I might be last to this particular party, but before I start shopping on the Web I want to know: is it safe to shop online? I mean, really safe?
This is a more common question than you may think, actually, but I think the risks and dangers are overrated. There are four major threats in the online world: insecure transactions, insecure storage of your personal credit information, phishing sites masquerading as legitimate sites and spyware that captures your transaction and duplicates the information for nefarious purpose.
With each of these risks is a simple solution, so it’s quite possible to mitigate these dangers and make shopping online just as safe — if not safer — than shopping in the physical world.
If you go to an online store like Amazon.com, add various items to your shopping cart, then go to the “checkout” to enter your credit card number, shipping and billing address, etc., the connection between your Web browser and the Amazon server is encrypted through the use of a security protocol called the Secure Socket Layer (SSL).
In fact, any site where you enter critical personal information should be using SSL encryption, which you can very quickly identify by looking for the telltale https: instead of http:. If it’s not, back away from the transaction and find somewhere else to shop.
Why is this important? Because otherwise your information is sent “in the clear” which means that if you’re on an open wireless network, like at just about any café, someone else in the room could easily be monitoring the wifi traffic and capturing your credit card number, home address, and everything else you type in. Not good, needless to say!
The second issue relates to insecure storage of your financial data. This is when you hear about a hacker breaking into a server and stealing tens of thousands of credit card numbers. Not good, but not so common either. I tend to only shop at major vendors (Amazon, Best Buy, The Gap, Zappos) and am confident in their security. It’s the little companies that worry me more, but that’s no different to the safety you presume using your credit card in person at a major store versus some guy working out of his van in the parking lot.
Phishing, fake sites pretending to be legit, is a constant threat, except most of them want your account and password, not your credit card number. You can protect yourself by always typing in the Web address of the site you want to visit rather than clicking on Web site addresses you receive in email. Learn to be vigilant when you start your shopping and it’ll never be an issue.
Finally, you can have security problems on your computer itself, spyware that could be looking for credit card numbers and similar. You should already be running some sort of antispyware anyway, so this isn’t a significant risk. If you don’t have any, check out Colorado company Webroot.com for a great solution.
Freaked out at all the potential risks? It can be tricky online, but credit cards are built around trust anyway: when you hand your credit card to a server at a local restaurant, there are just as many ways that info could be stolen, you’re just trusting that it won’t.
Somehow it all works and the percentage of fraudulent or fake transactions in both the online and physical world is quite low. I’ve shopped online for many years and cannot recall a single instance where I had a fake transaction appear on my credit card statement or any information stolen at all.
I hope this helps assuage your concerns about shopping online!
It depends. Some sites are not real, they just fraud ppls money. If you are first time buyer online, try paypal to pay, and find websites that take paypal.
Good luck!
How can I view a list of the last sites accessed from my computer if someone is going in and clearing each time they are on the computer?
It’s mostly safe. However, you should be careful to whom you are giving your information. You can mostly buy from trusted names. Also, make sure the web-site is not fake (phising web-site). Make sure the URL uses https:// [ssl]. yOU WILL SEE a lock icon in the address bar or in the status bar. Click on it and read the verification/certification information. You can search google with terms like “scam/fraud/review company name” – you will get some good information to decide. I do a lot of shopping online, but was not cheated until now. Also, look at the offer you are paying for, if the offer is too good to be true, think twice. Check return/refund policies. And keep your computer spyware/virus/trojan free, use most recent software to remove all craps [virus/trojan/worms] from your computer.
Good tips – I’ve been following all of them and so far haven’t ever had a problem.
I’ve found that I actually feel safer shopping online that I do in stores. It seems the people I know that have had the most problems have either lost their cards/stolen wallets and even one where the cashier at a store was stealing people’s numbers. (She got caught fortunately!)
When you shop only online, follow the tips you have listed above, and keep your cards safe at home, there’s a good chance you won’t have any problems!
Aside from the risk of malware on your computer sending your information off to those with nefarious intent, the risk is just as significant when you shop in a brick and mortar establishment. Card skimming, the practice of double scanning a card, once to charge it and a second time to capture your card information for later fraud, is prevalent. You don’t have to look far for numerous news stories about companies storing credit card information insecurely, and the database being compromised.
It’s important to ensure you’re protected from fraud on any credit or debit cards, regardless of where you use them.