By now, buying online has become simple and immediate even for those who are not IT experts, given the high security standards used by the various payment systems. This security is particularly noticeable when we buy in the most renowned online stores, among which Amazon certainly stands out.
For other less famous websites and online stores or with third-party sellers, we must always be very careful when buying online (exactly like in physical stores) especially on private classifieds sites such as Subito.it ; on these sites we can find people and sellers who require different payment systems than usual, who can hide real scam risks.
Let's see together the best services with which to make secure online payments .
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To know which are the safest payment methods online, on shopping websites and in buying and selling with private individuals, it doesn't take much research.
On the internet you must always pay via PayPal or with a credit card, preferably prepaid.
1) PayPal
PayPal is a very secure payment system for online purchases, also as a money exchange system in case of private negotiations or with third party sellers. The interlocutors only exchange the email address associated with PayPal, the latter will manage the transfer of money in a secure and traceable way.
To pay with PayPal we must add a bank account or a credit card (also prepaid).
Who is registered with PayPal, in fact, cannot cheat or defraud anyone and, in case of problems, we can always solve brilliantly with a phone call or via email, requesting a refund if necessary (if we have complied with certain conditions).
The only problem is that both the seller and the buyer must have PayPal and that there are management costs for authorized sellers, who must sell a small percentage of each collection.
On sites like eBay, PayPal is the standard payment system and this is also why eBay remains a reliable store, with the complete guarantee that if something goes wrong, the money spent will still be recovered.
PayPal is also accepted by numerous online e-shopping stores, Chinese stores and is the preferred method of payment even in the exchange of small sums of money between individuals or in private negotiations.
READ ALSO: Create a PayPal account to pay and receive payments online
2) Credit / prepaid card
On Amazon the PayPal account cannot be used as a payment system.
Amazon requires a credit card or a prepaid card for payments but payments on Amazon are very safe thanks to the presence of the Amazon guarantee, which reimburses the money spent in case of problems or scams.
If we visit other sales sites that only require a credit card for purchases (therefore no PayPal), there are still some precautions to be taken to avoid scams or scams.
Meanwhile, it is necessary that the site where you buy online is protected with encryption of the connection, so as to avoid that your credit card data is intercepted while we are connected to the Internet.
In addition, there must be an indication of a truly existing address on the website, a telephone number and a VAT number or, if foreign, something equivalent.
To prevent any attacker from stealing your credit card data and thus drying up the account or fund provided, we always recommend using a prepaid card such as PostePay, so, even in the rare event of a cloning or scam, the your bank account and you only lose the money prepared for the purchase.
The only defect of the prepaid or Visa Electron or Mastercard debit cards is that recharging them has a cost, except in rare cases such as the PayPal prepaid card (MasterCard circuit) which we can also top up by means of a transfer from our current account and, if necessary, move money to and from a PayPal account.
In this way we can buy anywhere without fear of being defrauded.
3) Bank or postal transfer
Payment by bank or postal transfer is very safe, tracked and guaranteed and among the best if we want to leave a trace of the payment made in case of problems or scams (especially for large numbers).
However, it is not the ideal payment system for online sales (especially those with limited time offers or stocks) because the transfer always takes a few days to complete the transaction (usually 24 hours, but if there are holidays in between the times lengthen) and the reflex shipment will be moved only upon actual payment.
Precisely for this reason, in the event that we sell an item to someone who wants to make a transfer, it is important not to send anything until the money arrives at the bank .
If, on the other hand, we are the buyers and we want to pay by wire transfers, we make the payment and wait: as soon as the seller sees the payment on his account, he will proceed with the shipment.
A rather common type of scam relates to bank transfer payments: a scammer interested in the object for sale sends, via email, a receipt of the bank transfer which was false (but faithful to the original) requesting that the item be sent immediately: as soon as the item starts and is received, the guy disappears with his item obtained in fact for free with a scam.
If instead the problems occur by lawfully paying with a bank transfer, just contact your bank and ask for a transfer, perhaps with a complaint to the scammer.
We recommend using transfers only for payments over € 500, since they often also have a cost on traditional current accounts, even if online current accounts are available with very low or zero expenses -> Best current accounts to activate online .
4) Cash on delivery
Cash on delivery is the payment system preferred by those who do not trust credit cards, PayPal and shipments, but are rather inefficient and less and less used.
With the mark you pay directly to the delivery of the goods by the courier, therefore using banknotes and coins, without electronic passages and payment of the precise sum is required, even to the cent (if we have to pay € 45.34 for example, we will have to get even the 34 cents to be able to finish the payment).
It is therefore required that the buyer be at home at that time and with the money ready.
In addition, the cash on delivery, which has a significant cost (€ 5 usually) to be added to the price of the product and shipping, is always charged to the buyer and makes it difficult, almost impossible to return products and return the money in case of problems or scams.
Although paying cash only on delivery may seem the best method, it is currently the slowest and most inconvenient method to pay for your online purchases, also considering the security level of the other methods proposed.
On Amazon and other shopping sites it is also possible to pay in cash by buying a card with a purchase code .
These cards can be purchased at the LIS CARICA offices in Lottomatica and you can find these stores all over Italy starting from this page.
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5) Payment systems via smartphone
In addition to the most common methods for paying online, there are also other systems created to exchange small amounts and pay bills, purchases and products directly from the smartphone through the exchange of codes, contactless, fingerprints, face unlocking or entering email addresses.
The best quick payment systems via smartphone that we can use are the following:
- Samsung Pay : the integrated payment system on all Samsung portable devices, with which to virtualize your credit and debit cards so you can pay contactless in physical stores and through codes in online stores, without having to remember the numbers of the paper.
- Google Pay : payment system designed by Google and very similar to the solution offered by Samsung as it allows you to virtualize credit cards, prepaid cards and debit cards to pay for Google services, other compatible services and via contactless in physical stores.
- Apple Pay : the intelligent payment system, also offered in conjunction with current accounts, allows you to pay quickly and quickly in physical stores (with the contactless) and in compatible online stores.
- Satispay : with this fast and quick payment system to spend small amounts in physical stores, to pay bills and other compatible online services, to make top-ups by telephone and to transfer money between users.
It does not use credit cards but it recharges weekly through debit on current account.
6) Payment systems to be absolutely avoided
Paying online using the recharge on PostePay is one of the systems to avoid : it is no coincidence that most of the products "in the smell of scam" use only this payment method, since it is difficult to trace, the money is recovered with great speed and the scammers can disappear before we even know we have been scammed.
Also avoid payment systems through Western Union or similar services: nothing prevents the scammer from withdrawing money and disappearing, without leaving a trace.
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