Identity theft is when someone gets your credit card or bank account number and buys goods or gets credit cards or loans in your name. This is a growing problem, so you should carefully protect personal data that could allow a thief to impersonate you.
How do you know whether a Web site is safe?
Businesses have developed technology that can scramble sensitive information, so that it can be read only by the merchant you are dealing with and your credit card issuer. There are ways to determine whether you have that protection when you send payment information over the Internet.
- Depending on your browser, look for a closed lock icon. This icon indicates that the security measures are operative. An open lock indicates that they are not.
- Look to see whether the web address of the page that asks for your credit card information begins with "https:" instead of "http."
- Some Web sites use the words "Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)" or a pop up box that says you are entering a secure area.