Secure Shopping
Safety Tips
Credit Card Fraud Prevention

Internet Shopping is open 24 hours, seven days per week. It's convenient - you can buy whatever you want without leaving your home. It opens up whole new world of goods that might not be available locally.

The Internet has revolutionised the entire concept of shopping. As more of us become Net savvy, there has been a substantial increase in the number of Middle East consumers using Internet shopping sites. So it essential to be aware of how to find the goods you are looking for and how to ensure all your transactions are secure.

Need to know
For those who are new to the process of shopping on the Internet, it is best to start with a shopping agent such as 'The Internet Shopping Directory', CompareNet (http://www.comparenet.com), Virtual Outlet (http://vo.infospace.com) or Bottomdollar (http://bottomdollar.com). If you know exactly what you want, you could type in your request into a centralised database and visit sites or entries that crop up after your request.

Secure shopping
You take the same risks using the Internet as with any mail order shopping but there are mechanisms in place to protect your safety. A good sign that a cyber-shop is serious about security is if it uses a secure server - this encrypts your details and makes them almost impossible to intercept.

• To make sure you are making a secure transaction, one that has been encrypted for online transaction, look for a key/padlock at the bottom of the screen. If there is no key, or the key looks broken, it is not guaranteed that the transaction is secured.
  
• Online shopping should be regarded as an advanced form of catalogue shopping. The most important thing to consider is to decide that whether the site represents a real merchant you know and trust.
  
• Once you have established that the merchant is a reputable, big company, then the next question is whether it is safe to give your credit card number online. When you purchase something online, it gets charged to your credit card, with the providers taking extra measures to protect your security.
• Cyber hackers can have a field day with a number of credit card numbers flowing in on the Net if proper security measures are not taken. This again can be ensured if you are ordering from a reputable company.
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Although the internet has, no doubt, become popular as a medium of communication for commercial organisations they can not ignore the fact that almost 90 per cent of Internet users remain concerned about credit card security. Internet fraud is expected to grow in the future in the Middle East as more consumers in the Gulf move to online purchasing. In most parts of the United States, there now exists an address verification system otherwise known as AVS online to authenticate a cardholder's identity.

Safety tips for internet use

• Credit card companies such as Visa International have a number of tips for cardholders who use the Internet. It is advisable to always ask for written information when purchasing a product on the Net rather than buying based solely on description.
  
• You should check the name, address and telephone of the company especially, if it is not well known and be aware that, inspite of undergoing your search, the company could still be a scam.
  
• You should not feel pressurised into making an immediate decision to buy the good or service as legitimate businesses will give you a fair amount of time for you to make up your mind.
• Finally, you should make sure that you read the web page of the company carefully making note of the total amount that will be debited from your card.
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To Prevent Credit Card Fraud
Shebabrata Shaha, a credit card officer at Lloyds TSB in Dubai, reminds cardholders of a few essential safety measures that should be followed to prevent credit card fraud over the Internet.