Tips for Shopping Safely Online

If you're like me, you do a good deal of your shopping online. And, if you're like me, you want to be sure you're shopping safely and that your financial and personal information isn't at risk. Money Central helps us all out in this article, giving tips for shopping safely online. Their thoughts:

• Bigger names equal better protection.
• When in doubt, check them out. If you go with an unknown merchant or Web site, contact someone there who can verify the company's privacy policy for you before you make a purchase.
• Encryption doesn't equal security.
• When sharing is a bad thing. Shared computers, such as the ones available to multiple strangers at computer centers, are a big no-no, says Branigan.
• Pay with a credit card. We got a resounding answer from the experts: Credit cards are the safest method for online purchases.
• Suspect the suspicious. If you're at the checkout page and the site asks for your date of birth and Social Security number, be very careful.

Good tips. I use them all. In particular, I like #1. And since I do most of my shopping with Amazon.com, I'm in the heart of "Safe-ville." ;-)

As long as you're careful, shopping online is actually SAFER than shopping offline. At least according to Money Central:

Shoppers should be aware that as long as they are dealing with reputable companies, online transactions are far more secure than the face-to-face transactions people perform every day, says Stickley. Online transactions eliminate the middle man, such as the waiter who processes your credit card payment, so there are fewer people to physically see your private information.

How about you? Are you an online shopper? If so, how much of your total spending? Where are your favorite (recommended) places?

Comments

[Jaguar]

i thought this was very important too:

"Do not spend a lot of time in the grocery store.
Fact: Consumers end up spending 50 cents more of each additional minute they remain in the grocery store, after a standard of 30 minutes. The earlier you get out of the supermarket, the lesser money you will end up blowing on unnecessary items."
Source: http://www.moneysavingfreetips.com/saving-tips-shopping.html