Tip 9 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
… Then it is. Close your browser and walk away. In a capitalist society in which the internet fuels many fires, people are unlikely to give anything away to strangers. There is a catch, even if those offering […]

Tip 8 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
This tip is perhaps an obvious one, but it’s certainly worth mentioning nonetheless. The problem isn’t perhaps the shopper’s willingness to transact only with reputable sites, but with the ability to spot those that are not so reputable. There […]

Tip 7 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
Some sites are verified by reputable third parties like VeriSign or Guardian eCommerce.
Naturally such certifications can be faked, and if a site’s owners are intent on stealing your credit card details then it’s unlikely they’ll be struck by their moral conscience […]

Tip 6 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
Reading an e-commerce site’s privacy policy (and if they haven’t got one this should start alarm bells ringing) to see what they will do with your information is a vital step in ensuring a happy and safe online shopping trip. […]

Tip 5 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
Many crooks – both online and offline – rely on their victims apathy or reluctance to complain or speak out against them in order to stay hidden from legal scrutiny. Don’t be apathetic. If you’ve lost money or goods then […]

Tip 4 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
Keeping records is really, really easy. Write important facts in a notebook. Print out details of transactions, order confirmations, cancellations and everything else you can think of.
While your ownership of a good, auditable, paper trail is unlikely to prevent […]

Tip 3 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
A secure site is one which has been certified as being secured from opportunistic attempts to steal your personal information (including card numbers) as they are passed from your computer to the site. The site may have nothing to do […]

Tip 2 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
We’ve all had the spam emails – known as 419 scams on account of the Nigerian law that covers the fraud – from rich princes, lawyers, doctors or prime ministers requesting assistance in moving huge sums of money. It seems […]

Tip 1 in an occasional series. Keep visiting regularly for more Online Shopping Safety Tips.
Using only one credit card – and then one with only a small, controlled limit – means damage limitation. Use of one credit card will not prevent online fraud, but will limit the damage that stolen details can do. […]

With more and more people gradually beginning to accept the internet as a valid marketplace, consumer spending in 2004 hit a record $65.1 billion. As more people trusted websites as a safe way to purchase their goods, so more people were stung by online fraud. More consumers shopping online means more opportunity for […]