Safe Internet Shopping

More and more, we find ourselves shopping online these days. As gas prices keep going up, and demand on our time increases, it makes sense to turn to our computer for many of the products and services we need. Personally, I used to get a little nervous about putting my name, personal data and credit card information in cyberspace. Many credit card companies have developed methods to make your transactions more secure. Some even provide a “fake” credit card number to use each time that protects the identity of your real number.

Many websites are advertising their security against outsiders getting your credit card information. Scan Alert, Hacker Alert and Thawte along with others regularly check the security of member sites and certify that those sites are secure against hackers. We are members of two services simultaneously, and take security against hacking very seriously.

One type of protection that we do not advertise is the way we protect you against a charge on your card from someone that already has your information. We are one of the few sites that do not rely exclusively on a computer generated system to catch suspicious transactions. We also look and evaluate each and every transaction that is placed on our website. Our experienced team knows what to look for, and how to verify the validity of these transactions. Many of these fraudulent transactions never even make it into our system. Many times, when we contact the card owner, they are totally unaware that their card has been stolen somewhere else, and they are very grateful that not only do we notify them of the theft, we do it before any charges have been placed on their card from our company. We have one of the lowest fraud rates in this industry considering that 1 out of every 20 online orders turns out to be fraudulent. It is estimated that this year more than 8 billion worth of fraud loss will be absorbed by online retailers. What’s the end result you’ll pay more for goods and services? Just like shoplifting, it affects everyone.

Lastly, even very secure sites can sell your information. It is part of their revenue generating model. A fresh name and email address can bring as much as $3.00 from those that buy “Cyber-Info”. There are a few scams that offer you free this or free that in order to get your financial (credit card) data as payment for shipping then sell this information for as much as $150.00 per “fresh victim”. (Your problems begin about 3-4 months later after you have forgotten about the freebie. Ever ordered something on the internet and then had your e-mail box fill up with unwanted offers? You will never experience this when you order from us. We do not sell your name and we do not sell your contact information. Never have, never will. Zero tolerance when it comes to privacy.

Rest assured that out there in the “cyber-jungle” there is one safe haven. Thank you for being our customers and we will continue to work hard to ensure the safety of your information, and to exceed your expectations.