see about you, and you want the bare minimum. Also never share your personal details or those of your family and friends online.

Who has time to download protection software for their computers? It’s costly and doesn’t do anything anyway.

You should always have malware and virus detecting software on all of your devices, and have password protection on all of your devices as well.

Free Wi-Fi won’t cause you any problems, if Starbucks is offering it, it must be safe!

You should always use secure Wi-Fi connections when shopping online, if you are using public Wi-Fi, you should never login to your bank accounts or secure email, nor should you shop online. People can hijack these services and glean your personal information while you add it if they are in close proximity to you.

It’s never been more important to be aware of what you share online, what data and information you hand over and to who. You can find out more comprehensive details about how to stay safe online here.

Speaking about the guide, General Manager of MyVoucherCodes Chris Reilly who produced the guide to being safe online said:

“With so many people conducting their lives online now, it’s more important than ever to understand what security issues you can face and what you need to do, to protect yourself. People can come under attack from many different avenues, so everyone needs to be vigilant and understand what measures they need to take to protect themselves and their personal data online.”

He added:
“Users are offered levels of protection when shopping online, with security on site and security offered by using credit cards for example. However criminals are finding new ways to steal your money, which is why we have seen a rise in phishing. This is where criminals glean important details from unsuspecting people, when posing as banks etc. which can lead to people losing thousands of pounds and leaving them with a lengthy battle to get their money back.”