TWO of Spain's largest high-street banks are reported to be in merger talks, potentially resulting in the joint entity being the second-biggest in the country in terms of share capital.
Staying safe while shopping online: CaixaBank tells us how
24/11/2019
MUCH AS WE hate to remind you of the fact, you only have one calendar month left to get all your Christmas shopping out of the way – and, if you have a large family and a huge circle of close friends, we feel for you, because it's going to take up a lot of your time.
Although most of us, secretly or openly, enjoy the ritual of Christmas shopping – somehow, giving gifts manages to be at least as fun as receiving them.
The atmosphere in main shopping hubs will be festive and uplifting a week or two before the big day, with roasted chestnut stalls, carol singers and a giant tree – there are some elements to the Yuletide season that appear to be universal, whichever country you're in – and the supermarkets are already full of turrón (almond nougat, hard and soft) and polvorones (pastry-like cakes in powdery form, made with ground almonds, that you crush in your hand in the packet before eating so as not to make a mess).
And there are some real advantages to living in Spain when it comes to Christmas shopping – practically every store, even the smallest, will gift-wrap anything for free upon request, at any time of the year; and here, with the main present-giving happening on the night of January 5, when the Three Kings visit, as Santa Claus mostly only transports stocking-fillers from Lapland, you can take advantage of the full 12 days of Christmas when it comes to buying and delivering.
But it's still a lot to pack in – we always manage it, making us wonder how we ever felt we didn't have any spare time the rest of the year – and, even though touring round the shops for gifts is part of the whole Christmassy experience, the 21st century's invention of online shopping has turned out to be a real time-saving bonus.
And it's much safer than we feared 19 years ago when the first Christmas of the third millennium came upon us. Risks still exist, but can be avoided if you're careful.
CaixaBank, through its CaixaProtect service – which sends you a text message if you use your debit card abroad and pings codes to your mobile phone for online purchases, among other services – has issued a series of guidelines to make sure your internet shopping is secure. Here's what they say.
Too good to be true? Well, it is, then
This advice applies to most areas of life, but in terms of online shopping, try to remember this before clicking on links or adverts you get in your inbox, unless they are from providers you subscribe to. Even then, you're better off opening a new window and typing in the provider address manually.
Ridiculously low prices, requests to 'click here to enter a draw for a free XYZ', claims a major chain is offering vouchers for hundreds of euros to 'everyone who shares this post', are often seen in emails, via Facebook, WhatsApp, or in pop-ups. But do your homework first: check other, similar providers to see whether their own offers and prices are similar. Look up the seller online to see if they are legitimate. If these too-good-to-be-true claims relate to a well-known provider, check out their websites for these special offers before you believe what you've read.
Genuine websites
Websites which are secure have an address that starts with https:// and an icon of a padlock next to this. The padlock proves the site has a safety certificate that guarantees your personal data are encrypted, so cannot be read by anyone other than the company you are dealing with.
It is difficult to forge the padlock sign, but some hackers with fraudulent intentions have managed to do so – click on it to check the digital certificate is valid and that it matches up with the name of the site you're dealing with if you are unsure.
Beware of online shopping using public WiFi networks
As a rule of thumb, if you're entering bank or card details in a website to make a purchase, use your own home internet connection, that of your company during your lunch hour if they allow you to, or borrow a friend's or family member's connection if you do not have your own access. If you're not at home and use your mobile phone for purchases, do so using your data rather than a WiFi network (different makes and models of phones have different levels of security, but for those who still use the trusty BlackBerry, these are universally acknowledged to be the most secure of the lot). Public Wi-Fi connections do not offer any security guarantees, so you increase your risk of hackers being able to enter the network and steal your personal information.
Does the site look genuine?
Firstly, look at the website address. If it appears odd, if an email from them appears to come from a standard mail provider or is clumsy combination of letters or numbers rather than the company domain, if multiple fonts are used on the same page, if the pictures or graphics are of low quality, if the text includes grammatical or spelling errors or 'looks translated' when read in its original language (another reason to learn the language if you live here – websites owned by Spanish companies which offer an English version are frequently translated in-house by a non-native speaker, meaning you cannot always use 'strange' wording as a red flag if you are not reading the site in Spanish), then warning bells should ring.
Where the site is that of a known provider and you accessed it via a link or pop-up – or think you did – open another window and enter the provider's known web address to compare it.
'Phishing' scams, where banks or online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon send you emails telling you to click on a link to change your password – where you have not requested this – or to 'prevent your account from being frozen', for example, have been rife since internet became mainstream, but luckily, online users are becoming wise to them and know to open the company's site manually from another window to carry out any such transactions.
