Lifestyle Choices

Protect yourself while shopping online, and how to spot a cyber scam

But while the idea of inputting your credit card number onto someone’s e-commerce Web site might seem risky at this point, there are security measures you can take to ensure safe cyber shopping.

Wanna Buy a Watch?

Just as you wouldn’t buy a Cartier watch—at least not a real one—from a guy on the street, you shouldn’t buy anything from a site that you don’t know. Before you make a purchase, check it out. Sites like mysimon.com or streetprices.com offer a service that will give you a report on the company you are thinking of patronizing. Mysimon.com will rate a company by product price and reliability. If the place that you are searching for is not listed or gets a bad rating—shop elsewhere.

Look for the Logo

Most reputable e-commerce sites carry a logo that ensures their standard of business. Verisign is one of the leaders in digital trust services. They manage e-commerce transactions with name services, authentication services, and payment services. When you see the Verisign logo on a Web site, you know that your transaction is being managed by a reputable source.

Learn to Spot Scam Sites

Learning to recognize banner ads, e-mails, and companies that are a scam is an important tool. Mortgage loans, sweepstake notices, and travel bargains are all candidates. Any offer that requires you to fill out personal information is not a good choice.

Most banner ads and spam advertisements are from companiesthat have no business plan and usecheap forms of advertising to attract suckers.

The Toolbar Can Tell a Story

Referring back to David Nielsen’s site, fightidentitytheft.com, “one key to identifying fraudulent sites is to look at the address toolbar in yourbrowser. If it says anything other thanthe domain name of the site you thinkyou’re visiting (wellsfargo.com for example), it is probably a scam and youshould report it to the company immediately. . . . Another variation is getting a message that states ‘the credit card you used to sign up for service is invalid or expired and the information needs to be reentered to keep your account active.’ If you ever get a message like this be very, very careful. It might be best to call the company, unless you are absolutely confident that it is a valid message.”

To sum up the philosophy every cybergirl should adopt when using the Internet, I will quote from wiredpatrol.com: “The Internet is an amazing place. But the fact that it is a wonderful place to work, play and study does not mean users shouldn’t be aware of its dark side. The Web mirrors the real world.” The truth is, you are more susceptible to credit card fraud or identity theft every time you leave a credit slip at a restaurant or store than you are when shopping on a reputable Web site. Use your cyber Safety Chick common sense and you should be fine.

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