According to the National Retail Federation, 39 million consumers will do their holiday shopping online this year. If you are one of these 39 million, make sure you do it safely. Credit card numbers are stolen every day by untrustworthy online retailers, and before you know it, thousands of dollars worth of merchandise has been purchased on your dime. Online merchants expect to lose $3.6 billion this year to fraud by spammers, scammers and dishonest retailers. But shopping online is convenient. You don’t have to deal with crowded shopping malls, finding a parking space, or rude shoppers and sales clerks. It’s not impossible to shop safely online as long as you follow a few basic guidelines.
Shop Securely.
Try to avoid shopping on the PC that your children use to chat with their buddies and play games online. Those computers are often already infested with spyware. An infected system will undermine all of the other precautions you might take to avoid online fraud. You should also update your anti-virus software before shopping online and use a firewall to block potential intruders.
Stay Clear of Shady Looking Sites.
While it isn’t always possible to tell at first glance whether a site is legitimate or not, some red flags might present themselves to warn you off. These include, poor design, a strange web address, and multiple pop-up windows that you can’t close. If you notice any of these suspicious signs, stop shopping and close your browser windows.
Trust your Merchant.
Search engine shopping can lead to random merchants no one has ever heard of. Better to go to a major, trusted site, such as, amazon.com, to search for that sought after Christmas gift. If you do find the merchant through a shopping search engine like Google Shopping, look for seller ratings. Google doesn't guarantee the integrity of the sites that come up in its searches, but it’s a good sign if you find mostly positive ratings.
Use Your Head.
Be sure to read and understand a merchant’s shipping and return policies before making any purchases. You don’t want to place an order to later find out later it won’t be received until January 5th, or that it can’t be returned.
Looking for deals and afraid you can’t find them online? Check well-established online coupon sites such as couponcabin.com and currentcodes.com. They list promotional codes for discounts that you can enter at participating web vendors during checkout.
Be sure to print a copy of each receipt or confirmation e-mail you receive. Keep all of your receipts in a folder, filed away in a safe place.
If you’re unfamiliar with an online retailer, do your research. The Better Business Bureau and RipoffReport may offer some insight. Or you can look at user reviews on such sites as Eopinions.com.
Always make sure you are on a “secure” site when using your credit card online. The URL should have an https at the beginning (s for "security").
Click With Care. Never buy anything advertised via unsolicited e-mail. Such offers are almost always a phishing scam to get your personal and banking information or a rogue site wanting to put malicious software on your computer. The Better Business Bureau warns that legitimate businesses don’t send E-mails asking for follow up financial information. Your best protection is to not click on any links--even if the message looks legitimate--but to type in the merchant's URL manually to double check its validity.
Shopping Only Email Address. If you worry that giving away your e-mail address at multiple online merchants might wind up cluttering your inbox with more junk mail, consider creating a new, free email address specifically for online shopping purposes. This allows you take action if a merchant you're doing business with sells or rents your e-mail address to marketers.
Social Security Number is Off Limits.
If a site asks for it during the checkout process, it’s probably a scam site.
Use Protection. Take advantage of the automatic identity theft protection that comes with many credit cards. Because this protection is available, it’s best to use your credit card instead of debit cards or cash for your holiday shopping. If erroneous charges end up on your statement, you can call the credit card company, which should investigate on your behalf. While debit card issuers have largely adopted that same approach, your bank account could be overdrawn while you dispute charges, especially if the fraud goes undetected for awhile. Credit card companies are required to allow shoppers to dispute charges and many companies cover charges made on stolen cards, which is why they expect to lose so much money during the holiday season. Check your credit card statements frequently because many card companies have time limits on when customers can dispute charges.
Alternatives.
If you like the idea of the convenience of online shopping, but are truly wary of using your credit card online, there are still plenty of alternatives to entering your account number with online retailers. Many financial institutions and card issuers, including Bank of America, Citibank, Discover, and PayPal, offer customers the ability to generate unique, "virtual" or "one-time use" account numbers that are good for a single transaction or a handful of specified transactions only and cannot be reused. For many, they’re more trouble then they’re worth, but will give that super cautious shopper peace of mind.
Online Shopping Exclusive Password.
Make up a new password to do your shopping. Make sure it’s different than the password you use for any of your banking and other important online services. It should be easy for you to remember, but not easy enough for dishonest retailers to figure out. A combination of numbers, letters, and symbols is best for security.
Sheath the Cell Phone. Shopping with mobile devices can come with its own set of security challenges, since shortened URLs can more easily trick shoppers into visiting harmful sites. Also, it’s not wise to shop on public Wi-Fi networks. It can leave your personal information accessible to hackers.
Don’t be taken for a ride this season. And remember, you’re at risk whenever you use your credit card, not just at online retailers. So, create a strategy and play it safe when shopping online and the risks for fraud will go down tremendously. Have a safe, secure holiday.
No comments:
Post a Comment