Peter Kenny asked:




If you have ever shopped online, then you might know about some of the dangers associated with online purchasing and online credit card fraud. If you are not careful, you could end up being a victim of online fraud, which could leave you with a large bill to pay of items that you have not purchased. Here is some more information about the dangers of online credit card fraud and how to avoid them.

Why shop online?

If there are dangers to shopping online, then why do so many people do it? Well, the dangers of online fraud are only equal to those of any other type of transaction. Also, online shopping is often much cheaper and quicker than regular shopping, and consumers who want to find great deals without leaving their home are turning to online stores.

Use credit not debit

The first tip to help you avoid online fraud is to make sure you try and use a credit card to purchase goods rather than a debit card. This is because credit cards are much safer than debit cards and have far more security features. If someone were to get hold of your debit card details, you are unlikely to be protected. However, credit cards are usually covered by purchase protection, meaning that items you have not bought will be refunded to you.

Use HTTPS

When shopping online, it is important to make sure you only enter your card details over a secure connection. If you enter your details on a page that is not secured, it will be easy for fraudsters to get your details and use them to purchase items. To make sure the page is secure, check that the page address starts with https://. This means that the page is secure, and it is safe to use. If it does not start with this prefix, then do not enter your details.

Use trusted web sites

Although making sure the page is secure is important, you should try and make sure you only use tried and trusted web sites for purchasing online. Using small or unknown sites can lead to problems, whereas if you stick to large company sites that are used by many then you are more likely to stay safe. These large web sites have better security features in place, and are more likely to help you with any problems regarding unauthorised transactions.

Keep all details

If you make a purchase online, make sure that you print out all of the details of the order, such as the company name and address as well as an invoice number and the amount you have spent. If anything goes wrong then you will have some record of the transaction and be able to sort out the situation.

Computer protection

It is important to remember that as well as being safe online, you should make sure your computer itself is safe. The easiest way for a fraudster to get to your financial information is to hack into your computer. Make sure you have adequate anti-virus protection that is up-to-date and that you have firewall in place. This will help to stop fraudsters getting hold of your information, and keep your money safely where it belongs.

Carl

Uchenna Ani-Okoye asked:


‘Online credit card usage’ – convenience at its best. Commerce and technology, combined as a one package – this is what online credit cards are. With the advent of internet, the knowledge and communication barriers were broken. Also, with internet, came the concept of e-shops or virtual shops that existed only on the internet. You could shop at these shops by making use of their online credit card payment-acceptance ability. Once the online credit card payments were verified and approved, the goods got delivered to your door. This is what we call convenience at its best.

With more and more e-shops getting setup everyday, online credit card usage is becoming even more popular. The possibility of receiving online credit card payments has given a totally new dimension to shopping. Now, you can not only shop from the comfort of your home, you can even get discounts on these products. This is really amazing. No need to bother about the weather, no need to worry about the traffic jams or any other thing. Just go to an e-shop, select a product, make use of their online credit card payment-acceptance facility to make the payment and be ready to receive the goods at your doorstep. With online credit card processing facility, starting a business (an online business) has become just unbelievably easy.

However, there is nothing without pitfalls. One of the pitfalls of online credit card usage is the possibility of online credit card fraud. This online credit card fraud can happen in two ways. The first one is related to the company, on whose website you made online credit card payment for purchase of goods; this company itself could be fraudulent i.e. it could take the online credit card payment from you but not deliver the goods to you.

Moreover, they could use the details of your credit card (received through the filling up of online credit card payment form by you) for fraudulent purposes. The second type of fraud is committed by fraudsters who use various software/devices to capture the details of online credit card payments (as you enter them on the online credit card payment form of a website).

This software’s are popularly known as spyware and these fraudsters as online spies. The Spyware works by capturing keystrokes or taking screenshots of whatever you do on your computer and then passes it on to the spy. However, there are anti-spyware software’s available which can be used to counter such spyware.

