In our last posts, we have detailed why you should prefer hiring online to getting just anybody from around your neighborhood.
However, it will be unwise to undermine some of the basic risks posed by the internet in the process of getting a freelancer. A major one among these is the possibility of loosing your money, especially in the current wade of cyber crime.
So today, we will be looking at how to protect your money while hiring online.
Never Pay Directly to a Freelancer
Have you ever heard of people who operate under false identities online? Some of them create accounts with names, pictures and every plausible detail which do not match their actual identity in real life.
Now these people are called Internet fraudsters. (Lol. As if that is some new concept).
So since you are not even sure that the person advertising is real, it’s very important not to pay directly to any freelancer while hiring. Pay rather through a trusted middleman platform, which will ensure that you get quick refund in any case of a bridge of contract.
Do Your Transactions at Home
The Internet gives you the opportunity to do most of your transactions from any part of the world. But while choosing a place to stay, I will solidly recommend that you place your home at the to of the list.
Why?
The reason is simple. Using a public cyber café is good but most computers can automatically save up your passwords and other sensitive information in the browser. This will mean that any other user after you may have unlimited access to your account.
A similar thing may also happen while using a public Wifi especially in a case where the network is not secure. A lurking hacker may just be around the corner accessing whatever you send over the network.
So when you want to conduct an online transaction, try to do it at home using your personal network and gadget (phone or computer). That way, you would have greatly reduced the tendency of being hacked.
Get a Smart Password
I have met friends whose computer passwords are generally very common things like their names, phone numbers, home addresses and such other things.
Well, the good news for these my friends is that they can always easily remember their passwords. But so can a good hacker.
While transacting online, be sure to create a very smart password that includes a combination of alphabets, numbers and special characters. This way, only you will know it and it will be more difficult for anybody trying to hack into your account.
Conduct Your Transactions on secure websites
Several websites are insecure and very vulnerable to internet attacks. So before sharing your account details over a website, ensure that the site is secure.
Now the simplest way to do this is by checking your address bar to ensure that your URL starts with ‘https’, not ‘http’. Believe me, if the site does not have an ‘s’ added to the ‘http’, DO NOT ENTER YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS THERE.
Not many secure websites exsit for freelance hiring. For those in Nigeria, the most secure platform I have seen is miduman.com
Do Not Share Your BVN
Online transactions require several bank details except your Bank Verification Number (BVN).
So while hiring online, run from any website that requests your BVN for any transaction as this may possibly be a scam.
We know that hiring freelancers online can be very convenient, beneficial and productive. But we also know that making money is not one of the easiest things in the world. It requires lots of discipline, diligence and commitment. Nobody gets richer by losing money. So while hiring online, be sure to follow the listed secure lines to ensure that you do not lose your hard earned money.