Q: How do I protect myself while shopping online?
A: One of the biggest risks in shopping online is clicking on a link to what appears to be a legitimate site but is, in fact, a forgery run by criminals interested in your credit card number and other personal information.
An estimated $3.2 billion was lost to such “phishing” sites in the United States last year, according to a survey by Gartner Inc.
Watching out for fraudulent sites is the crucial first step in a secure online shopping experience. The key is to type in the Web address independently and not to follow links sent in e-mails.
Most Web browsers will alert you when you’re navigating to known phishing sites or those serving up viruses, but the key word there is “known.” Many harmful sites are set up and dismantled within 24 hours, so it’s often a cat-and-mouse game.
Also, look for your browser’s address bar to turn green; that’s a sign the site you’re visiting has paid for — and passed — an extra layer of background checks to verify it’s a legitimate business. The so-called Extended Validation Secure Sockets Layer certificate is a feature that also indicates the site is sending your data securely using proper encryption.
If a site doesn’t have that feature, look for the traditional SSL padlock when you get to a site’s order page, and click on that if you have doubts about the site’s authenticity. It will identify the site’s owner and the agency that issued the certificate. The padlocks are not always foolproof, however, because scammers can spoof them.
Once you’re comfortable with the site, the question becomes: How do you pay for things?
Security experts recommend you never use a debit card because if criminals intercept the information, any charges are taken directly from your account, and it takes…