Identity Theft Prevention: How to Safely Pay Bills Online?

Paying bills online can save you quite a bit of time. You may even be able to eat a full sandwich during your lunch break if you use this very valuable service. However when doing so you can never be too careful.

This is especially important when you use your personal banking and credit card information to pay your bills. There is so much you need to watch out for such as phishing and imposter websites and online spies.

While using the internet for paying bills can be convenient, you need to take certain precautions:

• Make sure the website you use is secure. Usually this is done while using a certain type of encryption that scrambles all the personal information you would enter into a form. The minimum encryption level recommended is 128-bit but it is better if it is 256-bit or higher.
• It is standard nowadays to have a firewall on your computer. It also is wise to have some type of anti-virus software installed in case anyone tries to intercept your personal information. (This occurs even while you make legitimate bill-paying transactions.)
• Verify that you are indeed at the website of a company to whom you owe money before attempting to pay a bill. You can do this by using a variety of verification methods, such as clicking on a VeriSign seal or looking them up at the Better Business Bureau site. You may be able to also find them in the ICANN “Whois” directory.
• Make sure you delete your internet cookies and browsing history regularly. It is best to do this each time you log off and on to the internet. It is vital that you do this after using a sensitive sign such as one that reveals your personal or financial records.
• Always log out of personal sites you use to pay bills. It is best not to use a public computer for this purpose. However, it is especially important to log off on a public computer afterwards.

Enjoy the convenience of paying bills online. However, you should always be cautious. It is best to do it on a home computer but you may be able to get away with it at your office.

Just make sure whatever PC you use for this purpose that it is fully protected. This will ensure far less risk of identity theft.