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Shopping online: Tips for safety of credit cards

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  • Shopping online: Tips for safety of credit cards

    [FONT=Arial]Do you know that your credit card can be at misused when shopping online for things like flowers, chocolates, air & rail tickets? This article describes the things you can do to prevent your credit card details from being stolen by online thieves


    a) Keystroke loggers: Do you know when you install that cute card on click on the game attachment in your mail, the program may have installed a “Keystroke Logger” on your PC? This program silently records all the keys you have pressed and emails to its owner. This way, when credit card details are entered on the websites, the card number, CVV pin etc may get sent to a third party who can misuse them

    The best & easiest way to defeat such programs is to use the “Virtual Keyboard” available in Windows ( Start > Programs > Accessories > Accessibility > On Screen Keyboard or Virtual Keyboard). This program allows you to enter letters & numbers by clicking on the screen rather than using the keyboard. Ensure that you enter either your card number or CVV code using this tool, by which Keystroke loggers don’t have a chance to capture your credit card details.

    This is particularly important to do in cyber-cafes as PCs there are virtually guaranteed to be infected with Keystroke Loggers.


    b) Look for Verisign, SSL, Hacker-safe logos: The websites which are reliable work with shopping carts which display logos like Verisign, SSL (an encryption standard) and Hacker-Safe. These are usually displayed on the shopping cart / checkout pages (SSL availability is known by a small padlock that appears in the lower right corner of your browser on secure pages). These indicate that credit card details will be safe in transit. For example, on our site http://Flowers2Delhi.com click on the shopping cart section to see all these three symbols

    c) Trust: Ultimately, as you don’t see the website owner in person, it is all about trust. See the about us / policy pages to get a sense of how old the business is; what are its credentials. Judge the site by how fast & courteously they reply to your emails. See if they have a phone number at which they are reachable. These go a very long way in ensuring that your online-shopping experience will be pleasant & hassle free.

    These are very basic things; yet many people don’t know this while shopping online. If you follow these advise, the chances of your card being pirated online are virtually nil. So here’s wishing you a happy shopping experience online, and do share this article with as many people as possible, if you find it useful

    Regards
    Amit Khetan
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