I love to shop online. And when I say love, I mean it emphatically. Anyone who read this post knows my excitement over deal of the day sites. I also stalk Mir at WantNot daily and buy a majority of what I need from Amazon. Not only is the point and click method way easier than dragging 3 children to the store, but the choices you have online far outnumber what you can find in a store. On top of the convenience factor, there’s the pocketbook factor. Ever tried using an online coupon code at the actual store? Yeah, it doesn’t work. I doubt I’m the only one that ventures out to Old Navy or The Loft, tries on the outfits I’m intending to buy, and then goes home to order them online with 15% coupon codes in hand.
With all this in mind, however, it might be easy to forget that when you do “point and click,” you’re sending all sorts of valuable information to who knows where! It takes all kinds to make the world go round, and some of those people are just waiting for you to get careless and send out unprotected credit card information. It’s essential to you and your family that you make sure your information is being sent from as secure of a connection as possible! F-Secure offers a free Health Check that can pinpoint the possible security vulnerabilities on your PC and helps to make sure your system stays in good shape. Software like F-Secure Internet Security 2009 keeps you protected and automatically updates your computer’s defenses, wherever your online shopping expedition takes you.
What are your online shopping worries? Do you have a particularly nasty story of internet shopping horror? Leave me a comment here telling me and you’ll be in the running for a $50 Target Gift Card!! Winner will be chosen by Random.org June 20, 2009 at 11:59 am. U.S. Residents only, please!
For more tips on safely shopping the internet, read below! F-Secure is full of great ideas!
Buy from reputable stores
Since you can’t physically touch the products or judge the trustworthiness of the salesperson, get into the habit of identifying the signs of a reputable web site. Just as you wouldn’t buy a Rolex watch for 20 euros from a shady character on the street corner, don’t take any chances with online vendors.
The first alarm bells should start ringing if you have never heard of the shop, it doesn’t have a postal address, and nobody answers when you call the customer service contact number. A quick web search should reveal if the company really exists and whether anyone else has experienced problems dealing with it.
Pop-up adverts and questionnaires jumping around the screen are another bad sign. Never write your personal details in the pop-ups that may appear when you are shopping around, unless you really want more spam e-mail in your inbox. If a shopping web site requires you to open an account and to log on with a password, make your passwords more secure by mixing upper case, lower case and special characters.
Always scrutinize the product descriptions and shipping costs before buying something. Read the small print and make sure you know how to follow the status of your order in case of a delay. Most importantly, don’t forget to check the company’s refund policy so that you’re not left wearing the wrong-sized shoes.
Making secure payments
There are also useful things to look out for when you have clicked on the ‘checkout’ button but have not yet typed in your credit card numbers or PayPal details. Many online shops display a closed padlock or unbroken key symbol and switch to a https:// address when you proceed to the checkout. Be reassured that https stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol over Secure Socket Layer. Spotting that padlock or https should therefore bring a warm glow of relief to the face of every online shopper. It means that the sensitive information you send during the checkout process is encrypted and can’t be read by others. The padlock should be located in the address bar or status bar in Internet Explorer, or the navigation tool bar in Firefox. If it appears on the page itself, you have ran into a fraudulent web site.
Paying by credit card is a good idea because you can usually get refunded if it has been wrongly charged by a shop or used fraudulently by someone else. Keep a sharp eye on your credit card statements and immediately contact your bank if unauthorized payments have been made on your card. Print out the e-mail order confirmations and receipts for your purchases. If you do have problems with a shop, remember that normal consumer rights also apply on the products that you buy on the Internet.
Safe habits save money
Never, ever, buy anything advertised in a spam message. Junk mail offers that seem too good to be true are usually exactly that. They are scams designed to steal your personal details, to infect your computer with nasty stuff like spyware, and to part you from your money. Clicking on attachments or links in spam messages is simply asking for trouble. Also watch out for bogus messages asking you to verify your eBay, PayPal or online banking details. Reputable companies will never do that, so delete all such requests.
The key to avoiding shopping disappointments on the Web is to follow your common sense, backed up by up-to-date security software. If you have any doubts about a web site, then spend your money elsewhere. With so many retailers at your fingertips who are prepared to make online shopping safe and enjoyable, it’s really not worth taking any risks.
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Luckily I don’t have any horror stories of online shopping – ntohing too bad anyway! I do get nervous buying clothes or shoes online, because I fear they won’t fit. Some things I like to try on in person, unless I have been to the store & know it will work.
I did have an issue oreding my daughter’s halloween costume. I was SO nervoud it wouldn’t make it in time for halloween because it didn’t ship for DAYS later than it was supposed to. And when I called they didn’t know eher it was. Great….
I did get it in time though
I only buy non-clothing type items online, such as electronics and books. I worry that anything I buy online for clothing won’t fit. I am definitely a person who needs to try things on. I have also noticed that a lot of places that sell clothing online ut not in an actual retail store make you pay to return it or even exchange it. I also worry about the sites that make you create an acount with stored info before you can order.
