Online shoppers should use caution

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Jan. 12, 2000 | 4:05 a.m.

Tips for online shoppers

The National Consumer League offers these tips for online shoppers:

The headlines this week may be enough to scare some people away from shopping the World Wide Web, but officials agree shoppers don't need to give up the ease of Internet shopping if they exercise a little caution.

Just this week, the Associated Press reported two incidents on opposite ends of the country in which computer hackers stole credit card numbers or passwords of Internet customers.

In Connecticut, a 19-year-old man from Russia claimed he stole 300,000 credit card numbers by hacking into an Internet music retailer's site, prompting an FBI investigation. And in San Francisco, a group of hackers broke into more than two dozen internet service providers, businesses and schools and stole about 63,000 passwords.

Unfortunately, little can be done to stop hackers, but computer users can do much to protect themselves from falling victim to hackers and others who take advantage of the anonymity of the Web.

Tara Finck, a communications specialist with the National Consumer League's Fraud Information Center, said online shoppers should never send their account information to an online company without first checking to see if it is a secure site.

Secure sites often have a lock icon in the lower right corner of their website, or their web address begins with "https" instead of simply "http." The icon and the "s" signify that the account information is being encrypted as it's being sent, Finck said.

People also shouldn't send their credit card account information, Social Security number or bank account information to anyone via e-mail, Finck said.

While hackers are troublesome, so are the number of people who sell people shoddy merchandise, or worse yet, take customers' money without giving anything in return.

FBI Special Agent Kevin Caudle said that if anyone is considering purchasing items online, they would be well-served to check on the company's reputation and years of service.

If someone is considering making an online purchase, they may want to track the company for a few months to make sure it doesn't disappear overnight, Caudle said.

Contacting the Better Business Bureau and consumer agencies about the company's track record is a good idea, too, although not foolproof if the company is a "fly-by-night" operation, Caudle said.

Getting familiar with the company's website before making a purchase is also a good idea because of "mirror pages," Caudle said. Those are instances in which a computer-savvy criminal has put up a web page that looks remarkably like a legitimate web site, but when customers type in their credit card information, it goes to the crook instead of the intended company.

When consumers familiarize themselves with the different online companies, they may be able to detect something when is wrong with the website, Caudle said.

Sticking with older, well-known companies also may save some heartache, because they are much more likely to have the resources necessary to invest in security measures, Caudle said.

People may also want to consider purchasing items only through an escrow account, Caudle said. Such accounts allow people to place money into an account until such time as they receive the item they've purchased.

Finck said escrow accounts are particularly helpful when buying things through online auctions. Sixty-eight percent of the frauds reported to the league in 1998 were the result of online auctions.

Caudle agreed that online auctions, particularly those involving individuals and not companies, should be approached cautiously.

"You could be buying from any Joe Blow who wants to get on there and sell something, and they may not have any integrity," Caudle said.

The adage "let the buyer beware" is just as true for those buying online as it is for those buying from newspaper classified papers, he said.

When consumers buy something from an online auction or even an online business, it is a good idea to use a credit card, Finck and Caudle said.

Thanks to the Fair Credit Consumer Act, many credit card companies will reimburse consumers should they not receive the item they thought they were buying or if the person selling the item misrepresented it, Finck said.

If consumers suspect they've been cheated, they need to contact their credit card company immediately, Finck said.

The thing to remember is "if it sounds too good to be true it probably is," she said.

"No one is regulating the Internet and while it's fun, exciting and convenient to shop online, it is a risk," she said.

Caudle agreed.

"You don't want to be paranoid, but you've got to use your head," Caudle said.