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Guys i know this may be not quite appropriate place to ask, but since credit cards are connected with internet and technology and this website has savvy people, i thought it wouldn't hurt to try asking.

Okay, i want to admit, i am affraid of giving credit card number to merchants even reputable ones because of following things:

  • They have control over my credit card and even though they do not know credit card details, they still can charge my credit card.
  • There may be billing system error so card gets charged continuously.
  • Customer support might not answer me and still charge credit card continuously unless i cancel my credit card.

Can you people give me advise on this? Maybe i am too paranoid?

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I doubt this is the right place to ask, SuperUser is about Hardware or Software, as outlined in the FAQ. – slhck Apr 27 '11 at 10:10
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closed as off topic by ChrisF, Jeff Atwood♦ Apr 27 '11 at 11:16

Questions on Super User are expected to generally relate to computer software or computer hardware, within the scope defined in the faq.

2 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

I use a pre-paid credit card for online purchases. It's like having a separate bank account and debit card, but is identified as a credit card.

You load it with enough money for your purchases, and if it gets compromised yoy have absolute minimal losses.

Most banks provide these now, and some other establishments in association with banks.

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We have prepaid card in Israel but so far it has limitation in amount it can be charged for example $250. If there was prepaid card that could have less limitations it would be better. – Boris_yo Apr 27 '11 at 21:50
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up vote 1 down vote

As well as you use common sense you should be fine. If you're worried about Amazon or online shops overcharging your account I would think it highly unliekly that this would happen, most reputable online retaliers have been in the game for a while and have got their systems and procedures sorted. Yes they have your credit card details but they also have information for large corperations and it would be easier to rip them off rather than you.

  • Check that the shopping site has a SSL certificate and has a secured connection (https://)

  • When buying online use something like PayPal or Google Checkout, recognised and widely used (although PalPay does have some downsides).

  • Before using a shopping site look for reviews and see if they have a "hear from our customers section"

  • See if you could set up a debit card and account for web shopping only and transfer money into it when you want to buy something, even if someone does get in you'll have minimal funds in it anyway.

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"hear from our customers section" -- what do you mean by that? That fake "customer testimonials" section on spammy web sites? – Daniel Beck Apr 27 '11 at 10:41
@Daniel Beck, admittedly there is no way to clarify the authenticity of the statments, but there are other ways to determine if a company is legit. – tombull89 Apr 27 '11 at 11:10
@tombull89 - what did you mean by setting up debit card and account for web shopping and transferring money into it? What kind of debit card are you talking about? And what web account are you talking about? – Boris_yo Apr 27 '11 at 21:48
@Boris, I mean have one credit card (or your main account) and then a seprate debit card for buying things on the internet. A debit card means you can only use the funds in your account (depending on the card, though) so when you want to buy something you transfer the money from your main account to your debit card/web shopping account and use that card to buy online. If it is compramised then it is no risk to your main account, just any funds left in the debit account. – tombull89 Apr 27 '11 at 22:55
@tombull89 I don't think there is such debit card in Israel. Wikipedia in hebrew tells about credit card (where you are charged every once in a month on sepecific date), debit card (where you are charged immediately) and prepaid card. According to it i understand that the difference between credit and debit cards is that with credit card you are charged at specific date and with debit card you are charged immediately. – Boris_yo Apr 28 '11 at 0:34
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