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8 TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR ONLINE PAYMENTS SAFE

With over 350 million Internet users in America alone, online shopping, auctions and, unfortunately, credit card and identity fraud will continue to grow. This is evidenced in recent news reports:

* According to CBS News, identity thieves hack into PC's, steal an identity and go on shopping sprees EVERY 79 SECONDS

* MSNBC reports that one in 20 consumers has been a victim of credit card fraud, and one in 50 consumers has suffered the devastating effects of identity theft in the past year

* The average is cost of a victim dealing with identity theft is at least $1,000

* Only 17% of Internet users report leaving an e-commerce site because their payment methods seem suspicious or unsafe

As you can see, protecting yourself from online fraud is more important than ever. Even with the statistics painting a grim picture, it is possible to keep your online payments safe. The following tips will help you do that.

TIP #1 - USE SECURE PASSWORDS

Don't use everyday words and phrases, such as family or pet names, your Aunt June's birth date or other similar items. Use a combination of numbers, symbols and both upper and lower case letters. In addition, use a different password for each finance-related account. If you use the same password for every account, all a thief has to do is get his hands on that one password, and all of your accounts are compromised. Finally, keep your passwords recorded in a secure location, and change them often. Changing them at least monthly, and certainly when you suspect one may have been compromised.

TIP #2 - LOOK FOR THE PADLOCK

A closed padlock in the lower right-hand corner of your Internet browser indicates 128-bit Secure Socket Layering (SSL) encryption. SSL encryption uses a very complicated method of encrypting or scrambling your information which is extremely difficult to decode in the short amount of time your information will be exposed over open data lines. Companies such as Thawte.com and VeriSign.com spend millions of dollars every year constantly improving these methods, and have become leaders in the online security industry because of this. If you land on a payment page that does not cause the padlock to show up, DO NOT enter your credit card or other personal information.

TIP #3 - DEAL WITH COMPANIES YOU TRUST

Would you walk into a brand new, unknown or otherwise untrustworthy looking store and hand over your credit card information? The same is true of making purchases online. Instead of shopping

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