How to Secure Your Online Shopping

More and more people are getting used to shopping online. It gives you a different shopping experience from the traditional one because it is not a face-to-face shopping. At the same time, there are more internet traps which aim at your credit cards. How to protect your online shopping with no fraud? Four tips are suggested for your safe online shopping.

Contact Information
Clear contact information is a must-have for any serious online business. After you land on a website for the first time, contact information is one of the most important check points. Make sure you have direct contact information before you make any purchase. The contact information includes phone number and address, not email contact form only. Most of people think the toll free number is much better than the local number because it is free and shows the strength of a company. However, the fact is that any one can apply for a toll free number and people can take advantage of it to add more attraction for a trap. If you watch Oprah's show, there is a case for the fraud with a toll free number. The toll free is good for a customer service but it doesn't mean everything. If there is a local phone number, at least you can check whether the local area number matches with the published address. Anyway, you are really on your own if there is no contact information.

HTTPS connection
Most of online users know what HTTPS means but how many of you check this when you are shopping online. HTTPS is Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. The HTTPS connections are often used for payment transactions on the web and for sensitive information transmission. If you are on the formal online shopping sites, your connection will be changed from http to https when you click to check out. If no https connection, all your registration information and banking information are transparent for anyone on the internet. After you click the check out button, make sure your url connection changes to https connection from normal http connection.

Payment Resolution
Pay attention to the payment system they use. PayPal and Authorize are popular online payment system. The reason is that people trust them to make a transaction and protect their banking information at the same time. However, you should be alert if the payment system is the one you have never heard. Your credit card information or banking information may not be protected in a secure system.

Downloadable Products
Downloadable products are the best suitable ones for online shopping. First, make sure if it is the right one you want to purchase. Most of those products are non-refundable so read the policy carefully. Even through PayPal, you may not get your money back if not what you really want. Second, make sure that they have a good customer service including phone contact information. If only an email contact form, you could find no response after the sale. Third, always remember that too good to be true. Usually you will find a nice software or tool with long page testimonials. The best thing is only a few bucks or something like that. If you really get what you need, that is good. However, there is a possibility that you lose that small amount of money with nothing or even worse your credit card information.

Online shopping is absolutely a prospective business. Those above suggestions would help you enjoy the fantastic online shopping experience.