Secure Electronic Commerce (CES, or SEC)
Stick to websites that use these systems – which include 'verified by Visa' or 'Mastercard SecureCode' icons – and which will request your confirmation of a purchase the way CaixaProtect does: through a code sent via text message, or a number to find on your coordinates card, and which then sends you a confirmation text message with the amount you have just spent.
If you receive a text message from CaixaBank or any other bank offering the same service stating you have just made a purchase of a given amount (it will also confirm the currency), and you know you haven't, get in touch with your bank immediately. Most have a 24-hour free helpline you can find via a simple Google search, and can block your card straight away.
What do other users say?
We often scroll through TripAdvisor and similar sites to find out what previous customers thought of hotels or restaurants before we book, travel or decide to visit, and base our decision at least in part on these; we should also be doing so when using any unknown provider or product, or when comparing known providers and products.
Of course, opinions in customer comment posts are subjective, human nature is to leave a comment when dissatisfied rather than delighted, some may have been invented by the provider, staff or their friends and family, and some genuine customers may have standards that are too high (most of us know to ignore negative feedback about restaurants in Spain based on their 'not being able to speak English', for example). But they can be a useful guideline: product reviews on multiple sites will tell you more than those given on the website of just one supplier. Amazon sellers are rated and feedback given, as are eBay sellers, and these are difficult to forge, especially given that, in the case of the latter, the customers are registered users whose profiles can be checked out.
Keep an eye on your bank account
ID thieves and cyber-fraudsters will not necessarily empty your account once they get their hands on your data. A common trick is to make small purchases that will not attract your attention. Given that most of us know roughly how far our money goes each month, our approximate outgoings, and how much we expect to find in our accounts a certain number of days before payday – and especially now that very few people use cheques, whatever we spend is reflected in the balance immediately – not all of us check what's happening to our accounts regularly enough. Take a look at your last batch of transactions online, or via the cashpoint, as often as you can – thankfully, now we mostly no longer rely on bank statements through the post which are out of date long before we get them, we can spot odd movements straight away.
Do so regularly enough that you can actually remember physically spending the money, and check out even the smallest amounts that do not 'look right'.
If you have been victim of a fraud, trying to prove it and getting your bank to reverse the transaction or refund you the money can be much harder if you do not detect it for weeks or months, so get into the habit of scrutinising your account every two or three days.
This gives the added bonus that you won't find yourself avoiding looking because you'd 'rather not know how poor you are'; if you're faced with reality every two or three days, you'll know roughly what to expect each time you look.
Use PayPal rather than a credit or debit card – and never enter your PIN
Legitimate sales sites will never ask for your credit or debit card PIN, and only your online banking site will ask for your online banking passcode. You are normally, however, asked for the three-digit safety code on the reverse of your card, and its expiry date, to prove you have it in your hand as you shop. But of course, if someone steals your card, they can do so too, which is where CaixaProtect helps its customers: you will often receive a numerical code via SMS to type in, or be told to punch in the four-digit number on your coordinates card corresponding with the coordinate number they text you.
Even so, as long as someone has your mobile phone and purse, they can do all that without your knowledge.
Where the site offers you the opportunity to, using PayPal is a safer option. When you set up your PayPal account, you only need a card linked to your bank account and an email address, and your data are encrypted, so the recipient of the funds will never get to see your card number or bank details – for this reason, it's the preferred option used by eBay sellers. It's also quicker than typing in your card number, and you can send money to and from friends and family if they, too, open a PayPal account. Remember that time you borrowed a few quid from your kids or parents last time you were in the UK? You can pay it back to them without having to wait until your next visit – just email them the amount. You normally have to pay a very tiny fee, but compared with what Spanish banks currently charge, it's a lot cheaper than making a transfer.
Change your online shopping site passwords regularly
If your purse gets stolen or your bank card is lost, change all your passwords immediately; otherwise, it's good practice to change it every time you make a purchase.
It goes without saying you should try to avoid 'obvious' passwords, like your pets' names, childhood phone numbers and children's dates of birth; special characters are sensible additions, but only if you know you'll never be in a situation where your only access to the internet is via a 'foreign' keyboard (there's no point putting an 'ñ' in your password if, every time you go to the UK, you use your family's computer there and leave your own laptop at home, for example). Initial letters of favourite quotes, backwards or taking the letter before or after each in the alphabet, mixed up with a date of birth or phone number in the wrong order or several numbers ahead or behind it – all these are slightly more secure options for passwords than simply 'Tigger251219' and will help you to remember them, if you're too worried about using a completely random set of characters and spaces.
