When I decided to write this article I was prepared to give
you a few tips that I found in my research that would help
you when you decided to buy something online. That research produced some amazing results.
Only about 2% or 3% of online orders result in fraud, however, almost all of these could have been prevented by knowing and understanding how to safely shop online. This information is readily available.
As an example, I have a credit card issued by Chase Bank. I went to their web site and typed "Consumer Protection" in their search box. It came back with 14 results on every aspect of protecting their customers from credit card fraud. Most major credit card banks offer similar advice to their customers. It would be a good idea to check your credit card company's web site.
With 71 million members worldwide, PayPal, an Ebay Company,
is probably the largest company to offer online payments. They
also offer one of the best tools for protecting yourself while
shopping online. I would recommend that anyone that shops
online, whether using PayPal or not, to download their "E-commerce
Safety Guide" by visiting the below link:
https://www.paypal.com/en_US/pdf/PayPal_Safety.pdf
You can learn even more by visiting their "Security Center" at the below link:
https://www.paypal.com/eBay/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_security-center-outside
We don't want to forget the Federal Trade Commission that is charged with protecting consumers from a variety of consumer problems. I've put together a few links from their website that I believe will help
you to be a better informed online consumer:
http://www.ftc.gov/infosecurity/ http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/auctions.htm
http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
There are a couple of common tips that will make shopping online a
lot safer that I would like to list:
~~Never provide your credit card or checking account information when making a purchase online unless the address to that site starts with "https". This shows that the site is on a secure server and provides much better protection of your private information.
~~Take every precaution to verify that the web site offering the product is legitimate. This may be as simple as using their contact information to send them an email and asking questions about the product. If they don't have contact information at their site don't buy from them.
Jim Dimmit, a friend of mine and the author of "Identy Theft -
How To Avoid Becoming The Next Victim" and webmaster of the "Your Free Credit Report Now" http://www.yourfreecreditreportnow.com
website offers this excellent suggestion:
"When you receive unsolicited email advertisements, never use the special link they provide in the email. Email links are not always
safe and these days there's no way for you to know for sure if you
are at the retailers site or one that was spoofed in order to get
your credit card information. Instead, type in the url address
of the site you want, look for the https, and shop online from
there."
Buying products has changed dramatically in the last few years. If you buy online you don't have the luxury of looking a
salesman in the eye when making your purchase. It is to your benefit to become as informed as possible to protect yourself from fraud.