Protect Your Credit Information When You Shop Online

If you love the convenience of online shopping you have probably visited all kinds of sites on the internet. No matter how comfortable you are with online shopping, you should not be casual about protecting your credit card information and your identity.

Never click on a link in an email from an unknown source to buy a product. If the company is reputable you should be able to find their web site using a search engine. Type in the address yourself or find it using your search engine. If the site does not launch, the email link you got is bogus and you have just averted credit card fraud and possibly identity theft.  

When you visit a site and find a product you like, look for the security encryption logo displayed on the page with the online shipping card. Encrypted data is harder for hackers to steal and will ensure that your credit card information is safe.  

If you think you might want to shop on the same site again, you may wish to store your credit card information for future use. Before you do so, make sure the site is secured. If you have a question about the site security you may choose not to store your information on the site. It doesn’t take that much time to enter the credit card information when you visit the site again. 

If you do store your credit card information on the site be sure you choose a user ID and password that is not easy to guess, and do not enable automatic login. If a hacker succeeds in gaining access to your computer, a good password will protect you. You see the online store probably filed a ‘cookie’ on your computer to make it easier for you to get back to the site. If a hacker searches through your shopping cart cookies, it will be easy for him to use an auto login or to guess a simple password. If your credit card information is stored on the site, the hacker has everything the need to buy products in your name.  

It is fairly simple to protect your credit when you shop online. It isn’t rocket science, by any means. So, before you drop that item in an online store shopping cart, be sure you have done your homework and save yourself some grief and some money by protecting your credit card and your financial stability.