Online shopping has quickly become one of the most secure
forms of commerce around.When it is done correctly there
is no safer
way to use your credit cards! In a store the clerk can steal
your credit card number. Over the phone people can tap your
line or intercept your call, plus you are still giving the
card
number to a person that can keep it for there own use. However
when shopping online the credit card number is encrypted
and then passed directly to the credit card processing company.
There is no middle man to steal your number and the encryption
prevents anyone from being able to intercept your information.
Here are some things you can do to help ensure you have
a safe and pleasant online shopping experience.
1. Know the Web Site.
It is always safer to stick with companies that you know
and trust. If they have a store that you can physically
go and shop in then you know that this is probably safe
to shop online with them.
2. Only Use Trusted and Verifiable Stores with
Security Certificates.
There are online companies that specialize in verifying
to you which online stores are safe to shop with. The two
bigest ones are Verisign and
Thawte. If the website that you
are shopping on is safe to shop with, then they should
have a "security certificate" issued by one of these companies
or one like them. Usually they will have a seal that you
can click on to get more information about their security
certificate.
These are examples of security certificate seals
that you should see on trusted websites.
3. Find the secure lock.
Finally the most important thing to know when you are
giving your credit card 
online is, does the website have
a secure lock? You can find the secure lock,
usually in the bottom right
hand corner
of your computer screen.
