by spendlove Moderator 02 Sep 2016

After reading about drcindyl's experience with her credit card, I don't think it would hurt any of us to review our on-line purchasing habits.

Firstly we should check that any site we are buying from has a URL beginning https. The s is for secure. It will only show when you get to the checkout stage. If it doesn't - go elsewhere! Reputable sites have systems to prevent fraud and it costs them a lot of money.
Check the security policy of your credit card company. Mine is with my bank and they are constantly on the lookout for strange things happening on your account. Quite often they ring me to check that some bizarre purchases are actually mine. I have to admit that they usually are, but on the odd occasion they haven't, the matter has been quickly dealt with at no cost to me.

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by Patricia103 10 Sep 2016

I do not do much internet shopping, but I have had some bizarre things happen to me.
One purchase I made from a New Zealand company had the Credit Card people ringing me a few minutes after I clicked on pay. I said the seller uses and obscure company in the USA. Then when the parcel arrived in the country, Customs opened the parcel as it was going from a PO Box to a PO Box. And I had bought from that company a few times over the years and never had anything happen.
All was fine, it was a couple of patterns. No contraband.
On another card someone spent amounts less than a dollar at Walmart twice and when that worked they tried to spend a few thousand but that did not get paid. The first thing I knew about it was when I tried to buy some groceries and the card didn't work. The bank had stopped all use on the card and the notice was in the mail to me.
Another time I had to agree to take the person concerned to court, then the bank gave me the money back. Didn't go to court. Think they may have been trying to make sure that I was legit in my claim.
You need to keep a close eye on all transactions that is for sure.

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by castelyn 04 Sep 2016

Thanks Sue, this is excellent advice

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by graceandham 03 Sep 2016

I just checked. No https for Cute Embroidery. Now what?

5 comments
rescuer by rescuer 03 Sep 2016

Can you explain what steps you took to find this?
I am wondering how it is possible when you are taken to Paypal for purchases?

graceandham by graceandham 03 Sep 2016

I exited Cute and googled Cute Embroidery and read the address that came up in my browser as the main entry.

rescuer by rescuer 03 Sep 2016

The https only needs to be used/available during financial transactions. Once you want to pay here, you will be taken to a secure site with the https

graceandham by graceandham 03 Sep 2016

Got it, thanks. I feel much better.

rescuer by rescuer 03 Sep 2016

Any financial thing absolutely needs it -- regular Open Forum surfing...not so much.
It is also a good idea to change your financial passwords every 6 months. However, be sure to do it using a well protected connection to the internet on a computer that is 100% free from malware or do it at your bank.
I am glad you feel better.

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by fontmomma 03 Sep 2016

Keep copies of all trans actions-I do and it saves problems especially the ones you send through the mail or always ask for a copy when you deal locally. You can always do a stop payment through your bank

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by raels011 02 Sep 2016

I don't buy unless I can pay with PayPal

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by sewtired 02 Sep 2016

I also have a credit card that stays right on top of things, and so far, very little funny business and they've handled it all.

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by asterixsew Moderator 02 Sep 2016

Thanks Sue, this is excellent advice for us

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by basketkase 02 Sep 2016

Sue...I am so happy you started this thread.....I was really distressed to read drcindyl's post.....I can't speak for anyone's website but my own....
Opening a web shop is not just merely creating designs or whatever and making a web page and voila...Open for Business....Firstly, one must do their due diligence and research the heck out of legal and secure issues, secondly make sure the website is PCI compliant...
That said, we pay annually for a SSL certificate which is a must for any reputable web business...then for payments we used to use paypal exclusively but were made aware that some people don't like or trust paypal, so back to researching for a reputable credit card taker....after lots of investigating, we signed up with 2checkout which is one of the top secure sites that handles credit card payment....when a customer picks credit card pymt through our website on 2checkout, they are immediately taken to the 2checkout site to make payment, that way our website neither sees or retains any info on anyone's credit card......it works the same with paypal, we only see a purchase has been made and do not see any of a customers credit or debit info...this protects us and our customers.......another thing to watch out for is using wifi connection to make a purchase....Jim's credit card was hacked 4 times in a 2 year period then we discovered it happened everytime he used wifi and not a wired connection.....we have had no issues since changing our purchase habits to wired only....I am not speaking for any website but basketkase, I do not know how others work.....

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by rescuer Moderator 02 Sep 2016

My bank offers a solution. They have a card that is debit but not directly linked with your account. I use it to make Paypal purchases as that gives me extra levels of online security.
Also, please make sure you are using secure WiFi or that your connection to the internet is safe and secure. Many cases of theft happen because the person does not have a secure internet connection.

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