Related Topics
MUCH AS WE hate to remind you of the fact, you only have one calendar month left to get all your Christmas shopping out of the way – and, if you have a large family and a huge circle of close friends, we feel for you, because it's going to take up a lot of your time.
Although most of us, secretly or openly, enjoy the ritual of Christmas shopping – somehow, giving gifts manages to be at least as fun as receiving them.
The atmosphere in main shopping hubs will be festive and uplifting a week or two before the big day, with roasted chestnut stalls, carol singers and a giant tree – there are some elements to the Yuletide season that appear to be universal, whichever country you're in – and the supermarkets are already full of turrón (almond nougat, hard and soft) and polvorones (pastry-like cakes in powdery form, made with ground almonds, that you crush in your hand in the packet before eating so as not to make a mess).
And there are some real advantages to living in Spain when it comes to Christmas shopping – practically every store, even the smallest, will gift-wrap anything for free upon request, at any time of the year; and here, with the main present-giving happening on the night of January 5, when the Three Kings visit, as Santa Claus mostly only transports stocking-fillers from Lapland, you can take advantage of the full 12 days of Christmas when it comes to buying and delivering.
But it's still a lot to pack in – we always manage it, making us wonder how we ever felt we didn't have any spare time the rest of the year – and, even though touring round the shops for gifts is part of the whole Christmassy experience, the 21st century's invention of online shopping has turned out to be a real time-saving bonus.
And it's much safer than we feared 19 years ago when the first Christmas of the third millennium came upon us. Risks still exist, but can be avoided if you're careful.
CaixaBank, through its CaixaProtect service – which sends you a text message if you use your debit card abroad and pings codes to your mobile phone for online purchases, among other services – has issued a series of guidelines to make sure your internet shopping is secure. Here's what they say.
Too good to be true? Well, it is, then
This advice applies to most areas of life, but in terms of online shopping, try to remember this before clicking on links or adverts you get in your inbox, unless they are from providers you subscribe to. Even then, you're better off opening a new window and typing in the provider address manually.
Ridiculously low prices, requests to 'click here to enter a draw for a free XYZ', claims a major chain is offering vouchers for hundreds of euros to 'everyone who shares this post', are often seen in emails, via Facebook, WhatsApp, or in pop-ups. But do your homework first: check other, similar providers to see whether their own offers and prices are similar. Look up the seller online to see if they are legitimate. If these too-good-to-be-true claims relate to a well-known provider, check out their websites for these special offers before you believe what you've read.
Genuine websites
Websites which are secure have an address that starts with https:// and an icon of a padlock next to this. The padlock proves the site has a safety certificate that guarantees your personal data are encrypted, so cannot be read by anyone other than the company you are dealing with.
It is difficult to forge the padlock sign, but some hackers with fraudulent intentions have managed to do so – click on it to check the digital certificate is valid and that it matches up with the name of the site you're dealing with if you are unsure.
Beware of online shopping using public WiFi networks
As a rule of thumb, if you're entering bank or card details in a website to make a purchase, use your own home internet connection, that of your company during your lunch hour if they allow you to, or borrow a friend's or family member's connection if you do not have your own access. If you're not at home and use your mobile phone for purchases, do so using your data rather than a WiFi network (different makes and models of phones have different levels of security, but for those who still use the trusty BlackBerry, these are universally acknowledged to be the most secure of the lot). Public Wi-Fi connections do not offer any security guarantees, so you increase your risk of hackers being able to enter the network and steal your personal information.
Does the site look genuine?
Firstly, look at the website address. If it appears odd, if an email from them appears to come from a standard mail provider or is clumsy combination of letters or numbers rather than the company domain, if multiple fonts are used on the same page, if the pictures or graphics are of low quality, if the text includes grammatical or spelling errors or 'looks translated' when read in its original language (another reason to learn the language if you live here – websites owned by Spanish companies which offer an English version are frequently translated in-house by a non-native speaker, meaning you cannot always use 'strange' wording as a red flag if you are not reading the site in Spanish), then warning bells should ring.
Where the site is that of a known provider and you accessed it via a link or pop-up – or think you did – open another window and enter the provider's known web address to compare it.
'Phishing' scams, where banks or online shopping sites such as eBay and Amazon send you emails telling you to click on a link to change your password – where you have not requested this – or to 'prevent your account from being frozen', for example, have been rife since internet became mainstream, but luckily, online users are becoming wise to them and know to open the company's site manually from another window to carry out any such transactions.
