Safe Online Shopping

Wow... I'm *really* on the finances bandwagon lately...

I do over 95% of my shopping online. If I have to walk into a brick-and-mortar store to buy something then I probably don't bother. It would totally rock if could order online at Home Depot like I do a Fry's. Sixteen two-by-fours drop-shipped to my driveway with free shipping!? Dude! I am ON IT!

But, you gotta be safe. Check out this article on the 12 Angry Men blog.

If you are shopping online you've gotta be using ShopSafe. If your credit card company doesn't offer it then drop 'em like a six-day old raw egg and get another. With ShopSafe you set an expiration date (always go with the lowest possible) and a credit limit (always choose just a little bit over the final cost) for your temporary number. What's more, the temporary number they give you is only valid at that merchant. So you're protected three ways: (a) the card will expire quickly and be useless for fraudsters, (b) the limit is nearly all used up by your purchase and (c) if somebody else gets 'hold of it they can't use it anywhere else. If you're going brick-and-mortar you could even print out your temporary numbers for the places you plan to shop and take 'em with you.

If you are absolutely opposed to ShopSafe or just can't part with your current card company then use PayPal or Google Checkout. This holiday season (and evermore) use these guys to keep your credit card number out of the hands of the vendors!

The whole idea behind these three services is that your actual credit card data is not sent to the vendor. Instead, they act as a middleman for the transaction. If the vendor's systems aren't secure or the vendor is unscrupulous then you've got an extra layer of protection in place.

There's bad people out there folks. It really stinks that we have to suffer because of that but it's the human condition. The Garden, the apple & all that... Protect yourself when you're out there in that digital mall just as you would in any other rough neighborhood.