Forgive me if this has been asked many times already (or is posted in the wrong forum), but I’d like to know how you folks think about it.
I asked a bank teller about this concern a couple of years ago and was told that he shopped “all the time” via the Internet and didn’t feel too concerned about doing so.
I’m not a millionaire and so if all my money was stolen it wouldn’t be that big of a deal in the sense that I wouldn’t lose much. But still, just living from pay check to pay check as I do it would be painful (to lose my money) just because I do need to eat and pay rent (and wouldn’t wish to ask anyone for a loan). Of course I will save up some money to stash away, which is only smart.
Again, do you folks feel okay knowing someone could take your info and escape to who knows where?
Yes, I R uneasy about giving it over the phone, but the internet is pretty tame at these point if you stick to major retailers. The risks of hacking exist even in offline retail - see Target and Marshalls for a recent example.
Using a credit card your loss is limited to $50. So unless all your money consists of $49.99, I would not be too concerned.
However I don’t buy stuff from companies in Nigeria.
Ditto what Rick said, except that I’d add that I’ve had numerous friends who have had credit cards/wallets stolen, and they have never been responsible for any of the unauthorized charges. I would be more careful if I was using a debit card, I suppose, but for a credit card, I don’t care who has the number, really.
I also think it is a bit silly for people to worry about phone or online transactions when they will gladly hand over their credit card to a waiter who goes into some back room to ring up the purchase.
I’m not concerned if I initiated the contact. Going to a known website, or calling a catalog and giving a number is not an issue. I’d never give it in response to someone calling me, or in response to spam. If someone called me with an offer I couldn’t refuse, I’d ask for a website and investigate.
There was a Dilbert a long time ago where he said something about not trusting the Internet with respect to credit cards, while handing his to a very low life cashier. And indeed, we’ve had problems with a card stolen by a desk clerk at a hotel, and there is the current problem with TJX, where the numbers were gotten from store transactions.
Credit card details over the Internet doesn’t bother me.
Phone I’m usually okay with, but I have ordered pizza for delivery and had the guy on the end of the phone start repeating my details out loud for confirmation, my name, then the expiry date, then the first four digits, before I stopped him and said I’d repeat the details to him.
There’s usually four or five people hanging around the shop waiting for their orders, with that guy on the phone they could have picked up a whole bunch of credit card details.
Depends on the debit card. Some banks follow the $50 limit for their debit cards also (Bank of America for one) others don’t. You may want to do some shopping around at different banks.
I hate hate hate doing business over the phone, involving my credit card or otherwise, but that’s not really what you’re asking about.
I have no qualms about using my credit card on the internet, at least on a reputable site. It’s probably more secure than many “in person” credit card transactions.
