Caveat Mercator Don't spend a lot of time worrying about online credit card fraud. Unless you're a merchant.
News reports make charging things on the Web sound as dangerous as shopping in downtown Grozny.
A hacker recently stole thousands of credit card numbers from e-tailer CD Universe and is holding them hostage until the company accedes to his demands. The short answer is shopping online is safe as long as everybody does their homework. The longer answer is too many merchants are flunking Computer Security 101. Credit card fraud predates the Internet, of course. New cards are routinely stolen from mailboxes.