Black Friday Safe Shopping – Advice!

As the busiest shopping period of the year approaches and with Black Friday/Cyber Monday offers already kicking off and consumers eager to buy. David Curtin, CEO of .IE, the national registry of .ie domain names, to provide advice to consumers and businesses on how to shop safely online this festive season. As online shopping increases, so too does the risk of frauds, scams, phishing and smishing ploys.

ie is the trusted national registry for over 330,000 .ie domain names, safeguarding Ireland’s unique online identity and empowering people, communities and businesses connected with Ireland to thrive and prosper online. The organisation is a positive driving force behind Ireland’s digital economy and as a profit for good organisation, its mission is to elevate Ireland’s digital identity providing the Irish online community with a trusted, secure and accessible .ie internet domain.

Some top-level advice for you below

• .ie domains are among the safest domains – according to the latest DNSAI Compass Report, which identifies Top Level Domains (TLDs) with high and low levels of observed malicious abuse, .ie domains have been ranked amongst the Top 10 safest domains against phishing and malware.
  For consumers who are shopping online this black Friday they should try to shop on .ie sites – not only are they supporting Irish businesses, but they are much safer than some alternatives.
• Ensure the website you are buying from has a security certificate – the lock or [https://][https://]https://
  This lock or ‘s’ means that the website is secure. According to .ie’s 2022 Domain Profile Report, 60% of content rich .ie websites are secured with a security certificate; this level of security is crucial to safeguard customer’s data.
• It’s EU law for a website to list a geographic address – check that the site you are shopping on has listed an address before purchasing.
• Shop on a domain you recognise – if a deal or price seems too good to be true, approach with caution. It is highly likely it could be a fraud attempt.
• .IE urges businesses to ensure that consumers can shop safely on their websites this festive period based on the fact that consumer trust while shopping online is vital. According to a .IE Consumer Trust survey, 69% of consumers trust businesses that have their own website, while just 24% trust businesses that are only on social media.