Safer Online Shopping

Do you shop online? Why not? It's easier and faster to purchase some items or pay your bills online and it certainly beats queuing up for movie tickets. Most of you will agree that it pays to be safe, so I'm going to give you some tips on how to make your online shopping a little more secured.

First of all, never attempt to perform an online transaction on a computer that is not your own, especially on a public computer. You do not know if there are any software hiding in those computers to log your credit card details or any login information.

You should always check if the website transaction is secured by checking for the encryption lock. Further improve the security by clearing the browser cache after you are done. Only make your purchases from reputable merchants.

To protect your credit card information, try to use a debit card or a virtual credit card to perform a transaction. As long as you keep a limited sum in your bank, a debit card will not allow any transaction above that limit. A virtual credit card is even safer as it can be set to expire after a specified date or after one transaction.

Finally, you should trust your instincts. There are phishing sites out there that looks exactly like the real merchant site and they will trick you to give them your credit card and login information. Always visit the merchant site by typing its web address in the address bar and not by clicking a link in an email or on another website. If you sense that it may be a hoax, it's better to play safe and send an email to the site to verify or not visit the site at all.

With all these tips, you will have the confidence to attack the cheap bargains on the net! Happy shopping!