Shopping on the net?

[Jayne]

Hi,

I have never bought anything from the internet for fear of theft. Someone has told me to get a credit card, which I have just ordered (always paid debit or cash before) to go on Ebay. If someone does steel from me, can you prove the transactions didn't come from my computer and any advice on safe shopping would be helpful.

Thanks

Jayne

[Top Hat]

If you have a credit card yu are protected.

Its merchants that pay for fraud

[SmallBizSoftware]

Jayne

Always a good idea to pay by credit card as you usually get fraud protection (unless you have been v negligent) and soem product insurance too. I have been subject to fraud on the net and my card issuer covered all of the costs (long story)

Other tips:

Only ever put your card details into an encrypted site. Look for a padlock in the browser bar or right click on the site, select properties and check the connection which should read something like

'SSL 3.0, RC4 with 128 bit encryption (High); RSA with 1024 bit exchange'

or check the url start HTTPS (the S is for secure).

Common sense is usually a great help, if it is way too cheap it is either stolen or a honey pot to get your card details.

Happy shopping!

Graham (http://www.smallbizsoftware.co.uk)

[Jayne]

Thank You all

jayne

[MinuWeb]

Also, never click on a link sent to you by e-mail and enter any personal information.

There are so many phishing mails going around trying to get info from e-bay and paypal users.

Always go to the site from yuor browser and login like you normally would.

[Cornish Steve]

Also, never click on a link sent to you by e-mail and enter any personal information.

There are so many phishing mails going around trying to get info from e-bay and paypal users.

Always go to the site from yuor browser and login like you normally would.

We have experienced a rash of these lately: banks asking to confirm account details, internet providers asking to confirm a credit card number for continued service, and so on. They all look really genuine and, at first glance, the addresses are believable.

I agree with vhosting. Never provide personal information in response to an email, no matter how genuine it appears.

[Rob Holmes]

Not only make sure the website has a secure certificate but for extra caution I never ever buy from a sub-domain of a website as they can be easily faked - they can even display a real secure certificate and be a fake.

Rob

[Jayne]

I got an email from my bank the other day, I didn't fill in the details because I didn't have an online bank account, so took no notice of it. Is this classed as spam to report, or do I have to report it somewhere else? I just deleted this last one. I've also had loads of lottery wins, keep telling them to send the cheques to my shop, using a false name. I guess tha cheques are in the post :D

Jayne

[gary]

Shopping online is essentially safe - you only ever hear of the horror stories unfortunately, and not of the millions of transactions that happen every day without any problems. That doesn't mean you should be complacent though!

The main things to look for when shopping online are:

1) Is the site secure? When you enter your card details, is there a padlock at the bottom right of your screen, and if you double-click on it does it confirm the secure certificate for the site you're on? The bare minimum should be secure pages for your card details - it's better though if all your personal information is entered on a secure server.

2) Are the company's contact details on the site? Legally all e-commerce sites should have the company name, phone number and address. If you're unsure about shopping online, call them and have a chat. They should welcome the opportunity to ease your concerns.

3) Does the company have any sort of accreditation from Trust UK or other recognised body? Be warned, there's a lot of so-called meaningless accreditions out there - the only officially recognised ones are Safebuy and IMRG's Internet Shopping Is Safe (though there are a couple of industry specific groups recognised by Trust UK as well). Not having accreditation however, does not mean the site is not safe, but it's just an added assurance.

4) As you now know, always use a credit card and not a debit card if possible. You almost always have more protection from the card issuer this way, and if your purchase is over £100 (I think) they are also obliged to assist you if the goods don't arrive (but check that with them first).

Hope that helps!

[Jayne]

Thanks Gary,

I actually understood all that. Just wait until my card arrives! Ebay here I come :D

I can use it for my business stuff too! :lol:

Jayne

[kyber]

For sites that I am not certain of but still feel compelled to purchase from (don't ask me why), I use a one time credit card. This service is available from a number of banks - Cahoot (Abbey National) in my case (where it known as the webcard). It lets you create a one time credit card number with a predefined limit (that you choose to match the transaction value, say £86). I have a little icon for an application in my tray (looks like a maths brace for some reason) that I can pop up anytime I need to create a card. On some forms, the application will even fill the details in for you automatically but otherwise you can usually drag and drop (saves typing your name and number).

