7 simple steps to shop safely on-line this Christmas

[Michael Browne]

Some of the best deals to cut the cost of Christmas can only be obtained online, but as many as a third of all internet users are still too nervous to shop on the web.

 

Here are our tips on how you can shop securely.

 

 

1 START WITH SECURE SITES

 

One in four online shoppers do not check if a website they are visiting is a safe place to shop.

 

There are vetting schemes you can consult such as Shopsafe (www.shopsafe.co.uk), which has checked out more than 4,000 shops and rated them for their range of goods, delivery costs and security.

 

Similarly, look for the Internet Shopping Is Safe (ISIS) logo from IMRG (www.imrg.org/isis) IMRG also vets more than 1,000 accredited retailers for reliability, data protection and security, and excludes any that do not come up to scratch.

 

The good news is, ISIS-accredited retailers now account for approximately two thirds of all UK online shopping.

 

One way to tell if you are shopping on a secure site is to use a price-comparison website such as Pricerunner (www.pricerunner.co.uk) or Kelkoo (www.kelkoo.co.uk) where you can check the seller's customer ratings. It is also worth looking at how many reviews a site has received; the more the better.

 

Get Safe Online (www.getsafeonline.org), the government-backed consumer website, advises you to always download the latest version of your web browser as these have built-in filters than can spot many fake websites.

 

Although rare, it is possible for your computer to be corrupted by viruses in such away that you can type a legitimate website address into your browser and still end up at a fake site.

This form of fraud is known as "pharming". Check your browser's address bar after you arrive at a website to make sure it matches the address you typed. Subtle changes ("eebay" instead of "eBay" for example) may indicate your computer is a victim of a pharming attack.

 

Tom Wiggins, news editor at gadget magazine Stuff, said: "As long as you're sensible and vigilant online you can often spot a fake. Bad spelling and grammar often give fake sites or emails away.

"Always double check the website address before you submit any details and look for any irregularities. If it looks odd or isn't the address you'd expect it to be, don't enter any personal information."

 

Also keep in mind that just because a website has a .uk web address, it is not necessarily based in Britain. Check for a physical address and avoid sites that do not publish one. Consumer Direct (www.consumerdirect.gov.uk) warns that buying from abroad is riskier because UK consumer law does not apply and getting redress can be difficult.

 

The internet makes it easy to find the cheapest product, but exercise common sense. If the price seems too good to be true, it probably is. Amazon is a good resource when it comes to assessing a realistic price.

 

2 PASSWORDS

 

Many online retailers will ask you to pick a password when you register to make a purchase on their site.

 

But, just as you would have more than one key to your home, make sure you use different passwords for all your online shopping websites. And it is crucial that you never use the same password for a shop as you do for your email account.

 

There are a few tricks for picking passwords that are hard to crack. One of the easiest ways to outwit online fraudsters is to substitute numerals for letters in memorable words.

For example, if you want "November'' as a password, use the zero key instead of the letter "o''. Similarly, the number 1 can be used for the letter "I'', a 5 for "s'' and so on.

 

Another good ruse is to use your first car's registration number. This is ingrained on many people's memory but unlikely to be known by others.

 

Or why not use a mnemonic device. Write out a phrase or sentence that means something to you. For example, the nursery rhyme, "hickory, dickory, dock, the mouse ran up the clock", would create "hddtmrutc" as a password, which would otherwise be a difficult string of letters to commit to memory.

Remember, the easier it is for you to remember, the easier it is for hackers to guess.

 

 

3 LOOK FOR THE PADLOCK

 

Once you have chosen something to buy, the next step is making a payment. This is where many reluctant online shoppers end up stalling.

 

Typically, this is down to the anxiety about entering credit card details over the web. But there is a way to check that your payment will be secure.

 

Garreth Griffith, head of risk and security at PayPal, said: "Always take time to ensure the site you're entering your details on is legitimate and not a clone site or unsecure. For example, look for the padlock symbol in the browser and make sure the URL starts with 'https'."

 

Keep your eye out for padlocks that appear on the page itself, which could be an indication of fraud as legitimate padlocks will only appear in the browser bar – the strip near the top of your computer screen.

 

 

4 CONSIDER A PREPAID CREDIT CARD

 

For cautious shoppers, a prepaid card might just be the answer to their fears. It looks like a credit or debit card and can be used wherever these cards are accepted.

 

The main difference is that you can only spend the balance that has been preloaded onto it. This means there is no risk of running into debt as it has no credit or overdraft facility and, crucially, the card has none of your personal details attached.

 

Andrew Hagger, spokesmen for Moneynet, said: "Unlike a debit card, a prepaid card does not have any link to your bank account which would be useful for those more wary online shoppers."

 

There are a number of rival cards out there and the best one for you depends on how you will use the card. Mr Hagger said: "For instance, some cardholders will have to pay an initial fee, while others pay a monthly fee. Charges for ATM withdrawals, retail purchases and fees to reload the card also vary."

 

For example, Virgin's Prepaid Mastercard (http://uk.virginmoney.com), will cost £9.95 for the first usage but thereafter is free to reload at the Post Office and has a 2.95pc charge for ATM withdrawals and purchases.

 

In comparison, the CashPlus prepaid Gold Mastercard (www.mycashplus.co.uk) has a £4.95 initial fee and a £4.95 monthly fee but there is no charge for purchases or reloading.

 

 

5 SIGN UP FOR A PAYPAL ACCOUNT

 

Another way to pay online with confidence is with PayPal (www.paypal.co.uk).

You can pay with money held in your PayPal account or use another payment method such as a credit card, debit card or your bank account.

 

Once you have an account, you just need to select PayPal as your payment method when you shop online. Websites that accept PayPal will show the PayPal logo at the checkout.

 

You will be asked to log in to your account with your email address and password to confirm the payment. PayPal says it never shares your financial details with sellers or retailers.

 

 

6 GET EXTRA COVER AND PAY BY CREDIT CARD

 

You can also protect yourself by using a credit card when shopping online. Under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, credit card companies are jointly liable with the shop if something you buy is faulty, not as it was described, or fails to be delivered.

 

If the shop goes bust before you have received the goods, you can make the same claim against the credit card provider that you would have brought against the supplier. For a credit card company to be liable, the price of the goods must be over £100 and under £30,000.

 

Always print out a copy of the order confirmation and check bank or credit card statements carefully to make sure the right payment has been processed.

 

However, be aware that debit cards, American Express and prepaid Visa and Mastercards are not covered by the act.

 

 

7 SIGN UP TO VERIFIED BY VISA OR MASTERCARD SECURE CODE

 

For additional security, sign up for the extra Pin/password security measures offered by Mastercard SecureCode (www.mastercard.com) and Verified by Visa (www.visaeurope.com)

These simple password-protected identity-checking services are free and mean once you have registered your card, it cannot be used to buy goods from one of the 12,000 participating online retailers without the extra password.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/8926172/How-to-shop-safely-online.html

[renegadeimp]

Any reason why you are trying to inflate your postcount nick?