Secure Electronic Commerce (CES, or SEC)
Stick to websites that use these systems – which include 'verified by Visa' or 'Mastercard SecureCode' icons – and which will request your confirmation of a purchase the way CaixaProtect does: through a code sent via text message, or a number to find on your coordinates card, and which then sends you a confirmation text message with the amount you have just spent.
If you receive a text message from CaixaBank or any other bank offering the same service stating you have just made a purchase of a given amount (it will also confirm the currency), and you know you haven't, get in touch with your bank immediately. Most have a 24-hour free helpline you can find via a simple Google search, and can block your card straight away.
What do other users say?
We often scroll through TripAdvisor and similar sites to find out what previous customers thought of hotels or restaurants before we book, travel or decide to visit, and base our decision at least in part on these; we should also be doing so when using any unknown provider or product, or when comparing known providers and products.
Of course, opinions in customer comment posts are subjective, human nature is to leave a comment when dissatisfied rather than delighted, some may have been invented by the provider, staff or their friends and family, and some genuine customers may have standards that are too high (most of us know to ignore negative feedback about restaurants in Spain based on their 'not being able to speak English', for example). But they can be a useful guideline: product reviews on multiple sites will tell you more than those given on the website of just one supplier. Amazon sellers are rated and feedback given, as are eBay sellers, and these are difficult to forge, especially given that, in the case of the latter, the customers are registered users whose profiles can be checked out.
Keep an eye on your bank account
ID thieves and cyber-fraudsters will not necessarily empty your account once they get their hands on your data. A common trick is to make small purchases that will not attract your attention. Given that most of us know roughly how far our money goes each month, our approximate outgoings, and how much we expect to find in our accounts a certain number of days before payday – and especially now that very few people use cheques, whatever we spend is reflected in the balance immediately – not all of us check what's happening to our accounts regularly enough. Take a look at your last batch of transactions online, or via the cashpoint, as often as you can – thankfully, now we mostly no longer rely on bank statements through the post which are out of date long before we get them, we can spot odd movements straight away.
Do so regularly enough that you can actually remember physically spending the money, and check out even the smallest amounts that do not 'look right'.
If you have been victim of a fraud, trying to prove it and getting your bank to reverse the transaction or refund you the money can be much harder if you do not detect it for weeks or months, so get into the habit of scrutinising your account every two or three days.
This gives the added bonus that you won't find yourself avoiding looking because you'd 'rather not know how poor you are'; if you're faced with reality every two or three days, you'll know roughly what to expect each time you look.
Use PayPal rather than a credit or debit card – and never enter your PIN
Legitimate sales sites will never ask for your credit or debit card PIN, and only your online banking site will ask for your online banking passcode. You are normally, however, asked for the three-digit safety code on the reverse of your card, and its expiry date, to prove you have it in your hand as you shop. But of course, if someone steals your card, they can do so too, which is where CaixaProtect helps its customers: you will often receive a numerical code via SMS to type in, or be told to punch in the four-digit number on your coordinates card corresponding with the coordinate number they text you.
Even so, as long as someone has your mobile phone and purse, they can do all that without your knowledge.
Where the site offers you the opportunity to, using PayPal is a safer option. When you set up your PayPal account, you only need a card linked to your bank account and an email address, and your data are encrypted, so the recipient of the funds will never get to see your card number or bank details – for this reason, it's the preferred option used by eBay sellers. It's also quicker than typing in your card number, and you can send money to and from friends and family if they, too, open a PayPal account. Remember that time you borrowed a few quid from your kids or parents last time you were in the UK? You can pay it back to them without having to wait until your next visit – just email them the amount. You normally have to pay a very tiny fee, but compared with what Spanish banks currently charge, it's a lot cheaper than making a transfer.
Change your online shopping site passwords regularly
If your purse gets stolen or your bank card is lost, change all your passwords immediately; otherwise, it's good practice to change it every time you make a purchase.
It goes without saying you should try to avoid 'obvious' passwords, like your pets' names, childhood phone numbers and children's dates of birth; special characters are sensible additions, but only if you know you'll never be in a situation where your only access to the internet is via a 'foreign' keyboard (there's no point putting an 'ñ' in your password if, every time you go to the UK, you use your family's computer there and leave your own laptop at home, for example). Initial letters of favourite quotes, backwards or taking the letter before or after each in the alphabet, mixed up with a date of birth or phone number in the wrong order or several numbers ahead or behind it – all these are slightly more secure options for passwords than simply 'Tigger251219' and will help you to remember them, if you're too worried about using a completely random set of characters and spaces.
Related Topics
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