Use a Credit Card to Order Online
Because of their low overhead, online retailers often offer lower prices than brick-and-mortar stores. Snag a deal on free shipping and you're almost guaranteed to save money by purchasing online. But before you get the goods you've got to pay for them, and one of the easiest, simplest, safest ways of doing so is paying with a credit card.
Steps
- Connect to a secure, encrypted network.
- Some browsers use the symbol of a closed padlock to denote a secure network connection. You can also look for "[https" https"] in front of the Internet address, instead of the normal "[http," http,"] to indicate a secure network.
- Avoid sending credit card information by e-mail over an unsecured network. Although e-mail might seem private, it's all too easy for another user on the same network to monitor your transmission.
- In a similar vein, don't use an unfamiliar wireless network to send credit card information or make online purchases. Ad-hoc networks masquerading as free wi-fi are a common tool for scamming your credit card information.
- Ideally, you should avoid making online purchases over a public wireless network whenever possible.
- Input the address of the website you intend to purchase from in your browser's address window.
- Do your best to go directly to the site instead of searching for it or following a link; this minimizes your risk of ending up at a phishing site that mimics the original in order to gather your credit card information. Above all, do not follow links from e-mails to purchase items unless you're absolutely certain the e-mail did come from the legitimate merchant. These phishing, or mimic, e-mails are a very common scam.
- Assemble the goods you intend to buy. Depending on which site you're buying from this might involve bidding on an item until you win the right to purchase it, or clicking "Add to Cart" on the item page.
- Click the appropriate button to purchase the items you've selected. Usually this entails looks for the icon of a shopping cart (or the word "Cart") and clicking the icon/word. Then click "Check Out" or "Check Out Now."
- Input your shipping information. You might not see your final price until you've done this, as the website needs your zip or postal code to calculate shipping charges.
- Input your billing information too. This should match the billing information for your credit card.
- Many websites give you an option to copy your shipping address into the billing address fields with the click of a single button.
- Input your credit card information. This includes:
- Your name as it appears on the credit card.
- The credit card number.
- The credit card expiration date.
- The 3- or 4- digit security code on the back of the credit card.
- You might also need to provide the billing zip code for the credit card again, or the telephone number listed on your credit card statement.
- Click the appropriate button to complete the credit card sale.
- Print the confirmation screen or proof of purchase you receive upon completing the transaction, and keep this in a safe place until the item you paid for arrives.
Tips
- Another option for protecting yourself from credit card fraud: purchase a prepaid Visa or MasterCard gift card, and use this to fund online purchases.
- The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation recommends making online purchases with your credit card because you have the option of disputing the charge if something goes wrong.
- You can also sign up for a PayPal account and set the account to be funded through your credit card. Some websites allow you to pay for your purchases using PayPal. In theory you're safe from fraud because you never give out your credit card number to a merchant, but you could still be the victim of fraud through your PayPal account.
- Some merchants store your credit card information for later use. Not all merchants warn you of this or give you the choice of saving your information or not. If a merchant stores your credit card information and you access your account with that merchant through an unsecured connection, you could become a victim of fraud if somebody hacks your account. Consider double-checking your merchant accounts and removing all stored credit card information to reduce your risk.
- Some credit card issuers offer the option of generating a "virtual" credit card number for online purchases. You use this one-time-only number just as you would for a normal credit card, but since you're not giving out your real credit card number--and the virtual credit card number only works once--you are protected from having your credit card information stolen for fraudulent purposes.
