A Guide to Online Shopping
(Summary/Conclusions)
These conclusions are the sole opinion of this website creator and should only be taken in the context in which they were provided. The creator is not an IT security expert, or an IT expert for that matter.
It is truly a brave new world out there in cyber-space and there is no question that we may be in the "wild, wild, west" days of the internet. As such, act accordingly and buyer beware!!
I do like the term, Trust, but Verify. For me and my situation, I believe there are enough risk mitigation tools available to use e-commerce safely for online shopping. One review about fraud over the Internet put it this way:
"Our contention is that it's your unlocked mailbox out on the highway that should be your biggest concern, not Internet based fraud."
That, however, means that I must take advantage of those tools to verify vendors so that I can trust them in a business transaction, without ever seeing them in person. That may mean not taking the lowest price product, but rather purchasing it from a trusted site.
Always make sure that any store you exchange financial information with is a secure website.
Use your credit card to minimize liability. Do not use a debit card.
Never use shared computers for online shopping, or public Wi-Fi hotspots.
Never respond to an email asking you to validate personal information.
Make sure you are using a firewall and have antivirus and antispam software installed and running.
My review of several (not all) shopping bots revealed to me that not all shopping bots are created equal. From my point of view, I believe www.pricegrabber.com and www.cnet.com provide the best combined research, presentation of information, and seller trust information/access. I also like and will try the new integrated shopping bot toolbar at www.squaretrade.com
I hope you found this material useful to you as you consider joining us in the Wild, Wild, West. If you have ideas on how this site might be improved, please send me an email at piked@hotmail.com.
By the way, if you have not yet taken the Fraud Quiz, you should do so before you engage in any online financial transaction. It will only take a minute and you will come away enlightened. It is quick and consists of only 5 questions for you to ponder and answer.
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