Buying Security for Online Purchases

If you believe the hoopla, travel sales are booming in cyberspace. About 16 million virtual shoppers will snap up more than $2 billion in airline tickets, hotel rooms and other services this year, making travel the top category of online purchases, according to Jupiter Communications, an online consulting firm in New York.

But for every vacationer willing to plunk down a Visa card for a steeply discounted, last-minute fare, thousands more are balking at the notion of buying on the Web, leery about sending credit information through cyberspace.

And they’re getting lots of attention from legitimate travel merchants eager to win their trust.

Credit card security in cyberspace is “a problem of perception, not reality,” insists James McQuivey, an online retail analyst at Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass. “The level of risk is . . . not any greater than what you’ll find in the real world. We just haven’t learned to be comfortable with it.”

In an attempt to raise that comfort level, two of the Web’s largest travel ticketing sites, Travelocity and Expedia, have established insurance policies against unauthorized credit card use.

Most banks already waive fraud-related charges or limit customer liability to $50. But Travelocity and Expedia promise to reimburse the bank’s customer liability charge up to $50 per transaction for any unauthorized credit card use--providing the original purchase was made using the sites’ secure servers, which scramble credit card numbers and other personal information before it travels over the Internet. The payout risk is low: Of the more than 1 million transactions made on Travelocity since its 1996 debut, “there hasn’t been a single reported case of Internet fraud,” says vice president Jim Marsicano.

While most consumer skittishness revolves around a hacker’s ability to filch a credit card number, would-be scam artists pose a much greater threat, says Frank Fiore, who runs an Internet-based guide to online shopping (https:// onlineshopping.miningco.com). Online shopping is “just like the real world: You have to ask questions and do your homework before you buy,” he says. Some advice from Fiore and other experts:

* Obtain and verify contact information--including street address and telephone number--from any prospective seller.

* Steer clear of e-mail solicitations. “If a company can’t afford to set up a legitimate electronic commerce site, forget it,” Fiore says.

* Make sure credit card transactions are encrypted (put into code or scrambled) before they’re transmitted online. Both Netscape and Microsoft Explorer browsers have indicators that show whether a Web site is using secure techniques. And many sites, notes analyst McQuivey, post toll-free telephone numbers for shoppers who’d rather call in orders.

* Beware of online auctions. Research the value of a ticket or trip to make sure you don’t bid higher than necessary in the heat of the moment, Fiore says.

* Go with names you know--and check references of those you don’t. Better Business Bureau members (https://www.bbbonline.org) can now include an online logo affirming that they meet bureau standards: at least one year in business, honest advertising and a commitment to binding arbitration if there’s a dispute.

* If you’ve been burned, report the problem to the National Fraud Information Center (https://www. fraud.org/ifw.htm). The center refers cases to government agencies for possible enforcement, and its site includes information on avoiding Internet fraud.

Electronic Explorer appears the once a month. Laura Bly welcomes comments and questions; her e-mail address is laura.bly@news.latimes.com.