If you care, entire books are being written about these subjects. The one topic in this area that you need to know about is buying stuff over the Net. We're not saying that you shouldn't exercise caution, but our experience of buying stuff over the Net in the past year tells us that you have no great cause for alarm. Books, CDs, clothing, software, videotapes, encyclopedia subscriptions, and matchmaking subscriptions. Here's what you need to know.
Some folks seem particularly wary of sending their credit card number over the Net.
If you use a credit card, remember that the credit card companies are even more concerned than you are about the idea of any kind of credit card fraud, on or off the Net. Any fraud higher than that amount is the card company's problem, not yours. We want to warn you, however, that a debit card is not a credit card, even if it carries a MasterCard or VISA logo. Debit cards are not protected with the same legislation, and we caution you not to use your debit card on the Net. On the other hand, every day, people hand their actual physical cards with their handwritten signatures to gas station attendants wearing distinctive outfits in bright colors not found in nature, to servers at restaurants, and to clerks at all sorts of stores.