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As more consumers purchase goods and services online, cyber criminals take advantage of this opportunity to swoop in and steal your sensitive information.
These are steps from the National CyberSecurity Alliance that consumers can take to better secure accounts and transactions.
Make sure to do business with reputable, established vendors. Fraudsters are good at setting up fake e-commerce sites, particularly during the holiday season. Prior to making a purchase, read reviews to hear what others say about the merchant. In addition, look for a physical location and any customer service information. It’s also a good idea to call the merchant to confirm that they are legitimate. (See Understanding Web Site Certificates for more information.)
Many sites use secure sockets layer to encrypt information. Indications that your information will be encrypted include a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) that begins with "https:" instead of "http:" and a padlock icon. If the padlock is closed, the information is encrypted. The location of the icon varies by browser; for example, it may be to the right of the address bar or at the bottom of the window. Some attackers try to trick users by adding a fake padlock icon, so make sure that the icon is in the appropriate location for your browser.
Using a credit card is much safer than using a debit card; there are more consumer protections for credit cards if something goes awry. Additionally, debit cards draw money directly from bank accounts, unauthorized charges could leave you with insufficient funds to pay other bills. Another suggestion is to minimize potential damage by using a single, low-limit credit card to make all of your online purchases. Or, you can use a third-party payment service instead of your credit card. There are many services you can use to pay for purchases without giving the merchant your credit card information directly.
Be alert to the kinds of information being collected to complete your transaction. If the merchant is requesting more data than you feel comfortable sharing, cancel the transaction. You only need to fill out required fields at checkout and you should not save your payment information in your profile. If the account autosaves it, go in after the purchase and delete the stored payment details.
Monitor your accounts for any unauthorized activity regularly. Keep a record of your purchases and copies of confirmation pages and compare them to your bank statements. If there is a discrepancy, report it immediately. (See Preventing and Responding to Identity Theft.) Good recordkeeping goes hand-in-hand with managing your cybersecurity.
Another tip for monitoring activity is to set up alerts so that if your debit or credit card is used, you will receive an email or text message with the transaction details.