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You might be having concerns about
the security of E-commerce or storing your cards information online. You may feel
that your cards numbers and other personal data will be intercepted by unknown third
party on the internet. We would like to assure that submitting and storing your
cards numbers to our website and using it for transactions is actually very safe.
You can minimize any chance of fraud
happening to you just by following some basic practices.
1.
Check your credit card and bank account monthly statement
to make sure there is no erroneous charge or unauthorized charge,
as soon as possible and always within 30 days of the statement date.
2.
Cut up expired cards immediately.
3.
Keep receipts and carbons with you until after the transactions
have appeared on your statement.
4.
Shred old statements and receipts that may have your
account number on them before throwing them out.
5.
Never give your account number to an unknown person
calling you over the phone. Even if they identify themselves, offer to call back.
6.
Safeguard your personal information, including your
social insurance number, your personal identification number (PIN), your date of
birth, address and telephone number.
7.
Do not use your credit card for personal identification.
Use your driver's licence.
8.
Do not write your card number on any document that is
not associated with your account.
9.
Report lost or stolen cards as soon as you discover
they are missing.
10.
Each time your online cards storage is accessed, we will send an optional
email or SMS
Purchasing products through our online
cards storage is just like handing your credit or debit card to the waiter/waitress
of a restaurant or a salesperson of a department store. The waiter/waitress or salesperson
processes your card and keeps the transaction slip for business file. If he/she
wants to use any credit card numbers that are kept in the file for his/her own purchase,
he/she could easily do it.
Please be aware that other people
already know your credit/debit card number, advertently or inadvertently from the
day you were issued with the. These include the employee of the bank issuing the
card, the waiter of the restaurant serving you, the employee of the department store
handling your purchase, etc. You could easily realize that at least a few tens of
stores have the white copy of your transaction slips (You keep the yellow copy)
in their file. There are a lot of people out there already know your personal information
including your credit card number even before you try our online storage.
There has always been people trying
to steal your money even before the online and telephone banking became common place.
Before, a thief knowing that you have just withdrawn some cash from the bank could
lay an ambush. Fraudsters have always tried to forge signatures, or even manufacture
counterfeit cheque books.
Online Safety &
Security - What You Can Do
Protect your Password
Your password is your
key to accessing your accounts.
Remember:
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Choose unique passwords that you can remember so that you do not have to write them
down. A combination of letters and numbers should be used for better protection,
at least six characters long. It should be a mixture of numbers, capital and lower
case letters.
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Change your password regularly |
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Do not use passwords that are easy for others to guess such as birthdays, family
names or telephone numbers.
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Ensure that AutoComplete or other memorized password functions on your browser are
disabled.
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Saving passwords on your computer, on the Internet or on any software is not a good
idea. It allows anyone with access to that information the ability to potentially
impersonate you.
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Never disclose your password(s) to anyone, especially online, not even to the police,
your financial institution or your Internet Service Provider.
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Use a Firewall
You should use a firewall
to protect your home network and family from offensive websites and potential hackers.
Firewalls help prevent unauthorized access to or from your computer by filtering
the information coming through the Internet connection into your computer. They
will only allow in the connections that are known and trusted.
Windows XP has an
inbuilt firewall, which is adequate for most users. If you have windows XP, you
can lean more about firewall from “Help and Support” file. If you have different
operating system, you can learn about firewall by searching from Google.
Use Anti-Virus and Anti-Spyware Software
Anti-Virus
Software
Your computer can
become infected with a virus through email attachments, from content you download
from a website or from a diskette or other media (CD-ROM, DVD, ROM, USB drive, etc)
someone shares with you. It is a good idea to install anti-virus software on your
machine because viruses can appear at any time. This helps prevent your computer
from becoming infected and your files from being corrupted or lost.
Anti-Spyware Software
Spyware is a term
used to describe software installed on your computer that displays advertisements
and/or tracks and collects personal information. The information collected often
includes: User ID's, passwords, name and address. Your computer can become infected
with spyware through email attachments or from free content that you download from
a website. This software is often installed on your computer without your consent.
Anti-spyware software
can detect malicious programs running on your computer and clean your machine. It
is important that you have and always use up-to-date anti-spyware software.
You can purchase both
antispyware and antivirus from your computer store, or visit http://www.windowsmarketplace.com,
free downloads.
Ensure your Browser and Operating System are up-to-date
Always take advantage
of software updates so that your browser and operating system have the latest security
updates to help reduce your computer's vulnerability. To be sure that you are able
to download all of the latest updates you should always use a legally licensed operating
system and browser.
Always use a web browser
that supports 128-bit encryption when accessing secure websites. Most browsers now
come with 128-bit encryption, which provides adequate protection when transmitting
confidential data over the Internet.
Protect your Internet Connection
Computers connected
to the Internet for prolonged periods of time can become vulnerable to attacks.
There are additional precautions that you should take to ensure that your Internet
connection is secure.
More information is available by clicking on the following links:
Microsoft Windows users:
Protecting Your Home Computer
Apple Users: Mac OS X - Security
If you use a wireless connection, additional steps should be taken to protect your
Internet Connection. Detailed information can be found by following the link below.
Microsoft Windows users:
Is your wireless network vulnerable?
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