Online Shopping: How to Secure Your Credit Card

Online shopping has been in vogue for long abroad and now it is spreading its roots in India as well. With the growing number of online shopping sites the net fraud is also flourishing. It was not a long times ago when a friend of mine had to give twenty thousand rupees for a pair of Ray-ban glasses. Reason? Someone stole his credit card information online and did a hearty shopping.

online shopping
I never understood how these hackers or geniuses, as I earlier thought them to be, manage to do all that. And after what my friend had to go through I just kept myself contented by shopping in stores. Though I always desired the stuff available online I could never gather the courage to shop.

One day while surfing the net I came across a wonderful deal on some makeup products online. I could not resist myself from clicking it which in turn made me yearning for it. With no one to my rescue I decided to take up the fight of enlightening myself on the precautions to be taken while shopping online. Though most of the articles went at a miles distance above my head (too technical) I still managed to get hold of few basic points.

Things to remember while shopping online:

•    Virtual credit cards are the best options available to shop online. These credit cards are for one time use only with the 24-48 hours validity. Many banks like HDFC and ICICI provide this facility.

online shopping

•    Use a secure web browser while shopping online. As we all know that the Internet Explorer is the most used browser across the globe which makes it the most sought after browser for net thieves. No please don’t take me wrong I do not mean that by using other browser like Mozilla Firefox for instance your information would be totally secured. What I am trying to say is that by using a less popular browser the chances of hacking are relatively low.

•    Don’t buy stuff from anyone online. Always deal with a reputable merchant while making payment online as they use encryption technologies to protect the private data of their users.

•    Using a temporary card number is another good option. Get a temporary card number from your credit card provider with a preset spending limit. It is always safe to keep a low cash limit after all you won’t be buying an Aston Martin online.

online shopping
•    Do not share your personal information with every site you visit.

•    Never ever let any website store your credit card number.

•    Avoid sending payment information via e-mail.

Due to the lack of time with everyone these days internet shopping sure has a future in our country as well. So until some another genius brings out some method to challenge these security tips just enjoy shopping online.

As far as I am concerned no matter how much I buy online nothing could beat the feeling I get when I grab my shopping bag in a store.

Shopping does need a personal touch. What say?

Image source: 1, 2, 3

Also read:

A Guide To Online Shopping
Fashion and You Website Review
Shopping: Top 5 Online Makeup Shops
Cosmetic Shopping Experience on Amazon
My First Online Cosmetic Shopping Experience and a Surprise Picture
Online Makeup Shopping: Coastal Scents Brushes Haul

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28 thoughts on “Online Shopping: How to Secure Your Credit Card

  1. wow 1st one to comment :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo:

  2. One more option, specially for Indians- Open a Paypal account, and authenticate and attach a credit card with it. Now make all your online payments through Paypal. Paypal will charge your credit card if there is insufficient balance in your paypal account. That way, your credit card information will never reach any retailer.

    1. hi sanjeev..i hav few queries to ask as i m totally new in this online shopping regime..can u let me knw wht is an Paypal mode of payment and how van we open dat account ( a general info wud be suffice).and though thru above blog its is beautifully el;elaborate abt usage of virtual credit card, but i wud really like to now how can one get this , and wht if we dont have credit card but debit card..

      can u help me n provide with basic info or any link to this..:) 🙂

      1. Preeti, you open a paypal account just like you open an email account. Inside the Paypal account, there is an option to validate card. Use it verify your credit card.

        I don’t think Debit card will work, although you should try it because I have seen 2-3 friends using debit card of standard chartered bank as credit card only.

  3. I tried Entropay. it only deals with the mastercard options. not maestro. I have citibank acct which is a maestro card so It didnt help me much :((

  4. Such an awesome article Era…This is gonna help so many of us, especially in India where Paypal policy keeps on changing and there are always high risks of it getting closed to online shopping purposes!! 😀 😀

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