You have probably read a lot of remarks in the press about security issues surrounding the use of credit cards over the Internet. Please do not let ill-informed comment prevent you from buying over the Internet - most of the press coverage is wildly inaccurate, being designed to sell newspapers, not to inform! The truth is that the risk of credit card fraud is at least 100 times greater when you hand your card to the waiter in a restaurant than when you shop on the Internet! Modern day encryption technology, used by almost all companies selling over the Internet, virtually eliminates the risk of credit card fraud.
The purchase area of our site is secure; this means that we utilise industry-standard Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to allow for the encryption of potentially sensitive information such as your name, address and other critically sensitive information like your credit card details. Information passed between your computer and our Web site cannot be read in the event it is intercepted by someone else. When you type your credit card number into the registration screen, our Web site is in secure mode. This means that your browser encodes what you type, and our server decodes it. Anyone 'listening' to traffic en route can make no sense of the number. This system, the 'Secure Socket Layer' works - every trading Web site uses it, and you can tell you are in secure mode when a little padlock appears on the bottom of the screen.
If you are a UK resident using a UK-issued card for a transaction of more than £100, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974 protects you. This law says that if a trader defrauds you, the credit card company is equally liable for the debt, which means basically that they will refund you if an unauthorised charge is made to your card. In practice, it is impossible to be cheated if you use a credit card for a purchase of over £100.