I usually stick to companies I know when shopping online if it’s an expensive item, but we’ve purchased TVs, expensive cameras, exercise equipment, and even furniture online with no problem. I always check that I’m on a secure site and I always type in the address myself to avoid phishers.
I love to shop online because most often you find products that are not sold in the store. Sometimes you get good prices online.
I have been shopping online for years and have never had a problem. I rarely buy clothing. Most of my purchases are for the kids and also books.
My gifts from toysrus.com were accidently shipped to my friend’s address instead of my own
jceko77@yahoo.com
I rarely buy online, and I’ve pretty much had good experiences. I’m scared of eBay, though- my sister-in-law got ripped off by an eBay seller…
I love shopping online because its quick and easy. Fortunately I haven’t had any major problems…just slow delivery or wrong items, but they have always been fixed promptly. I make sure to always buy from reputable sites.
So far I haven’t had any problems. However, I don’t do a lot of shopping on line and I’m very careful to deal only with well known companies that I feel I can trust. My biggest fear is that someone will find a way to get my cc info. I mostly buy books and items that I won’t have to return. I never buy clothing.
mittens0831 AT aol.com
I like shopping online, especially when I find lower prices than I can get at stores. I buy vitamins, CDs, books, and lots of other things online. I haven’t had good luck with buying pants online, though. Some things I just need to try on in person.
I’ve always had good luck with internet shopping. I’m pretty careful though. I am very wary of shopping if I haven’t heard of the company before.
I recently purchased a cell phone charger, and it was the correct one for my phone, but it didn’t work. They sent a replacement. It, too, didn’t work. This was from a “reputable dealer” through Amazon marketplace. I think I will stick with the cell phone stores and pay more money from now on.
i always worry about my credit card information. just recently i had my credit card fraud department contact me about a random $750 charge to some online clothing company! luckily they caught it because i never make purchases that big online!
The story I have is using my mom’s bank card actually!!! hahahha….someone intercepted the cc info and went on their own shopping spree! i was BUSTED man! lol…at least mom got her money back!
Shopping online is worrisome for me especially on sites I’ve never used before. Even if I use Paypal … I always check to make sure it is paypal’s website and not a poser site {did I just say poser?}. I know a few people that have “signed” into their paypal only to have their password and banking information stolen from them. It’s unsettling!
I’ve only been disappointed in one item that I purchased online. I purchased a Betty Boop wind chime and when it arrived, you could tell it had been either used as a demo or had been a return item. You mentioned common sense and in shopping online, a little goes a long way, but even with the most “secure” online store there can still be mishaps. As an example, I shopped at a reputable site, and recieved in the mail, a notice from the credit card company that the site may have been compromised and to keep an extra eye on my cc activity.
One of the things I do is I use RoboForm to hold any passwords, if the site doesn’t match what Robo has stored, the user name and password will not be readily available.
I haven’t had too many problems. I ordered a pendant from a site and it never showed but luckily enough they sent me another
I ordered online ALL the time. I rarely have issues. However, one time I ordered furniture and I was so excited. When it came, t was cracked, but they allowed me to return it.
I’m super paranoid about making a mistake and finalizing my order without noticing! That and identity theft.
But I haven’t had a bad experience yet. Thank goodness!
i’ve never had any worries shopping online. I think the only thing I find frustrating is paying for shipping and then paying for a return should i have to make one.
I’m always nervous buying from lesser known vendors. Never had a bad experience, but it’s always in the back of my mind.
My online shopping horror cost me mega bucks in shipping. I ordered several pieces of jewelry for figts last year. The company I ordered from listed a shipping total, but little did I realized it was a “total per item.” The shipping total came to ver $45 , yes, here in the states, for a box that cost a mere $5.95 to ship. I’ve never gotten over the experience.
JDSG
lebizyb(at)q(dot)com
Shopping on line and sharing my credit card numbers is always scary I look for the lock box in the corner to make sure the site is secure. I’ve received emails before from unknowns asking for my numbers for verification. THat is scary.
I was always very wary about giving my credit card numbers to online ships, but I now use paypal which makes me feel much safer!
I would LOVE this target giftcard to do a bit of online summer shopping on target.com!
Fortunately, I haven’t had any problems with online shopping (knock on wood) and I do alot of it. My biggest fear is that my personal or credit information might get stolen.
All in all, I’ve had good online shopping experiences. But when I was in college, I bought most of my books from half.com. You know, college students don’t have any extra money, and buying them used online was so much cheaper. My senior year, I ordered my books as usual several weeks before classes started, and all of them arrived but one. I ended up going through the first two months of class with no book, because I couldn’t get the seller to issue me a refund, and I didn’t have the money to buy another one. It ended up that half.com had to issue me a refund, because the seller disappeared with a bunch of people’s money. It was a lot better than it could have been, but it was really inconvenient! Thanks for the great giveaway.
