These tips will help you shop and pay safely online. They also help you to protect your computer against hackers.

Check if the online store is reliable

Basically, you can see credit cards as a seal of approval. All merchants who accept credit cards as a means of payment, must comply with strict conditions. For example, regarding the storage of your credit card details. In addition, we ensure that you can shop safely anywhere, anytime. We keep an eye on credit card payments day in, day out. If we see any suspicious payments that you may not have made, we will contact you immediately. There are also ways for you to check if an online store is reliable:

• Check reviews of the seller. Are there many complaints? Then think again about buying from that party.
• Many spelling mistakes and non-working links are a possible sign of fraud. So keep an eye out for those.
• Check in advance whether you can find the seller's contact details on the website.
• There are many quality marks for safe online shopping, such as the Thuiswinkel Waarborg. Do you want to be sure that the merchant has been awarded this quality mark? Check the website of the quality mark.
• Is the offer too good to be true? Then it often is. When in doubt, do not buy.
• After you have made an online payment at a store, check whether the payment went through. You can check this via the ICS Business App or My ICS Business.

Secure your computer and connection

• Make sure you have a good virus scanner and anti-spyware programme and keep them up to date.
• Secure your internet connection with a firewall.
• Use a spam filter and delete questionable emails immediately.
• Turn on automatic updates for your operating system and installed programmes.
• Do not use an 'open' Wi-Fi connection, for example in restaurants. Only use a password-protected Wi-Fi network.
• Make sure you use a modern browser and that it is up to date.

Safe payment

• Before paying, check whether the web address begins with https:// and whether it has a safety lock.
• Close all other internet screens before you start banking.
• Only use one browser session when shopping online or logging in to My ICS Business. Do not log in to another window.

Malicious software enters your computer via:

• The attachments in an email. Before downloading and opening them, check the sender.
• Illegal software or software of which the author is not known. Only install programmes from reliable sources.
• Blaring ads or pop-ups saying your computer is infected. Only rely on reports from your own security software.
• A USB flash drive can get infected. Use it only on trusted computers.

Smart tips to prevent abuse

• Use two different user accounts on your computer. An administrative account for installing and managing software. And a normal user account with fewer rights. If you use the latter every day, software cannot be installed.
• The first time you want to go to a website, manually type in the address. Save it in your favourites. After that, use the shortcut from your favourites as much as possible.
• When installing free software, always choose a custom installation. Only allow the installation of that specific programme.
• Do not let your browser remember passwords.