Ctrl-Alt-Delete column in the People section of The Greene County Daily World published Tuesday, October 27, 2009 titled Are You Safe Shopping Online?
Question:
How do you feel about shopping online?
Answer:
I shop online all the time and I am not alone. According to Pew Internet, of the approximately 240 million adult Americans online, 180 million people shop online, 159 million people make travel arrangements and book reservations online, 123 million people bank online, and 91 million people pay bills online. Most probably take security for granted. Yet, there are still a lot of people who are afraid of the Internet.
I understand why people are concerned with identity theft and having their financial information stolen. I am concerned too. Common sense tells me to be cautious. Identity theft is scary, difficult to fix, and is a threat many people do not understand. Identity theft is the kind of story that makes for good headlines. These headlines inflate the problem in my opinion. I am not saying credit card theft does not happen online. It does, but not very often.
To be honest, I am more concerned about giving my credit card to a clerk working behind a counter. The clerk has a copy of my signature and credit card number — and that is all they need. This is by far the most common risk to identity theft yet most people do not even think twice about handing their card to a complete stranger. Individual theft also involves bank statements stolen from the trash and credit cards stolen from the mail.
Less common than individual theft but more common than online theft is corporate theft. Retailers, banks, and other businesses experience break-ins and large amounts of data can be stolen. When this happens, it does not make any difference where you used your card. Most of the time theft like this is a matter of suspending accounts and cards until fixed and new cards issued.
Sometimes, negligence can be a factor in corporate theft. Older computers might be recycled, resold or given away with data still on the hard disks. We read about this more often than we should.
I am not overly concerned about shopping online because I only buy from people and companies I trust, and I am Internet savvy. I am aware of phishing schemes — I understand my bank will not ask for personal information through e-mail. I know how to tell when my browser is in secure mode. I keep my passwords, PINs, and account numbers off my computer, usually in memory. I change my passwords and PINs often. I rely on word of mouth, popularity, and social networking friends for reputable places to shop.
Theft does happen online, but it is rare. The offline scenarios occur much more often. Considering there are millions of credit card users and billions of transactions, even offline theft is a rare occurrence.
The online version of this article may be found at Ctrl-Alt-Delete.
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