Afraid to Buy:
Many people feel as though sending credit card information via email or through an insecure server is akin to announcing it on public media, this is not really the case.

Using your credit card on the Internet is about as risky as using it in any other brick and mortar establishment that you may visit 10 times a week.

When you use your card at, let's say a restaurant, the card usually is taken from your sight for a time, during which the number could be written down by someone very easily.

It is also run through a credit card machine, which make s a carbon copy and usually just throws these into the trash. Anyone from workers, to janitors, to garbage picks, to garbageman could easily get their hands on these and use them.

The same thing happens to your account number when you use it in mail order. And, letters can be lost or stolen from mail boxes at either end of the transaction or even en route.

On the Internet, it is possible for a hacker to devise a way to read mail that's en route someplace else. The hacker may obtain credit card numbers from that email. But most websites have an encryption system that makes it next to impossible for this to happen.

Always make sure to look for the little padlock at the bottom of your browser and make sure you are using the most updated version of the browser as well.


Here are some useful products to help you surf safely:

Ad aware - AdAware is a free privacy tool, that scans your memory, registry, hard, removable and optical drives for known data-mining, aggressive advertising, and tracking components. It then lists the results and offers to remove or quarantine the components. The program detects a wide range of adware/spyware related issues and can be updated with the latest signatures via the built-in update utility.

Google Toolbar and popup blocker - If you don't have a pop up blocker, then this is a great one to use.

Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware - Help protect your PC from spyware and other potentially unwanted software.