Feeling safe when shopping online

In today’s world, more and more people are turning to online shopping, which saves them time and energy. When people do go out for something, its more for the outing, and that’s all. Almost everything imaginable can be purchased online, from Audio CDs to Refrigerators. Hence the question of online shopping security becomes one of great importance. It is only of late that people are becoming aware of what to look out for, to be able to trust a web site with your personal credit card details.

Up to a few years ago, if you were to make an online payment, you would have certainly had to give out your credit card security numbers, but today we have options like PayPal (www.PayPal.com) , where you can place your money into PayPal (using a credit card), and make all payments using PayPal. Most reputable shopping sites do accept PayPal. In fact ebay management, to help their customers with safe payments, since ebay is a place where you meet new buyers and sellers every single day, introduced this PayPal service. There was a need for something like this, as a result of innumerable Internet frauds. If you use PayPal, or egold, you need no longer worry about fraudulent websites; the company takes care of payment verifications (for a fee of course!).

Still, there are some websites that do not have connections with agencies like PayPal and egold, and if you want to do business with them, you will need to use your credit card online. Do check for the SSL verification of the website. And do check your credit card statements every month for negligible deductions on a recurring basis. This is a tell tale sign of definite fraud.

Also, never reveal your credit card PIN number details to ANYONE. It is surprising how many people do this, and it’s asking for trouble. There have been many cases where people have had a complaint that their credit card is billed every month for a service they used only for a week. More often than not, this comes as a result of the craftiness of the website owners, where they do put it in very fine print, that unless cancelled, you will be billed every month. So DO read the fine print. When you reveal your credit card details to a new website, you are leaving your wallet with a stranger!! Make sure you get the deal right, the first time. And read all the terms and conditions twice over the first time you process information with a web site that’s new to you, better safe than sorry!

When you visit a fresh web page, internet explorer warns you if the page is unverified, and you would be opening avenues for fraud if you disable this feature, or blindly click ‘always trust…’whenever you see it! Shopping online is a pleasurable experience, and you can make it a safe experience by taking basic precautions while making online payments.