I havent really had a problem with internet shopping, other than one or two times where it took forever to get something. =)
I love shopping online, but first I check out the coupon websites to find ways to save with free shipping or a percentage off. I haven’t had any major problems. If I think there may be an issue, I’ll call the customer service number immediately to set it straight.
Shopping online worries me because what if you don’t like the product when it arrives? What if it never arrives? What if someone gets your private information? Luckily, this has never happened to me yet! Shopping online is usually quick, easy, and saves gas!
This is really my husband’s story, but it’s a doozy!
He bought a TV from an online vendor that we’d never heard of. The brand of TV was well-known and the site appeared reputable, but they used some no-name shipper who basically destroyed the TV en route. They made my husband come home from work for delivery, but the guy basically dropped it on the doorstep, rang the doorbell, and ran off. I’m sure he knew it was shattered, as you could hear the pieces of mirror in the box.
Thankfully, the company handled the return/replacement well, but it was still a huge PITA!
Had a weird experience where I’d purchased a full no-holds-barred warranty from Dell for my laptop. 24 hour replacement part service, on-site hardware service, accidental care warranty, covered basically everything but the kitchen sink… if anything happened to my laptop, regardless of fault, Dell would fix it under the warranty 24 hours. After checking my spam folder, I noticed Dell had sent me a lot of emails regarding service part replacements and on-site care to some address I’d never heard of… but all under my name! Turns out someone had been using my super-warranty to order parts! Ick…
I’m always afraid of identity theft. I also fear that I will pay for something and then receive nothing. My ex-husband was one of those scammers and I know how easy it is for heartless people to take advantage.
I love shopping online. I stick with reputable merchants such as Amazon. It saves so much time and gas to shop from home. I did have one negative eBay experience when I received a bootleg copy of a movie DVD. In the end, the seller refunded my money through PayPal and I returned the DVD.
I guess that I have been really lucky. I have placed many online orders and have not really had any problems. The only thing close is that sometimes the items I have ordered do not get to me in a timely manner, but that is a problem with the mail or UPS.
i worry that the online vendor isn’t safe-i haven’t been burned yet but its always a concern. I also worry about returning it-how to prove that you did return it or not.
I think online safety is always a worry. I feel that sites are pretty well equipped now with safety measures though.
I don’t do as much online shopping as my daughter does, but I am definitely beginning to do more. Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.
Mainly my online shopping worry is the shipping cost and inconvenience of having to return a product as opposed to the ease of a regular store. My worst occurence was when I bought something from a textbook site and the guy never shipped the book, so I had to wait 2 months for the refund.
I love to shop online. But online shops are always expensive when compared to regular shops at mall.
I love shopping online! I can usually find a better price, free shipping and I don’t have to drag my toddler along. It is a win win.
When I find something unique that I’d like to buy, I worry about buying from small stores or individuals like on etsy. Like, are the new or small stores legitimate?
I shop on line a fair amount both for work and myself. I’m always careful to use known websites. The only bad experience I’ve had was one time on ebay where I bought something that never showed up. I tried to contact the seller many times and never got a reply. Fortunately I used Paypal so I was able to dispute the item and get my money back.
My issue with ordering on line is that I don’t have a credit card. Only a debit card and I don’t feel comfortable using that on line. I can’t imagine that it would be safe.
Great post! I do a lot of online shopping, too, and we can all use a reminder to be safe. Well, our story didn’t get too bad thankfully – we are pretty vigilant about our credit and checking the reports, otherwise it could have been much worse! But basically, a few years ago, we started seeing charges on my husband’s Amex from a guitar shop in Tennessee. My husband plays guitar, so at first we were a little confused, but quickly figured out that his identity had been stolen. Thankfully, American Express is FANTASTIC about stolen cards and taking off the charges, so it turned out okay, but we all need to be so careful!
Thanks for the giveaway!
annasmama0702@gmail.com
I shop online a lot, and thankfully most of my experiences have been good. I’ve had a few unfortunate ones though! One time I bought a jacket for my son on ebay, from a seller claiming to be in the US, but then the item was shipped from china and it was filthy when it was supposed to be new with tags! Ew.
My second recent bad one was when I ordered a custom item from someone on etsy. They took AGES(over a month) to even send the item, and then got annoyed when I told them this was unacceptable. It was only a light switch cover with paper glued on! How long can that take? They don’t exactly seem to have orders flooding in based on their feedback…Seriously annoying.
I always worry that the product will not be what I thought it would be and I’ll have to ship it back. Return shipping costs can really add up! But, as a general rule, I’ve had good luck with online shopping. I do most of my Christmas shopping online every year.
O yes I do, I have a couple I have had orders not make it for christmas and even though they were ordered in time and guarnteed. The worst is I bought a refurbished camcorder from an electronics site it did not work and they put me through the ringer trying to get my money back it ended up costing me shipping the camera back even though it was broke out of the box.
I don’t generally worry too much about it, except for vendors I haven’t bought from before. It worries me when online vendors only accept payment though PayPal, it just seems unprofessional!
I haven’t had any problems shopping online that I can think of. So I’m pretty sure all experience have been good.
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