5 Tips for Shopping Safely Online
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Tomorrow is Cyber Monday! Savings and sales will abound at e-stores all over the Net. When you're shopping online make sure to exert caution as you're making your online purchases. Here are some helpful tips from our friends at McAfee.1. Do your homework
- Take time to research the Web site -- are they legitimate, do they have a customer service number or email, correspond/contact them before making a purcha
se. - Read the Web site's Privacy Policy to learn their policy on sharing your information with others.
- A good e-tailer will permit you to return items and get a full and immediate refund without having to jump through a lot of hoops.
- You are protected by the law and liable only for $50 if your credit-card number is stolen and used.
- With credit cards, you can dispute fraudulent charges and by law your liability is limited. But with debit cards, the money comes directly out of your account and getting the cash back can be difficult.
- Encryption is key to secure Internet purchases. Secure sites have a key or closed locked displayed in the Web browser.
- Another way to know if a site is secure is by checking the URL address. It should begin with https://, not just http://.
- Also, check look out for Web sites which are certified for security. Though no company can guarantee 100% safety, McAfee SECURE Trust Mark will give consumers the best chance of never having their personal data stolen when shopping online. We are daily scanning and testing for more than 10,000 vulnerabilities and have done 20 million scans to date.
4. Make sure your PC has comprehensive security software
- Consumers should make sure they have up-to-date, comprehensive security software like before they do any online shopping. This will greatly reduce the risk of contracting a virus or some other form of malware and help them avoid identity theft at dangerous Web sites. Two examples are McAfee Internet Security Suite or McAfee Total Protection.
- Ensure that that the charge on your credit card matches what you agreed to pay. And while you're at it, check your package as soon as it arrives to make sure you received everything you are being charged for.
Finally, remember to make McAfee's free online search tool, SiteAdvisor.com your first stop when searching for gifts this season. SiteAdvisor's easy-to-use green, yellow and red ratings will ensure your online shopping experience is safe and secure.
Labels: bloggers, sites, tips, women
posted by The Mom Salon Editors @ 11:30 AM,
1 Comments:
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At December 1, 2008 9:20 AM,
diane shaib said...
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There is another easy and free and totally safe way to shop smart and secure online - - use a credit card from Citibank or Bank of America or Discover or your PayPal account and they will generate a "virtual one-time-use-number" for you to use at check-out. This way you do not have to share your card details with any merchant. The charges are linked to your real account and you maintain the same protections and legal rights as if you used the real card number. Each of these companies has a unique name for their version of the product: "Virtual Account Numbers" at Citi, "ShopSafe" at Bank of America, "Secure Online Account Numbers" at Discover and "Secure Cards" at PayPal. Go to the company websites and check it out. You can enroll for free and then shop without fear of exposing your personal financial/card data.
