Selecting a Safe Store
Do a reality check. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do they have a physical address?
- Do they have an 800 number and a local number? Have you called it?
- Do they have customer testimonials? If so, how many? Fraudulent sites will generally only take the time to generate a few bogus testimonials. Legitimate sites will generally have more than just a few because they are proud of their happy customers plus they didn't have to make them up.
- Do a web search for the company. Does anything negative come up? Are they listed with any qualified sites?
Are you going to be happy with your purchase?
- What are their terms and conditions?
- Do they offer anything in the line of a money-back or satisfaction guarantee?
- Does the site offer any reviews or testimonials from past customers?
Do they have any third-party seals?
Third party seals can help you to identify if the site is safe to purchase from. Be sure to click on the seals. If you click on them and they don't do anything, this is a very strong indicator that the site may be fraudulent.
Before you Enter Payment Information
The company should only ask for information required to complete the purchase. This will include, credit card number, cvv code, address, telephone number and email address. They should never ask for information such as your social security number, bank account numbers, or your mother's maiden name.
The website should use a SSL certificate. When you arrive to the screen where you enter your credit card number or other personal information, be sure that the Web address begins with https (i.e., https://www.basicinvite.com/checkout/). A small little padlock may also appear in the bottom right of the screen, as shown below.
Extended Validation Certificates
If you are using a modern web browser, you will also get another layer of notification with sites that use an EV SSL certificate. The address bar turns green to alert you that the site is safe and secure. Clicking on the company name displayed will allow you to see more information about the website.
This special type of security certificate helps to ensure that the Web site is secure and also includes information about the owner of the Website. In order to receive an EV SSL certificate the company must prove to be a legitimate company in good standing with the Certification Authority (CA) that issues the certificate.
For more information regarding online safety please visit these reputable sites:
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/fraud/finances/shopping_us.aspxhttp://www.wikihow.com/Shop-Online-Safely
http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/consumerawareness/l/blonlineshopsaf.htm