# Is online shopping safe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407 "2011-01-04T20:06:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407/21 "2011-01-05T18:00:22Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > Yeah. It’s probably less safe to use a card in person actually. Way, _way_ easier to get card details that way than trying to hack into an encrypted database. Yep. The single time I was a victim of cc fraud was after using the card to pay for services at the doctor’s office (at a major medical center). In fact I only found out what happened through dumb luck - was on the phone with someone from that office trying to straighten out a billing error, happened to mention that I had the bill at hand because of a fraudulent charge, and he said “waitaminnit”. Turns out, someone from his office had been arrested the week before for taking patients’ credit card info and going shopping. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407/22 "2011-01-05T18:02:31Z")
> [@Duckster](#): > > … > Yes and no. The $50 limit only applies to credit card use. It does not apply to debit cards, nor Paypal or other types of online transactions. The $50 limit is not part of your cardholder agreement; it is much bigger as in [federal law](http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre04.shtm). And in practice, many issuers even waive the 50 dollars so your real liability is zero. ---
**Author:** ![Acorns.but\_not\_Bacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@Acorns.but\_not\_Bacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acorns.but_not_Bacon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407/23 "2011-01-05T18:18:28Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I don’t understand why you’re assuming that your card was compromised through an online purchase, rather than one made in person. I’m not. The advisor at the bank made that assumption, my details could have got out any way apart from someone physically stealing it. Currently only have debit card and electron, can’t have credit card when unemployed. > [@](#): > > BTW, I do not understand why credit cards get so much better protection than bank accounts. It seems the latter would be a more immediate problem BigT, I asked why credit cards get better protection and was told that’s just the way it is. Maybe she was pressed for time. Anyway, must go, incredibly coughy with fever. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407/24 "2011-01-05T18:25:37Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Discover offers a way to generate a secure number for each site you visit. That number is attached to that site and even if the site were hacked, it could not be reused elsewhere. That same number can be canceled at any time, even after one use. Ah, doesn’t always work. My wife has been dinged using her Discover card that way. She used it to buy a gift subscription for someone, only to have the subscription renewed by Discover using the same one-off number. She’s also had it happen when she paid an online bill with her Discover card. We think it’s a Discover card glitch. I’ve used the VISA card one-off secure number system and been safe every time. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407/25 "2011-01-05T18:35:10Z")
People often call my company to place a phone order. Sometimes they’re just more comfortable talking to a person and sometimes it’s explicitly because they don’t trust shopping online. But, our customer service operators just enter the order via the Internet. It’s a back end phone order application not literally the front end you see online, but it’s still HTTPS via the wide open internet and it’s no more or less secure than ordering yourself. And if you call into my company a customer service rep gets to type in all your information instead of nobody looking at it all ever. That said, we’re a small company and our ecommerce software is commercial software we bought and customized for our needs. It could easily be set up to make all your personal financial information vulnerable. Ours isn’t, but there’s no outside body validating PCI compliance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-online-shopping-safe/566407.md?page=1)