Online payment services seem to be offered by all the leading banks today. Consumers admit that it is incomparably more convenient to shop online and use most banking services via Internet. But very often people pay a much higher price for the comfort, since there are a growing number of identity theft and fraud cases. How can one keep secure and enjoy online shopping?

Not all Internet shops are equally reliable and convenient. Some of them can have delivery problems, lack of quality control and poor customer service. But the most disastrous mischance you can face is insufficient protection of your personal information. Thus many online buyers can become victims of scammers. There is a great variety of techniques to steal your identity or card details. Banks and merchants (and certainly consumers) lose billions of dollars every year because of online identity thieves who tend to grow more and more skillful.

There is a well-spread point of view that it is safer to pay with a check or debit card to online merchants, and many people do stick to this rule. Until they find themselves impertinently robbed and cheated. The explanation is quite simple. The advantage credit card payment is that you have a legal right to refuse paying for bad quality merchandise and unauthorized charges (it is usually called Purchase Protection and Zero Liability For Unauthorized Purchases). In case of check or debit card payments, you will irrevocably lose your money.

It is important to mention that authoritative credit card companies (Discover, Visa, MasterCard, American Express etc) pay a special attention to developing genuine and effective tools for consumers' identity protection. For example, they can practice data encryption technologies at pages for entering your personal and card information, or special software for password generation.

Under the circumstances a conscientious consumer must avoid being in panic fear of online transactions as well as having an unlimited trust in the bank's security services. There some general guidelines to help online shopper to avoid the most common traps:

- be choosy and purchase only from the merchants you know. It is crucial to know the address and valid phone number of the merchant, so that you will be able to contact them if needed.

- be cautious about pre-approved credit card offers other advertising letters. Make difference between scam and real valuable offers. Don't forget to do away with the letters thoroughly.

- do not tell anyone your credit card numbers, PINs, SSN or any other personal information, except for special needs, be utterly attentive when somebody asks you by phone, only phishers ask card numbers by phone.

- don't be greedy and buy a reliably anti-virus program for your computer, if you want to use online banking and worry about nothing

- always read privacy policy statements to be aware of the methods the company uses to protect your identity, if something is shady, find another merchant

- making online purchases, use credit card instead of debit card, as with the latter you can't dispute unauthorized charges.

It's not convenient to be constantly on your watch, but being not can cost you thousands in bank and medical bills.

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