How to reduce holiday online shopping risks
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(InfoWorld) - Santa Claus may take online orders this year, but the Grinches will also be on the Internet. Holiday shopping online is expected toÂ reach new peaksÂ this year, and with the surge comes concern over the safety of transactions, according to technology services company EDS and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), both of which have issued guidelines for Web shoppers. U.S. shoppers are expected to buy about 25 percent of their holiday goods online this year, with a typical shopper spending nearly $800, according to the National Retail Federation. But various vendors and consumer groups have issued warnings for online shoppers because a likelihood of fraud accompanies the increase of buying online. Internet-related fraud cost an estimated $340 million last year, the FTC said. EDS and the FTC cautioned that online shoppers should: -- Know your retailer. Stick with reputable businesses with contact numbers and physical addresses. Some Web sites display seals that vouch for their security, but these can also be faked. -- Use secure Web sites. Sites that use encryption to protect data should display "https://" rather than "http://" in the address bar. Secure sites should also display a padlock symbol to show that the Web site has a secure, encrypted connection. EDS advises against sending a retailer more information than they need to complete a purchase. -- Be aware of phishing e-mail. Most people have received fraudulent e-mail asking for personal information. Never send information and never click on links in such e-mails, which are likely to be directed to look-alike Web sites designed to harvest identity and financial details. It's safe to type a Web site address into a browser. Reputable businesses do not ask for information through e-mails. -- Review privacy and security policies. Most companies will tell you what information they collect and how they use it. Also, foreign Web sites may be bound by different laws for how they can handle your personal information. -- Use antivirus and firewall software. -- Check your credit report and credit card balances regularly. The FTC Web site has a page devoted to holiday shopping tips, including those for online shoppers. Â
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_Buy gifts that are perhaps more useful to people, such as a bottle of wine. _Avoid the displays and tables at the front of stores and at the check-out counters.
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Although some major retailers saw Web site slowdowns on the day after Thanksgiving, Cyber Monday shoppers apparently had few problems buying online yesterday.
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More consumers are planning to spend  less this holiday season than a year ago, according to a survey  released on Tuesday that adds a fresh note of caution to what  is shaping up to be a ho-hum holiday shopping season.
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The holiday season typically brings a surge in the number of fraudulent online orders, and smaller online retailers are being hit especially hard this year.
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Online merchants in the United States have become better at weeding out fraudulent credit card orders, a new survey indicates. But shipping overseas remains a risky venture. By Joanna Glasner.
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Most Americans are planning to curb their holiday spending this year, making it a challenging shopping season for U.S. retailers, according to a holiday buying survey by The NPD Group.
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-Buy gifts that are perhaps more useful to people, such as a bottle of wine. -Avoid the displays and tables at the front of stores and at the check-out counters.
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Last-minute shopping recommendations from consumer finance experts:
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U.S. buyers shopped aggressively online on Monday and Tuesday of this week, spending significantly more than they did on the comparable days last year, according to comScore.Online retail spending hit $700 million on Monday, up 33 percent from last year, and $670 million on Tuesday, up 25 percent, the Web-monitoring company said Thursday.During the first 48 days of the holiday shopping season -- Nov. 1 to Dec. 18 -- U.S. shoppers have spent almost $25 billion in online retail purchases, up 19 percent from the same period last year, according to comScore.As Christmas day approaches, the intensity of online shopping will ease up, although late-shipping deals, in-store pickup options and price reductions should keep growth rates strong in the remainder of the holiday season, comScore said.The company expects online spending during the holidays to reach $29.5 billion, which would represent a 20 percent increase over the 2006 season.Meanwhile, Nielsen Online said Wednesday that a majority of online shoppers it surveyed reported being either &quot;very satisfied&quot; or &quot;somewhat satisfied&quot; with the customer support they received from online shopping Web sites.Nielsen Online&#39;s survey found that of the 46 percent of respondents who had posted or planned to post reviews about their online shopping experience, 88 percent said those reviews were, or would be, positive.Netflix topped the survey&#39;s customer satisfaction list, having been rated &quot;very satisfied&quot; by 90.3 percent of respondents, and was followed by comparison-shopping site NexTag.com (87 percent), giant e-tailer Amazon.com (86.6 percent), Yahoo Shopping (84.3 percent) and Kohls.com (84.1 percent). Rounding out the top 10 were Barnesandnoble.com, HomeDepot.com, Circuitcity.com, eBay.com, and JCPenney.com.On the other end of the spectrum, sites that in recent days have been flagged for buckling under the strong holiday-season traffic include Mastercard.com and Macys.com.Macys.com&#39;s home page faced slowdowns throughout Tuesday, taking, at its worst, about 38 seconds to load, compared with the usual 2 seconds, according to Web site uptime and availability tracker Gomez.Apparently, while experiencing availability problems, Macys.com has been serving up a page telling shoppers that the site is crowded and that they have to wait until traffic decreases in order to be let in. An apparent screenshot of this page was posted by The Consumerist blog on Tuesday.Meanwhile, Mastercard.com has racked up downtime of almost five hours between Nov. 9 and Dec. 20, equivalent to uptime of 99.5 percent for that period, according to Pingdom, which also tracks Web site performance. As such, Mastercard.com has performed significantly worse than sites from competing credit-card companies like Discover, Visa, Diners Club, and American Express, all of which have had uptime above 99.9 percent during this period, Pingdom said Thursday.Neither Macy&#39;s nor MasterCard immediately responded to requests for comment.
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Computer-savvy consumers did plenty of online shopping over the Thanksgiving weekend, giving companies like Amazon.com and walmart.com the same kickoff to the holiday season as department stores and malls had.
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Although online shopping has its risks, your credit-card number and other personal information are just as likely to be stolen in a very low-tech way.
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By Shaun Conlin  Though many are all agog with PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii hype this holiday shopping season, there's a good chance someone on your wish list couldn't care less.
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The Internet holiday shopping  season got off to a hotter start this year, with "Cyber Monday"  the top day ever for online sales and the long Thanksgiving  weekend a busy time for browsing ahead of buying, both online  and in stores, researchers said on Wednesday.
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Economic pressures and online deals might have led consumers to sharply limit their trips to retailers in the week leading up to Christmas, data tracker ShopperTrak RCT said on Thursday.
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DISPLAY WINDOWS for holiday shoppers can be found more and more on 17-inch computer screens. The number of Americans who regularly use the Internet for shopping rose dramatically this year, with one market
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In an effort to curb fraud, many stores require photo ID or other personal information. By Wendy Tanaka. PHILADELPHIA -- With the holiday presents mostly opened, a trip to the merchandise return counter can&#39;t be far behind.