>> SECUREWEB CULTURE
Some rules for buying something on the Internet
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If you visit an e-commerce site that you do not know very well, check the following points:
- the information available about the company's identity is clear,
- the company's complete co-ordinates (company name, postal address, e-mail address and telephone number) are given on a page of the site,
- the general terms and conditions of sale,
- the delivery methods,
- the guarantees in case your order is not received,
- the presence of a mention of the declaration to the CNIL («Commission nationale informatique et liberté», the French data protection agency) of their customer database.
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In principle, a large e-commerce site with a proven reputation offers more guarantee of security than a smaller site.
Any time you enter your bankcard number, first check that your connection is secure. On some sites you enter the bankcard number directly, and on others you are redirected to a bank's site. -
Entering the last 3 numbers of the code printed on the back of the bankcard indicates that the Internet user does have the card used for the purchase.
A malicious person who has obtained a list of card numbers would not have this code and thus would not be able to do this.
This security countermeasure reduces the risk of fraudulent use and limits it solely to cases where a card has been lost, obtained by a fraudulent person and not cancelled. - The mention of a quality label or customer insurance increases your protection if there is a delivery problem, a faulty article, or other problems.
- If the site belongs to a professional organisation, that might also help you decide.
- We recommend that you do not make your purchases from public areas. Even if you are assured that the basic precautions have been taken, you do not know if they have been carried out in the right order and correctly.
- Also make sure that your Internet session is secured.
- With an online transaction, you have to supply the following information: your identity, your credit card number, its expiry date and the cryptogram (the last three numbers on the back of your bankcard).
- Before confirming your purchase, always check the amount, the invoice currency and the content of your order.
- Other precautions to take: like a traditional purchase, keep a copy of the proof of payment (with the order number, the merchant's name and address details and the transaction amount) and then check your bank statement to make sure that the correct amount has been debited.
