You have decided to join the online shopping ranks. To assist you in a fast growing consumer segment is sound advice from my personal experience and online data.
I entered the online shopping world without a care or thought about online fraud or identity theft. I am not your average online consumer. I am a geek. Even Geeks can experience the pitfalls of the internet.
I have had my identity stolen but not through online shopping or use. It was by someone I knew personally. I would of preferred it was a stranger.
Even when my purse was stolen as I trained "beverage servers" (bar tenders) in alcohol awareness and prevention my identity was not stolen. The thieves or thieve only tried to use my credit cards.
The theft of my purse and a year later my identity made me very cautious. At my credit union getting new credit card and debit card I expressed my concern. The president of the credit union was in hearing distance. She walked over. She said that she opened a second account with debit card to use for online shopping only. She only transferred the money needed for shopping. She said then she never had to worry about all of her money disappearing before she could stop it.
I immediately opened a second account with debit card. I am hearing some carping out in the online readers audience. I will tackle the banking issues in another article.
As not all bank’s offerings are equal or free.
I use that account initially for online shopping only. Currently, I use it for online shopping, my PayPal account and bills I pay online. Even paying bills with an auto pay through your credit card or checking account can have pitfalls as I learned. I have two accounts for free at my credit union. It is not that big of a deal or hassle has one may think. You have to decide is protecting your identity and money worth the small extra work of two accounts.
I have been a PayPal user since 2000. The more experienced internet users might know of the
backlash PayPal has received because of issues over payments and not receiving item. Overall, there is no perfect option. It is up to you the consumer to be diligent and willing to file a compliant if needed. In the eight (8) years with PayPal I have filed two complaints. Of those two (2) both were with an eBay seller. One I knew was outside the country and the other lied stating in USA. I was fully reimbursed for one. The other closed up shop quickly after multiple complaints. I received a partial (more than half) reimbursement. Despite the very negative and true horror stories I have had a good experience with PayPal. I recommend PayPal personally. I like that I can send anyone money.
Continued in next post...