It is possible that this transaction may prove fraudulent (in which case you have the comebacks mentioned above) but there is no opportunity for the "card" to be used again.

I find some sites do not like the webcard. I usually walk away at that point.

Stuart

[Jayne]

I've ordered my card already from my bank. Didn't really consider looking around, I thought they were all the same. I have never used credit cards, never needed to, I usually just pay cash. I don't really like any card, especially now chip and pin is in. I have a very bad memory and forget my pin and get fed up of applying for a new one. (could be why i'm rubbish at spelling too :D )

Thanks for the info though, undestood a bit of it :?

Jayne

[chris1317]

If it is your 1st credit card id advise to pay it off at the end of each month as they quickly mount up and it does not take long before they increase your limit giving you more spending power.

It is so easy to spend on them and after a point can become so hard to pay it back. I have just taken the chips out of mine because I was spending a couple of pounds here and there whenever I didnt have change in the shops and then getting the statement at the end of the month and being shocked. At least this way I can only use online.

Its easy to loose track of how much you are spending so be careful.

Chris.

[Jayne]

Thanks for the advice Chris. I'm very careful with money, may not be so good with computers yet, but my brass is a different matter.

You know what they say, ' A fool and his (or her) money is easily parted!
or 'tight as a duck arse', is another good one :lol:

Jayne

[Cornish Steve]

Does the company have any sort of accreditation from Trust UK or other recognised body? Be warned, there's a lot of so-called meaningless accreditions out there.

We recently paid quite a lot of money to join our local Better Business Bureau. I've heard that this is now an international organization; will their seal on our site count for anything in Britain? Would you recommend that we look into Trust UK as well?

As a startup company, it's really tough gaining credibility outside your circle of friends and acquaintances. In one email, I happened to include my title of Dr. in my signature - and that brought people down on me like a ton of bricks (it seems there are many fraudulent doctors around). Few believe our offer of free training to anyone who recently lost a job, to single moms, etc.; most assume it's a scam. Phoney degree mills have tarnished the reputation of genuine online training companies, so we face that too.

One day I know we'll have earned a reputation for quality and integrity. Until that day arrives, it is tough!

What about offering a UKBF Seal of Approval? :)

[clickprofits]

There is some good general advice on the OFT site too:

http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights+When+Shopping+From+Home/Online+shopping/Buying.htm

[coxadmin]

I got an email from my bank the other day, I didn't fill in the details because I didn't have an online bank account, so took no notice of it. Is this classed as spam to report, or do I have to report it somewhere else? I just deleted this last one. I've also had loads of lottery wins, keep telling them to send the cheques to my shop, using a false name. I guess tha cheques are in the post :D

Jayne

I always report these emails to the organisation concerned - by forwarding the email to abuse@bank (insert bank website details) - if you don't know the bank email address search for the website in Google and look at the Contact Us page.

[Jayne]

Thanks Lynn,

I'll send the next one to the bank. :D

Best Wishes

Jayne

[MinuWeb]

abuse@ and spoof@ are the ones I always forward them onto.

[Jayne]

Thanks,

I sent one to Interpol, but they said they didn't want it. I thought as these things were used for money laundering, the police would be interested. There isn't any links to mail them on the UK police web site. This is why there is so many still doing it. Now I know where to send them, I will send them there instead of deleting them.

Bye

Jayne

[chris1317]

Another handy one for spam is

http://www.spamcop.net/

Chris.

[chris1317]

Another handy one for spam is

http://www.spamcop.net/

Chris.

[kyber]

I collect all of my personal email through a spamcop account. I also have accounts for my wife and each of my children and for several businesses.

It is not perfect but it does a reasonable job and is very cheap. You get a healthy discount on multiple accounts.

Held mail is available for review online or through an IMAP email client so it is relatively easy to pick up false positives. Their web interface is a little slow but the mail service itself is fast so when away from a desktop mail client I tend to use mail2web service to read my spamcop accounts.

You can simply define existing pop3 mail accounts to your spamcop email account (and it picks them up for you) and you then collect from your spamcop account using your email client OR you arrange for existing email accounts to forward to your spamcop account. This is what I do. Not noticed any appreciable delay in receipt of emails.

Stuart