Using credit card online - security question

L

Lizard

Registered User
Messages
125
Hi, my sister wants to buy a game for her son online, and he has found a Japanese website that sells these games. She is generally reluctant about putting her cc details online, but I know that there are certain pointers to watch out for that indicate the website is secure and not a scam. Can anyone tell me how to tell whether a website is genuine and secure or not? Thanks.
 
There are two things to check to make sure that the page where you are about to enter your credit card number is a secure site.

  1. The site address commences with HTTPS instead of just HTTP.
    HTTPS stands for "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol with Security" and is the first indicator that the page is on a secure site.
  2. The common browsers (Internet Explorer, Netscape, Opera) and probably many of the others also display a padlock symbol that also indicates that the page is on a secure site. Some browsers display this symbol with the padlock open to indicate that the site is not secure. In all cases a secure site is indicated by a closed padlock.

To verify that the site belongs to who you think it does, click on the padlock symbol. This should display a security certificate issued to the person or company whose site you are on, confirming that you are actually on their site. This certificate is issued by a "trusted third party". What this means is that you are trusting the issuer of the certificate that the site belongs to who they say it does.


Not all companies asking for payment on a secure site may have certificates, or they may have been issued by a different third party. Whatever you actually find out when you check that the page is on a secure site and that it either does or doesn't have a certificate, you have to be the one to make the final decision as to whether you will enter your credit card details.
 
Thank you Papercut for that, very informative :)

jhegarty.. this is the link, and thanks for offering to check it out for me.
 
Lizard said:
Thank you Papercut for that, very informative :)

jhegarty.. this is the link, and thanks for offering to check it out for me.
Click to expand...

Looks legit to me.

They are based in Hong Kong, so there will be duty/vat to pay when the games gets here.
 
Hey thank you both for getting back to me. Those links have been very useful, and so have your tips re. vat and delivery. The game will be available to buy in Ireland in 6 months time, but my nephew wants it now!
 
If he buys it from Japan depending on the platform it may well not play in Europe
 
I don't know what the game is called, and the reason he can't wait is because he's 13! But my sis has decided that he will have to wait :) Thanks all anyway, I've learnt a thing or two myself about website security!
 
People panic to much about using a credit card online. If fraud does take place it is rarely the cardholder that will take the hit.
 
joeysully said:
Tis a good ould shlap he'd be wanting :D that would quieten his demands,
Kids these days - no patients :rolleyes:


Ohh here comes the ban for condoning child abuse and not talking about money
Click to expand...
What's that predictive text in grey saying "ohh here comes the ban for condoning child abuse and not talking money"?!! Actually I was going to say something very cheeky about the good ould shlap ;-)
 
The majority of the time it is the merchant who will be liable for fraud.

The card issuer will chargeback the transaction through to the acquiring bank who will pass it back to the merchant. (exception is where the merchant is setup on verified by Visa/Mastercard Securecode)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top