Never Throw Away Your Credit Card Details While Shopping On-line!

Shopping on-line has become more than a necessity these days. It is very easy, time saving and you may get good value for money. However, it is open door to hackers and identity thieves at the same time. They may create programs to catch your credit card information and your card details may be sold in the black market for further abuse.

Almost one in every 18 customers is supposed to be affected by credit card frauds. While most of the cards limit your liability to $50 in case of its fraudulent use, the mess created in your credit history is very hard to clean up.

Here are some important tips for shopping on-line -

1. Check the terms of your credit card - You should find out what could be your liability in case of the fraud. Some credit cards provide total cover against any fraud while others will provide a limited cover. You should always go for a card providing total cover.

2. Submit your information carefully - There are many websites asking a lot of information from you which may be unnecessary for making a purchase. Some companies store your credit card information in their online database. You should avoid such companies as the information is likely to be compromised.

3. Read the privacy policy - The website should give a specific assurance that they respect your privacy and will not sell your information to anyone.

4. Look at the address on the website - The address will tell you whether the website is using a secured method of processing your credit card. Generally the address of any website starts with http:// but the address of a secured website starts with https://
This is very important information because it gives you an assurance of safety.

5. Avoid using credit card on public terminals - If you are using an Internet café, avoid making any purchases. The details you enter while purchasing may be compromised.

6. Use Paypal whenever possible - Most of the sites have now added Paypal as one of their method of payment. In such payment, you are not required to give any details of your credit card. If you want further security, you can opt for the security key from Paypal which will generate a number every time you make a purchase. Such number needs to be entered along with your password for completing a transaction. There is a small fee for this service but the security of your transaction is enhanced considerably.

7. If you are not satisfied with the security settings and you still need to make some purchase, you can use a virtual credit card for such transaction. This facility is available to you from most of the credit card issuers. It has a unique number which can be used only once, so even if a hacker captures that number, he cannot use it any more. And that number is not your real credit card number.

No one can guarantee that you will stay safe and protected while shopping online. You have to work harder to protect yourself.