Secure way to purchase on line? not

Technically, I lost the interest on the money during the 2 weeks they were investigating.

But, seriously, your comment is a valid one. There are a lot of protections regarding your money. I recall that the $50 number that gets floated about is only if there is only if there is an actual signature used for the transaction. Online transactions do not require signatures, so the card holder is not liable for ANY amount - even the $50. This may have changed, but I can't do a search to verify right now.

I think those folks using that pre-paid credit card in the news are in far worse shape than most folks using debit cards or regular credit cards for online shopping.

fj12ryder wrote:
Has anyone actually lost any money through online transactions that can be blamed directly on the transaction?

I've had my CC number stolen from workers on some online stores. Once it happened within minutes of my purchase another charge was made. The worker responsible was fired after investigation.

The CC card companies were thankful for my quick response to discovering the frauds( I have notifications set up on all my cards as I had my identity stolen once) and they waived the $50 fee I was supposed to pay. Had it not been for the waiver, I would have had to pay the $50 more then once. But, no out of pocket yet for me. The wife did have to pay once when when her debit card was breached.

I had contact Amex and tell them never to authorize anything not shipped to my home address.
Discover is a little over zealous and embarrassed me a fews times and denied charges while traveling.

But my question is "Has anyone actually lost money?". You didn't actually lose any money, and I've had my CC's compromised and I also lost no money, I've been inconvenienced, but have never lost a dime.

Since this whole thread is about the insecurity of the online purchasing, I am curious to hear about someone actually losing some money due to their CC purchase going awry. Not cheating sellers, or scammed purchaser, but losing money due to a bad CC.

Anyone? Bueller?

fj12ryder wrote:
Although you didn't lose any money, that is a perfect argument against using debit cards online, and the main reason I don't use debit cards at all.

For me, that just reconfirmed my lack of worry about using the debit card. The credit union reimbursed me for the full amount that was stolen within 2 weeks without my having to jump through hoops and fight. I actually had a harder time getting them and my bank to cancel the overdraft protection. I use my debit cards far more often for online purchases than I do my credit cards and haven't had issues.

fj12ryder wrote:
I don't know anyone personally who has lost money because the transaction was insecure. I was just wondering if it has actually happened to anyone that can speak up about it. I guess my point is I wonder if online purchasing actually is somewhat risky. I know there have been hacking incidents where CC data bases were breached, but if you only use a CC locally you could have been affected by those.

This was not a hacked database. This was an insecure purchasing system. It very likely was someone who worked for the company that was able to steal my information. So yes, it can and does happen. How common it happens who knows. I do an awful lot of online shopping through a large variety of businesses. The above is the only incident I've ever had. I'd say that was one in over 5000 purchases over the years.

Although you didn't lose any money, that is a perfect argument against using debit cards online, and the main reason I don't use debit cards at all.

I don't know anyone personally who has lost money because the transaction was insecure. I was just wondering if it has actually happened to anyone that can speak up about it. I guess my point is I wonder if online purchasing actually is somewhat risky. I know there have been hacking incidents where CC data bases were breached, but if you only use a CC locally you could have been affected by those.

fj12ryder wrote:
Has anyone actually lost any money through online transactions that can be blamed directly on the transaction?

In thousands of online and non-online transactions with my credit cards and debit card, I have had exactly one incident: I paid for our work's holiday meal through Boston Market's online ordering system. The following day, someone had charged about four separate transactions on my card. The first was for about $30, the rest were for several hundred each. The credit union had overdraft withdrawal set up automatically on my account, so even though I only had about $80 in the checking account, they got $1500 because the bank kept moving money from my savings. Then they figured out something was wrong. Two weeks later, they reimbursed me for the entire amount.

Fortunately, for many years, I have always split out my paycheck between two banks - a savings and checking account in each. Because of this, I was able to wait out the 2 weeks without worry (even with it being 3 weeks before Christmas). Directly afterwards, I cancelled overdraft protection on all my accounts - I would have only been out about $80 if the bank hadn't kept moving money over.

And I know it was Boston Markets because they were the only charge made to that card in the prior 60 days AND after I emailed them and told them about the breach, they had a new payment system for their online ordering within 3 months afterwards.

Considering how much online ordering I do, I don't worry that much. I take the normal precautions and do research before purchasing from a new company to make sure they're legit. I don't keep all my funds in my checking, I use the two separate banks and four accounts, I don't have overdraft protection, and I stay aware of my balances at all times.

Has anyone actually lost any money through online transactions that can be blamed directly on the transaction?

gafidler wrote:
I have a Visa card with a $500.00 limit that I use on the internet...

That's what I do, too. I also use a separate email address for anything that might generate return spam email...newsletters, etc.

The bank also absorbs all losses and fraud. If the bank shares data with a criminal the bank is on the hook not you.

MNGeeks61 wrote:

Well, I would assume they'd need your card number if you PURCHASE something through them...

A lot of these services are rushing to get up and running after the announcement of Apple pay and the failure of some of the predecessors to make any traction.

Apple Pay does not give out your personal info or card number. That's why there is a reluctance for retailers to use apple pay. Apparently the customer info and purchase data is with $300 a year to the retailers.

It's nice to see apple going the opposite direction then some others.

Bear in mind that some of these services coming online don't have the credit card protection an actual credit card has and you're responsible for all fraud charges.

Privacy policies should be renamed to anti privacy policies. Google is by far the worst offender and thief of information.