Full name: ALICIA FARZANA ALI

Student ID number: R2206D14663530

Module Name: COMPUTER SYSTEMS

Module code: COMPUTER SYSTEMS (56178) UU-COM-1000

Tutor: Kyriakos Yioutanis

Date: March 05th ,2023

ASSIGNMENT 2

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Introduction

What is online shopping?

Online shopping is a broad term used to describe virtual purchasing of goods or services using your
debit/credit card and in some cases cash on delivery. Nowadays online shopping is quite common and
used by persons aged 18 years and older; some examples are purchasing eBooks for study, clothing,
games, accessories to enhance your vehicle or home, etc. Traditionally, shopping has been linked with
lengthy, slow lines, parking lot issues, and going to different stores to find a specific product. With the
online market all this has been made easy to do at anytime and from anywhere. There are many possible
reasons for the rapid growth of e-commerce and with the Covid-19 pandemic serves as the most familiar.
In doubtful times, fear of viruses and lockdown has changed customer activities. According to Hung,
2022, a recent industry report, e-commerce will amount to almost 20.4% of global retail purchases by
2022 year end, compared to only 10% about five years ago. In other words, the e-commerce space is
becoming more commonly used.

Online shopping; advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages;

Convenience; shopping can be done from the comfort of your home or workspace at a time convenient to
you. When shopping online, it is simple to reverse transactions. Time-saving; since there are no lines to
wait in, this has become a simple way to do our shopping. Time and effort are saved by shopping online.
Saves money; we can obtain detailed information about a product or service, as well as good deals and
lower prices when we shop online.

Disadvantages;

Delay on delivery; at times they have shipping issues causing your order to be pushed back for arrival on
a later date than expected. Faulty products; some sellers insurance may not cover for damages while
product is in transit. Returning a product or requesting a refund can be difficult; while some return
and refund procedures are simpler than others, many sellers make the process challenging for the
customer. People avoid filling out forms because they can be complicated and annoying, such as those for
labeling, shipping, packaging, etc. Risk of fraud; this is a growing disadvantage when shopping online,
there is a chance of falling victim to frauds like phishing, identity theft, hacking, and other frauds. Even
phone calls posing as legitimate businesses in order to obtain monies from persons can be deemed as
fraud.

Ways to avoid becoming a victim of an online shopping scam.

By 2018, e-commerce fraud-related losses, according to the RSA, will nearly double from their current
levels, reaching almost $6.4 million. To protect yourself and your finances, it is crucial to be aware of the
signs of e-commerce fraud. Some of these include; Unusual payment options; legitimate merchants
accept payments securely through PayPal, credit cards, and brand-specific gift cards, among other
options. Therefore, if a website requests payment via an unusual method, such as bitcoin or a wire
transfer, it's probably a scam. Shopping at secure websites; be sure to only buy from stores you know and
trust, particularly when making larger purchases like electronics, gadgets, and gift cards. While it's
important to make sure you're purchasing from a trustworthy retailer or other reliable source, you should
be aware that there are parody websites that are designed to look like authentic retailers. Watch out for
potential typos or misspellings in the URL, an unlocked padlock icon at the beginning of your URL
address, and warning signs throughout the website such as suspicious pop-ups, a privacy policy. These

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minor clues can help you determine whether or not a website is secure to browse. Poorly designed
websites; trustworthy businesses have well-polished, expertly crafted websites because they understand
the value of making a good first impression. The time, money, and resources used by scammers to
produce knockoff websites are typically lower, which results in the rougher, less sophisticated appearance
of these sites. Watch out for red flags like fuzzy pictures, misspelled words, grammatical errors, and
broken links. Unreliable or non-existent contact information; Retailers want their customers to be
happy, so they make it easy to contact them if you have a problem. On the other hand, online shopping
scammers just want to take your money and run away. Because of this, not many contact details are
available. Additionally, even if you manage to find a phone number or email address, it may not be
helpful. Negative rating; even legitimate customer reviews, like those about a company's money-back
policy and customer service, can be a good thing for information. Additionally, there's a good chance the
reviews will contain cautions for prospective customers if the website is a fake storefront.

Conclusion

In conclusion, based off research conducted into this topic we can say that as much as there are pros of
online shopping there is also some cons linked with this practice. However, since knock-off websites are
becoming more common many persons are getting familiar with their appearances and quickly navigate
out of those websites.

References

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Advantages and Disadvantages of online shopping - Javatpoint. (n.d.). Www.javatpoint.com.
https://www.javatpoint.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-online-shopping
Hung, P. (Mar 14,2022.). Council Post: E-Commerce Trends 2022: What The Future Holds. Forbes.
Retrieved March 5, 2023, from https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2022/03/14/e-commerce-
trends-2022-what-the-future-holds/?sh=7480b97c58da
McKenzie, C. (2021, January 12). Fake online shopping websites: 6 ways to identify a fraudulent
shopping website. Infosec Resources. https://resources.infosecinstitute.com/topic/fake-online-shopping-
websites-6-ways-to-identify-a-fraudulent-shopping-website/

Protecting Yourself From Online Shopping Scams. (n.d.). Ca.norton.com.

https://ca.norton.com/blog/online-scams/protecting-yourself-from-online-shopping-scams