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Protecting Yourself Against Online Credit Card Fraud
by
Steven Stoeterau
Today more and more people are
looking to the internet to do their shopping. With online stores
popping up all over the internet the urge to spend money on the
World Wide Web has never been stronger. The unfortunate thing is
that the urge for scam artists to take your money has never been
stronger. So how do you protect your self from these thieves? If
you follow these simple steps I promise you’ll enjoy shopping on
the internet more having taken these precautions.
The first thing you should consider when buying online is if the
website you are shopping on is secure. These days most retail
websites have secure pages where you enter your personal
information, but that doesn’t mean that all sites are secure.
The first step in making sure that your information is secure is
to check the address bar and look for “https”. This means that
you are on a secure page. If the address begins with “http” the
page is not secure and your information should not be given. The
second step in determining if the website is safe is to look for
the picture of a closed lock or an unbroken key. These pictures
can be found in the bottom right corner of your browser window.
When the lock is open or the key is broken the page is not
secure. The last thing to look for is mention of secure
certificates or “SSL”. These logos usually appear near the
bottom of the screen. If you are still not sure if the website
is secure you can always ask them through e-mail (make sure to
save the reply just in case).
Credit card fraud is still relatively common. Even with all the
security that some of the larger websites have, these con
artists are still able to scam some people. So what do you do if
you suspect that you have been scammed? The first thing you
should do is determine if the charges on your credit card are
really unauthorized. This is why you should save all of your
receipts. Sometimes when a company makes a charge to your card
it might show up on your statement as a charge from a name that
you don’t recognize so it is important to check your receipts
and confirmation e-mails (the company will usually tell you what
the purchase will be charged as in the confirmation) to make
sure that the mystery charges aren’t legitimate. Once you are
sure that you have been scammed either by the store or by
someone that has somehow stolen your credit card information,
your next step is to contact the credit card company. Some
companies such as VISA and MasterCard offer zero liability for
fraudulent charges. If your credit card issuer does not have a
zero liability policy then you are only liable for up to $50
according to federal law.
Shopping on the internet is more popular than ever and with the
flood of internet shoppers comes a wave of con artists. Protect
yourself from these crooks. Follow the information I have laid
out for you and remember to save your receipts, look for secure
pages, and if that isn’t enough then only buy from well
established websites that you have had good experiences with.
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