I sit at my computer reading emails, playing a game, checking the news. I look at ebay, craigslist, of course facebook on a daily basis. Occasionally I make purchases on the internet. Only occasionally. This puts me in the category of not-so-savvy when it comes to the internet. I admit that not everything about the internet makes sense to me and I even will go so far as to say that sometimes I am surprised at how the technology even works. In my defense, I have been a member of eBay for over ten years, and have become very comfortable buying and selling whatever random item I no longer need or must have and can’t find retail. Marvel the Mustang was my first purchase and a passenger mirror for my husband’s car was the latest. Don’t ask.
When you become engaged and start the wedding planning process, your search engine is going to go wild. You will be looking for things you have never needed before and shopping for things you may not be able to find. You may even be buying things you never knew you would ever need or simply collecting information so you can make a purchase in person, at a store, with real people involved. The last thing you need is to become a victim of fraud this close to the wedding when every dollar is accounted for and risk having your financial accounts damaged beyond repair. Now is not the time.
With that in mind, I would like to share with you something I learned the hard way just a few days ago. Not all websites are created equal. There are three things you need to know if you are going to buy anything on the internet…. ever:
1) Not all sites are secure. http stands for Hyper Text Transfer Protocol. This is the primary technology that allows linking and browsing on the web. If after the login process with username and password the address still begins with https://, your financial and personal information are compromised. Any site that requires financial information to be transferred should being with ‘https’. The ‘s’ stands for “Secure Socket Layer” and means that the data is encrypted and cannot be read by anyone except the recipient. It also means that you are protected in most cases of fraud. ALWAYS check to see if you are on a secure site before finishing the checkout process.
2) Not all cookies are bad.Cookies are tidbits of information that are stored in your computer so that when you return to a site, your information is readily accessible. This saves a lot of time by filling in blanks for you. It also allows anyone with access to the computer you are using to have that information. NEVER make a purchase from a computer other than your own personal computer. Even if you are at home, on your personal laptop, if a window comes up that asks if you want to save your password, always check “NO”. It is important that you either keep a password diary, remember every single password or change it every time you log in… even at home.
3) Read the fine print and follow through.This is by far the most potentially annoying problem that will come up from internet shopping. You have made a secure purchase, on a secure site and then a month later you have a random charge on your bank or credit card account that is completely foreign to you. How to avoid:when you are about to checkout, look to see if there are any little boxes at the end of the user agreement that have check marks in them. ALWAYS uncheck any boxes that are checked. NEVER click on anything that says “Try it for free”, it is not free! We are so used to the boxes being the acknowledgement or “agree to purchase” buttons, that we don’t really read them. Sometimes they are boxes agreeing to other offers and other charges that are not listed. Sometimes they are allowing another company to charge you monthly for some odd service you don’t even want!. I am not kidding. How to fix: on the financial institution’s statement there will usually be a phone number. Call the number and explain you do not want this service. Don’t bother trying to get them to remove the charge, they won’t. They will explain that you were notified via email and when they didn’t hear from you, it was the same thing as an agreement. Really? REALLY! Then, call your bank or credit card company that was charged and use the following words, “There is a charge on my card (or account) for something I did not receive”. It may take a few days, it may happen instantly, depending upon what time of day and what day of the week you call but they will almost always reverse the charges. At this point, ask to cancel this card and get a replacement card with a new number. Because of the number change will not be able to charge anything in the future. If it was from a bank account, you will not be able to change the account number so you should go into the bank in person and sign something or fill out some paperwork or at least talk to a personal banker about making sure you are safe from future charges from this company. Don’t be surprised if the company disputes your dispute. When that happens, stick to your guns and explain that you did not purchase anything or agree to purchase anything from the company. You have the truth on your side. If you have access to online banking, check your balance as often as possible since it is easier to rectify these problems as soon as they happen. If a month has passed before you get your statement, and another two weeks before you call, they are not as likely to be willing or able to assist you.
Change your password as often as possible.
Never purchase anything using a public computer.
Read the fine print.
Using those guidelines, you should be relatively safe to continue your wedding purchases online or in person!
-Penny Frulla for Bridal Expo Chicago
