Secure shopping online: holiday tips

AREA — If you are one of the many Americans making online purchases this season, consumer protection law specialists at the American Bar Association have created Safeshopping.org, a website dedicated to helping you protect your privacy and guard against cyberthreats.

Retailers anticipate a 12 percent increase over last year in online sales during the 2012 holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. The Safeshopping.org website, developed by the ABA’s Business Law Section, covers a range of topics including how to create effective passwords, make safe payments online and over the telephone, and prevent identity theft.

Safety Tips

Online Passwords: Use a different password for each website that you frequent. Passwords should contain a mix of at least five letters, numbers and punctuation marks. Be sure to avoid obvious combinations such as your name and birthday. Do not store your passwords near your computer. Avoid sites that request information such as your bank account or Social Security number.

Online Shopping: Be sure that you recognize the difference between a secure and unsecure website. Before making a purchase, make sure the site has at least one of the following indicators on the web page:

• A website is considered secure if it has an unbroken key or closed lock in your browser window. Alternatively, if you see a broken key or open lock, the site is not considered secure.

• Before entering your credit card information online, verify that the web address begins with “https” instead of “http.”

• Also be sure to look for the words “Secure Sockets Layer” or a pop-up box indicating that you are entering a secure area.

Telephone Shopping: If you give your credit card information to a store representative over the phone, write down the name and work identification of the person with whom you spoke, the phone number you called, the time of the conversation and the name of the company.

Payments: Did you know that paying by credit card is safer than paying by check, cash, debit card, money order, cashier’s check, certified check, teller’s check or cash on delivery? The reason stems from consumer protection law: Under federal law, if you have an unauthorized charge on your credit card, your liability is limited to $50. Moreover, some website operators and credit card issuers – including all Visa and MasterCard issuers – promise that under certain circumstances they will pay this amount for you.

For more tips about safe shopping online, go to www.safeshopping.org.