Credit Card Vs. Debit Card
If you normally use a debit card for your online shopping sprees, you may want to rethink that decision. If your card info is stolen, and somebody makes purchases, the credit card holder often has less liability than the debit card holder.

Read More: How to Prevent Security Cameras From Being Hacked

There are laws in place to protect credit and debit card users, but they both differ a bit in how they handle stolen information or fraudulent activity. Credit cards have the Fair Credit Billing Act, or FCBA, that puts the card holder at a maximum liability for fraudulent card use of $50. If your card is reported stolen (or lost) before these fraudulent shopping sprees occur, then your liability becomes zero.

There are many credit cards that offer this protection, but it is important to read the fine print before you commit to one company over another.

The Electronic Funds Transfer Act, or EFTA, is similar to the credit card laws. It also protects the original cardholder, yet with a significant difference. For debit cards, there is no maximum liability.

You have sixty days to report your lost or stolen card under EFTA laws. After that point, any money taken from your account is lost. That’s not the best of news for frequent online shoppers.

What You Can Do
If you must use a debit card for online purchases, make sure that it is a card without a large balance. If someone accesses your account, they won’t be able to run off with everything.

For better security, look into your overdraft protection. Overdraft protection is frequently used with a checking account, and, in case of a lack of funding in the checking account, it uses funding from the savings account to cover the remainder of the balance.

If a thief is using your card, they have access to both of your accounts–and can wipe out your checking and savings accounts in one blow. Contact your bank to see how your checking account is protected.

Of course, you can always use a prepaid debit card. This option offers more control. If you lose access to the account, you won’t be turning over your checking and savings account funds, but will only lose whatever you had put on the card.

Bottom Line
Consult with your bank to see your best options. Then, help keep your web browsing safe from malware and virus threats with PSafe TOTAL. It offers advanced protection to keep your web surfing secure.

No matter how secure or well-known an online store is, there is always the risk that your information as a customer could be exposed, recently exemplified this past month when Amazon suffered a security breach that leaked tens of thousands of login credentials. In order to avoid your information being among the next leaks, heed the online shopping tips below:

Password Complexity Is Important

Sure, it’s convenient to remember a simple password – like your name or hometown – but this is extremely easy for hackers to guess. In reality, any password that doesn’t include a variation of uppercase and lowercase letters, special characters like !, and several numbers is prone to being hacked.

Even if it means keeping a hard note somewhere of your complex password, the headache of glancing at the note each time is much less than someone obtaining all your information and attempting identity theft.

Look for the Lock

Trusted online stores like Amazon have a locked lock to the left of their URL (https://www.amazon.com/) in the address bar on the top of your browser. This means they have SSL (secure sockets layer) encryption installed, which means that the information you’re sending them – like credit card numbers and personal addresses – is secure. Never provide sensitive personal information to sites without the lock. It’s also especially important to never provide your credit card information over email, even if the sender claims to be from a trusted store. Trusted sites will always keep exchange of information to a section of their site that’s secured with SSL.

Use Familiar Sites

While it’s true that any online store, even Amazon, is prone to leaks and hacks, it happens much less there than on lesser-established sites. In addition to potential headaches involving slow shopping and lack of customer support, unfamiliar sites pose a security risk, as they’re less likely to have SSL encryption installed, consequently providing a more open network environment for hackers to obtain your information.

Use PSafe Digital Security

Even when taking the precautions above, you’ll still need an extra layer of security to shop securely online. PSafe accomplishes this on a variety of platforms, providing cloud-based software and free internet protection for Windows and Android users in Brazil and Latin America. PSafe Total, available for both platforms, provides software optimization features and operating system protection that will notify you of any potential intrusions while you online shop, which is an outstandingly useful feature considering how rampant hackers are.

Using complex passwords, paying attention to SSL encryption presence, prioritizing familiar sites and using PSafe Total are all ways to significantly improve the safety of your online shopping.