Mark's Notebook

Online shoppers warned to be vigilant

San Jose Mercury News

By Dan Lee

Security experts tell of an underground world where spammers, hackers and other miscreants devise schemes to steal personal information such as passwords or Social Security numbers. These criminals even hawk lists of stolen credit card numbers in Internet chat rooms.

Experts say reputable companies will never send e-mails asking for personal information. Instead of clicking on any e-mail link, users should restart their browser and type that company's address to make sure they are connecting to the real Web site.

Tips:

Shop at sites that provide SSL, or Secured Sockets Layer, technology that encrypts credit card numbers and other information that is sent over the Internet. A "lock" icon appears on such sites, and their address begins with "https" instead of just "http."

If you use a separate card just for shopping -- and not recurring bill payments -- it will be less of a hassle if the shopping card has to be canceled.

Don't use the same password for everything. Use a different password for every site.

Carefully research e-commerce sites you are not familiar with.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/10282987.htm

Articles

Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008