Precautions You Can Take to Secure Personal and Credit Information
- Keep your personal information private
- Be especially careful about online communications with someone who conceals his true identity
- Use a secure browser
- Use inexpensive filtering software to filter programs to protect your family from inappropriate sites
- Pay your bills online with credit card instead of using personal checks
- Review your telephone bill and other bills and challenge any charges that you don't recognize
Precautions You Can Take When Conducting Business Online
- Beware of offers that sound too good to be true
- Watch out for "advance fee" demands
- Take your time in making investment decisions, researching the potential investment opportunity thoroughly
- Have an attorney or accountant look at any proposed contracts
- Call every supplier or customer of the company and verify that they really do business with the company
- Check out the people running the company
- Contact your local consumer protection agency and the consumer protection agency in the city where the company is headquartered for more information about the company
- Interview business references in person at the place of business if possible and try and get a number of names to choose from. This will help you avoid talking with people who were paid to give favorable responses.
- Get earnings claims in writing when considering Internet-related business opportunities
- Get references on any travel companies and get details about the trip in writing, including the cancellation policy
- Consult with health-care professionals before buying any "cure-all" that claims to cure an ailment quickly or offers easy solutions to a serious illness
Precautions You Should Take When Shopping Online
- Keep your password(s) private
- Don't judge item by initial appearances posted online
- Check out the seller, especially when shopping online auction sites
- Shop with companies that you know or at least know who you are dealing with; make sure that the company is legitimate
- Get all the details involved before making an Internet transaction, such as complete descriptions, total price, return policy, etc.
- Ask your credit card issuer about "substitute" or "single-use" credit card numbers - these allow you to use your credit card without putting your real account number online
- Only share credit card information when buying from a company that you trust
- Pay by credit or charge card online, because you have a legal right to dispute charges for goods and services that were never ordered or received
- Keep a record for proof of the transaction