Shopping Online Safety
Shopping online is a pleasurable and enjoyable experience, once you are aware of the signs of secure sites. It's rare to be giving away your money for nothing, but there are occasional sites who try it. However, the worst is when buying from auction sites. You're not totally sure what you're buying and so it's best to buy cautiously.
Buying Cautiously
By buying through online auctions, you have a range of payment options open to you. You can pay all the money upfront, and wait for the seller to send you your gift, or, you can use an escrow service. They will put the money aside, and once both the buyer and seller are happy with the transaction, the seller will receive the money. This is a fool-proof way of being safe.
Be careful when entering any credit card details. Check that the URL of the page you're on starts with 'https://', this means that the page is safe and secure, and significantly less likely to leak your personal details. Also, it's worth pointing out that you should use an email adress that is safe as well. Your primary means of communication with the seller will be by email, so you need to ensure that you keep access to that restricted!