The holiday season is here, and many people are turning to online shopping to avoid the mad holiday crowds and lines at the mall. Evidence – Visits to Web retailers were up more than 40 percent on this year’s Cyber Monday.

There are still some cardholders who are scared of using their cards online. Here are a few safety tips you can share with your cardholders to ease their fears and encourage safe online shopping.

Computer Safety Tips
• Be sure your computer software is up-to-date and secure.
• Add firewalls and spam blockers.
• Avoid downloading programs from unknown servers.
• Shut off your computer when not in use; don’t leave it on stand by or sleep mode.
• Be cautious when accessing personal accounts on public computers or when using public WiFi with your own laptop, as these environments can make you more susceptible to thieves.

Online Security Tips
• When shopping online, look for secure transaction symbols such as a lock box in the bottom of the Web browser (not the Web page, as they page can be fake page) or use addresses that start with “https:” (The S stands for secure Web address).
• Do not use your Social Security Number or birth date as a user name or password.
• Do not use the same user name and password for everything. (If it falls into the wrong hands, a thief would have access to your whole world.).
• Do not allow merchants to remember your credit card number for future purchases. While this may be convenient, it means the merchant is storing your data and its possible your card number could be stolen by computer hackers.