I’ve been using credit cards online since I got my first ISP account way back in 1997. I’ve spent an average of several thousand dollars a monthon my credit cards and I’ve never had a fraudulent transaction online (touch wood)
So here are my tips for keeping your credit card details safe
- Use Anti Virus and Anti Spyware software This is to prevent malicious programs from sending your personal details (including your credit card number) to nasty people. I use AVG antivirus which is good and free. For spyware detection and removal I use Ad-Aware which is also free (for non-commercial use)
- Look for the Padlock Never ever enter your credit card details onto a webpage that doesnt have the little padlock in the corner. The padlock says your browser has a secure connection to the server that you are sending your credit card information to.
- Don’t do business with a company you’ve never heard of. This might sound a little bit restrictive, but it’s not as hard as you think. If your at a site you’ve never heard of before, put the site name into google and see what comes up, if they are a little then something will more than likely come up in the first couple of pages of results.
- Keep your computer up to dateIt seems every week micrsoft is releasing new security updates. By keeping your computer patched you can ward off some of the problems that may leak your credit card details. Another alternative is to use the Firefox browser. As Microsoft currently has the most popular web browser which leads most of the evil hackers to exploit the software that gives them the most chance gaining access to someones private information. Firefox has had security exploits recorded, but not as many as Internet Explorer, and the team behind Firefox are much quicker to respond with updates.
- Check your at the right site There are some clever criminals out there that sends out emails saying that due to some serious reason you need to log into your online banking account and ask you to click the link to go to your banks site. NEVER CLICK THE LINK. It will take you to a fake site that looks exactly the same as the one you are used to using and instead of logging you into your online banking, it will capture your log in details, then use them to remove the money from your account. This isn’t good.
When going into online banking, ie to check your spending habits on your credit cards, always type the web address into your browser. - If it sounds suspicious then it probably is, there is no man in Nigeria that needs your credit card details, Unless you’ve heard about it in the mainstream media then baby jane probably doesn’t need $10,000 for a liver transplant. Think to yourself if someone came up to you in the street with the same story would you give them money.
At the end of the day, with a little bit of knowledge, backed up with some commonsense, you should be able to keep your credit card details safe.