The idea of typing your credit card number onto a webpage can make you nervous. But it shouldn’t. Although very occasionally e-commerce websites get hacked, using a credit card for online shopping actually offers you some protection should you ever get ripped off. Luckily, when online fraud is involved many banks and merchants will credit you back the amount owed provided you catch the mistake in time. However as always, prevention is the best protection so here we provide some general information to keep your credit card details safe when you are shopping online.
Online Shopping Tip 1 – Make sure the site is legitimate
Before you purchase anything you should check over the site’s details to ensure it is legitimate so you may shop with confidence. Check that:
-The store accepts credit card or PayPal payments. Never send cash or a check to a website.
-Site uses SSL encryption to protect customer data en route to the site.
-Site sports logos from trusted authorities such as VeriSign and the Better Business Bureau Online.
-Store lists its real world location, including phone numbers and a street address.
-Site offers a detailed privacy policy describing the information it collects and what it does with the data.
Even after checking over these steps you’ll need to monitor your credit card account carefully to make sure nobody is adding bogus extra charges to your account after you make your purchase. Most banks put a limit on how long after the initial purchase that you can dispute a charge, so examine your monthly statements or check your account more often.
An alternative while shopping online is to get a separate credit card with a lower limit to use exclusively for online purchases. This will lower your risks of being badly ripped off.
Online Shopping Tip 1 – Extra security measures to protect your credit card details
If you’re still unconvinced and want to feel more secure shopping online there are measures you can take.
You can get a disposable credit card number. Citibank (www.citibank.com/us/cards/tour/cb/shp_van.htm) and Discover (www2.discovercard.com/deskshop)are services that work for a single transaction so even if the card it stolen it will be useless to be further ripped off.
Another alternative are merchants such as Amazon.com who will let you place your order online and then provide your credit card details over the phone.
A final option is to sign up for a PayPal account (www.paypal.com). PayPal will act as the middle man between you and the seller so that you credit card details never directly pass hands.
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