Imagine finding the most perfect outfit online and for a bargain price. After immediately putting it in the, “shopping cart” once all the correct fields including credit card number, are filled in, the process is complete and the wait begins for the order to arrive.
Then the bill arrives, it has skyrocketed and hundreds of false purchases have been made with the credit card, leaving you wishing you had not bothered to buy that outfit
Possible? Well, probably not.
The truth is, online shopping presents almost no danger if it is done while using some common sense.
“Anyone could steal your credit card number anywhere else,” Jason Haddix, help desk consultant at the EC Technical Center, said. “It’s the same risk. If anything, it’s easier to be done in a face-to-face transaction.”
The reason online shopping is safer is because of an encrypted secure connection that allows users to know exactly where they are and what’s being done.
“If you’d just gone to a key logger site, which you don’t want to do, it can steal your credit card number and follow everything else you’re doing,” Haddix said. “A computer is only as secure as you are smart.”
The real danger presents itself in face-to-face transactions.
All that needs to be done in order to steal your credit card number is take note of the last few digits, the three-digit security code on the back and the name on the card.
“If you do that, you can buy anything you want and there would be no trail,” Haddix said.
With online shopping, however, if one uses a secure and trusted site, there will be a complete transaction trail that prevents false purchases and stolen credit card numbers.
“Face-to-face, there’s less of a transaction trail, so you’d probably never be able to figure out who stole your credit card number,” Will Taira, help desk consultant at the Technical Center, said.
In order to prevent this from occurring, it is advised that no one give out their credit card number without being sure the site is safe and that they never hand someone their credit card and let the person out of their sight with it.
“If you were in a restaurant and you hand your waiter your card, you wouldn’t let them out of your sight,” Haddix said.
“They could just say they’re going to the back and steal your credit card number. Anybody can do that. It’s the same with shopping online. Don’t give away your credit card number without having a secure computer or using a secure site.”
There are other measures that can be taken when shopping online to fully ensure your credit card is safe.
“If someone is really concerned, they can certainly use a separate credit card that’s only used for shopping online,” Taira said. “That way you can use it when necessary and just keep tabs on it.”
Using common sense and keeping away from unfamiliar Web pages will keep online shopper protected, as will certain programs that can help a shopper if something does go wrong.
“Don’t just go to any site. You don’t go to Joe Blow’s site and go to his PayPal,” Haddix said.
“PayPal does have a way so you can fix it, but it won’t always work. If you go and transfer $100 to some stranger’s PayPal, the money is gone.”
The same precautions taken when using a credit card anywhere else are applicable for use online as well, but overall, students need not worry if they take the correct precautions when using their credit card.
“If you go to a trusted establishment like Amazon, you’ll be fine. I mean, you don’t just go to any old place when shopping with your credit card,” Haddix said.
“You can also get all this information online. But, I mean, with years of online banking, online transactions are looking pretty safe.”