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Five Rules for Web Shoppers

Despite the problems, you can still shop on the Web without too much need for concern. Follow these five common-sense rules for all your online purchases and avoid headaches later on.

• Don't use debit cards. The number one safety rule still stands: Never pay by any method other than by credit card. Never use a debit card, an ATM card with a credit card company's logo on it that automatically deducts money from your checking account. If a store goes under without delivering your merchandise, and you paid with a credit card, you can just call your credit card company and have the charge removed. But if you use a debit card, you might wait months for the funds to make their way back to your bank account--if they ever get there at all.
  
  
• Try escrow or C.O.D. If a company doesn't take credit, you'd best avoid doing any business with it, period. But if the product's unusual or hard to find, or you're buying from an auction site, use a licensed online escrow service. Escrow companies hold your money until you confirm receipt of the service or product, and then they pay the seller directly. You can also try to pay cash on delivery or make a partial payment, if either are an option, advises Susan Grant, director of the National Consumer League's Internet Fraud Watch division. Those choices are less frequently available on the Web, however. In any case, the best advice is to do anything "to avoid paying for a product until you get it," Grant advises.
  
  
• Avoid anonymous businesses. If a company does't provide a physical address, a phone number, or any other real-world contact information on its site, run--don't walk--the other way. The absence of such information could mean that the company can too easily vanish without a trace.
  
  
• Beware of too-good-to-be-true prices. Don't let rock-bottom prices cloud your better judgment, warns Keith Waryas, an e-commerce researcher for IDC. Dirt-cheap products or services tend to be the hallmark of fly-by-night companies, who set up Web sites on the cheap and rake in as much cash as possible before collapsing their tents and disappearing. Such companies know that few customers will chase them to recoup a relatively small loss.
  
  
• Stick to name brands. IDC's Waryas also advises that shoppers stick with well-known brand names when buying computers from sites that offer a range of manufacturers. "The bigger vendors like Compaq have warranties, so you can always go back to the manufacturer for support. But if you buy a generic box with a 90-day warranty and that company goes under, you're left holding the bag."