Just becareful an look for the unusual/warning signs!!!

[Massacrist Manslayer]

Not much of a good speaker, I like to say, just becareful out there with "credit card" details & where you go online for shopping,
It does happen with details being stolen an being used without owners not knowing what is happening with the funds.
I am one of them victims now I been hit by this wicked online world an lucky got on the ball straight away.
Not much was taken, only a few dollars an that gut feeling does sink in when ringing the bank to cancel the card cause could have been wrost of a few thousands dollars disappearing in a blink of an eye, after that talk with the nice lady on the other end from the bank,
is a good feeling the criminal'(s) <--- you have been out done with my smart thinking of seeing somethink unusual.

Personal note, use paypal or any safe way for transactions an check the site(s) are secure for friendly shopping for the family,
just remember think twice before going on a site that isn't secure (eg weird e-mail's to a strange link or phlishing site's)
an back yourself up with security on the PC for safe measure. I did all the checks an still, details got out back to the drawing board.

Happy shopping everyone & take care.

(P.S - would love to say more on this, leaving it simple an to the point)

[JuniorMintKiss]

Totally agree with you there Massacrist. A couple of years ago, whilst shopping online, my credit card kept being denied. I called the company up and they had froze my account because someone in the Netherlands was trying to use my card number... I have no idea how it happened because I NEVER use the links in my emails - I go right to the secured site. Anywho, nothing happened and I got a new card number.

Another note: always log out of any site before leaving. I would always close my email without logging out, and I've had to change my password multiple times because someone kept using it to send out Viagra emails.

[zerospace]

This has been a good idea for at least the past 5+ years -- always be careful where you shop online, whether or not retailers store your card information, etc. But the sad reality is, even if you do all of these things, you're still not 100% safe from fraud. Many times card information isn't stolen because of anything YOU yourself do -- it's stolen because of bad security by payment processors, banks, etc. It's always a good idea to keep an eye on your accounts, and many banks now have fraud detection measures in place to catch the unauthorized transactions as well, so that's a help, too.

In my experience, a stolen CC number isn't all that awful to deal with anymore -- its pretty quick and painless most of the time, so long as its a credit card and not a debit card. My rule of thumb: no debit cards online, and pay very close attention to any equipment you slide your debit card through -- look for card info skimmers (yes, even at big chain stores this has happened!). Anymore, I just use a credit card for most stuff and pay it back right away. Less risk .