Keeping Internet Shop pin g Safe (NAPSA)—Online stores offer tools that automatically try every word in the dictionary to uncover passwords. great benefits to shoppers including 24/7 convenience, price breaks, the ease of ordering from your own homeandthe variety available from their Web sites. Don’t reply to and nevertrust the origins of an e-mail that solicits personal or financial information. While it may appear to come from a reliable merchant, its source can be disguised. Links in the e-mail Meanwhile, there’s been a lot of talk about the dangers of Internet shopping including online scams that guide you to sites appearing genuine may actually be taking you to fraudulent sites where per- and the potential for Internet identity theft. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to protect yourself. A recent study, however, shows sonal information can be gathered. To ensure you'rereally visit- that consumers who take com- ing a legitimate site, enter its URL manually instead of clicking mon-sense precautions, monitor their financial accounts on the Internet and pay bills online actually may be safer than those who visit brick-and-mortar stores and then paybills through the mail. The survey estimates that 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2004, but it found that using the Internet can reduce the impact of fraud dra- matically. Identity theft victims who regularly went online to look at their financial transactions often uncovered fraudulent activity much more quickly than those who awaited paper records in the mail. The study, conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research for several financial institutions, estimated that consumers who discovered fraudulent use of their accounts online sustained an average theft of $500. Those who only checked paper records lost an average of $4,500. Moreover, experts say criminals often have easier access to personal information from statements and receipts in unopened mail that are tossed in the trash, than from password-protected and You can be safe at home, even when shopping. electronically secured Internet accounts. “Transacting online can actu- ally combat identity theft very effectively if people do a few simple things like monitoring their financial accounts and protecting their financial information,” said Rob Chesnut, vice president of Trust and Safety for eBay and the on an e-mail link. Chesnut recommends con- sumers who suspect fraud take five steps immediately: For credit-card charges, phone the credit card company to set up a new account. Most credit cards provide protection against online fraud and will remove the charges in question if notified promptly. For bank account fraud, contact the bank and ask for The best deterrent to online identity theft is to practice safe their protection procedures. File a police report and keep a copy ofit. accounts online and shredding Commission to help law-enforce- PayPal online paymentservice. surfing. Besides monitoring your Contact the Federal Trade paper records before discarding them, follow these suggestions ment officers track down the thieves. File an FTC complaint Use payment services that protect your personal financial information and don’t share your theft. Notify all three credit bureaus—TransUnion, Experian Use a different password for your credit rating. “Consumers should be encour- from Chesnut: financial data with merchants. each account so that if a thief dis- covers one, he cannot use it to access the others. Select a combination ofletters and numbersfor your online pass- words. Some thieves use online online at www.consumer.gov/id and Equifax—to help preserve aged by the security that the Internet can offer them,” Chesnut concludes. “With simple precau- tions, anyone can shop with confidence from their desktop.”
