Are emails like this clogging up your inbox?

It is so easy to shop and buy on the net! Click here, click there, see a picture, check a price.  Then visit a competing website and check their prices.  Visit your favorite search engine and ask for a comparison of similar products.  All from the comfort of your own home! Maybe even in your PJ’s!  No malls, no endless walking and perhaps, best of all, NO CROWDS!

So you’ve found the item you want, and the best price. It is time to buy.  You hover your mouse over the “BUY NOW”/“Add to Cart” button. You think, “Sure, Why not?” and you click.

In the cart, you put in your credit card information and just as you are about to press submit, the doubts roll in! “Is this a good idea?” “Is this safe?” “Will my information be secure?” “Is this item worth the risk?”

 Is it even SAFE to buy on the internet?!? (We have ALL heard those horror stories of your credit card being used to purchase gas in Michigan when you were safe at home asleep in Texas.)  How can you protect your information: personal, credit card, etc.?  How do you know which websites are “safe” and which ones are “scammy?”  How can you know your information will remain secure?

The truth is, you probably can’t know, with 100% certainty, that your information will remain secure.  HOWEVER, there is a way to drastically increase the protection of your data!

Websites can obtain an SSL Certificate.  A WHAT!!???!? A “Secret Socket Layer.”  This certificate works in between your browser and the website you are about to purchase from. Your data is encrypted as it is sent and is decrypted when it gets to the website. How is this done, you say?  Honestly, I have NO idea.  There are probably little minions, fairies or elves waiting patiently for you to make a decision to purchase somewhere in the “Net.”  They encrypt and decrypt. Seriously, though, it is a mystery to me. But it does happen, that’s the good part.

So how will you know that a website has this protection? First, they will have an https:// instead of an http://.  Another clue is that they will have a padlock in the upper left hand corner of the URL bar.  Some sites also have a their name in Green after the lock and before their URL.  These companies (the ones with the green address bar) have gone through a rigorous vetting process.  Per a representative at GoDaddy,com, both have the same encryption process for your protection. Definitely a WIN!

Now you can shop online without fear, just look for that https and the padlock when you get to a website!

Oh, and buy the way, here at CJ’s Jewelry Creations we are excited to announce that we got our SSL Certificate last week!  Thanks for shopping with us and have a VERY happy and wonderful Holiday Season!

CHECK IT OUT!