So, the advent of online credit card usage facility is a boon to us. However, you must exercise caution when making online credit card payments e.g. don’t access your bank accounts or make online credit card payments from internet cafes (unless you are absolutely sure about the credentials of the internet cafe).



FORREST

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


Online credit cards have made its usage more convenient today.

Online credit cards are all about a single package of commerce and technology.

With the increase in use of the internet, communication barriers as well as knowledge barriers have been broken. With this came on the concept of virtual shopping or e-shopping that exists only on the net. You can shop at your convenience by making use of their online payment by using the credit card. Once they check on your payments of online credit cards, the things that you have purchased will land at your doorstep.

The usages of these are becoming more popular as e-shops are increasing. Using credit cards online is becoming more popular. A new look has been given to credit card shopping. Discounts are available on these products in addition to home shopping. There is no need to be bothered about traffic jams or weather or just about anything else. It’s very simple. All you have to do is go to one of the e-shops, choose ay product, use the online payment facility and then get your products home.

Starting an online business is just very simple with the advent of online processing of credit cards. However everything has its bad side. One of the downfalls of this is that there could be a possibility of a credit card fraud online. This can possibly happen only in two ways. One of the ways is that the company on whose website you made the payment itself can cheat you. They can just take in your payment and not delver the products to you at all. On top of that they can still get details of your card and cheat you. There is still another way in which you could be cheated. This is done by fraudsters who use different types of devices or software to get your details while you were filling it online for a credit card payment on any website. These online spies are known as fraudsters and spyware is the name given to the software they use for these purposes. Screen shots and keystrokes are taken of whatever is done on the compute by you and is then passed on to the spies. Spyware is that which does this. We also have anti spyware which can be used to prevent these spyware to act on you.

So with the coming of using online credit cards, it certainly has been a boon to us. It still is a must to exercise caution when making these online payments through your credit card. Unless and until you are extremely sure about credentials of the net café you are using, do not make any credit card payments or access your bank accounts.



TOMAS

Art Taylor asked:


Now, since we have e-shops and virtual shops we, consumers, are able to make purchases from these online stores using a credit card. This we can do by making use of the online store’s credit card payment approval facility. Once our online credit card payments are accepted and verified, the purchased goods are delivered to our doorstep. This is purchasing convenience at its best.

Having more and more e-shops popping up everyday, online credit card usage is becoming more popular than ever. The option to receive online credit card payments has brought an entirely new dimension to shopping, for both merchants and consumers. Now, you can both shop from the comfort of your home and get discounted products purchased on the internet. This is makes shopping far more pleasurable. Shopping on the internet, you have no need to worry about the weather, traffic jams or other things needed to shop outside your home. Instead you can go to an e-shop, select product/s, and make use of the merchant’s online credit card acceptance and approval facility, to make the payment for your goods. Then, all that is left to do, is wait to receive the products at your doorstep. Online credit card processing also makes starting an online business very easy.

As with almost anything else, credit card usage on the internet is not without its pitfalls. A pitfall of online credit card usage to guard oneself against is the possibility of online credit card fraud. Credit card fraud typically happens in two ways. The first way has to do with the online merchant that you are going to purchase goods from. This merchant may be a fraudulent merchant who takes your online credit card payment, but does not deliver the products to you. Moreover, they could use the credit card details you have put on the credit card payment form, for dishonest purposes. The second kind of fraud is committed by fraudsters who use spyware software and devices to intercept the details of online credit card payments. The spyware software captures keystrokes or takes screenshots of what you do on your computer and sends it to the spy. This type of online fraud is easily managed by using anti-spyware software designed to counter the effectiveness of spyware.

It is readily observed, the advent of online credit card usage gives a very useful purchasing option to consumers and merchants. However, caution must still be exercised when making online credit card payments. And, always remember, don’t access your bank accounts or make online credit card payments from internet cafes, unless you are absolutely sure the internet cafe is reputable and rightly credentialed.



DION