Guild Wars 2

I never bought anything online, but I wish to purchase Hot, and only way to do it is online.

I am extremely scared to buy online, since I am not familiar with how safe it is, and what I have to watch out for.

So tips are welcome, and I have few questions of my own.

Would I improve my safety by running windows in safe mode with internet enabled, and firefox(or use chrome since I read it disables addons while firefox doesnt) in private mode?

Is the encryption that is used (https), encrypting only the data send between me and the site, or does it do it as I am typing in the info.

What is a good free program to help protect me as I purchase online, or in worst case scenario a paid one(hard luck I will find it in my country).

Slip.8529:

Would I improve my safety by running windows in safe mode with internet enabled, and firefox(or use chrome since I read it disables addons while firefox doesnt) in private mode?

Would be less secure considering your security software will likely be disabled under safe mode.

Slip.8529:

Is the encryption that is used (https), encrypting only the data send between me and the site, or does it do it as I am typing in the info.

An encrypted tunnel is created between the sender and receiver. Only data sent between the two is encrypted. Using a man in the middle attack, the receiver can be faked, allowing the attacker to decrypt your information before forwarding it to the real receiver. To counter that, ensure your DNS is secure, which shouldn’t be a problem unless you’re using a shared/open connection.

You can’t “encrypt” what you type without specialized hardware and software to do it (which isn’t going to be compatible with normal software, like in this case).

Slip.8529:

What is a good free program to help protect me as I purchase online, or in worst case scenario a paid one(hard luck I will find it in my country).

If you want to go full paranoid, obtain a “gift” credit card. They work just like gift cards, so it’s basically useless after you use it.

As for software, your basic security software (anti-virus/firewall) will do. Look for a HIPS feature, which will greatly annoy you at first as it learns what’s okay for an application to do. Note that this won’t protect you from getting hacked, the key is to prevent your computer from being infected with malicious software.

I don’t have the technical knowledge that Healix has but I have made many, many online purchases over the years with no problem whatsoever. If you are worried about giving out your credit card details, perhaps a Paypal account would make you feel safer. I always use my Paypal account when I can. The payment then comes out of my savings rather than running up my credit card account.

I believe as long as you are dealing with a reputable company – such as ArenaNet (or Amazon etc) your credit card details should be safe.

As long as your computer doesn’t have any viruses and your email account and Guild Wars account are secure you’re not going to run into any problems.

I understand that it might seem scary buying something online if you haven’t done it before, however as Figlilly says, if you’re making a purchase through a reputable company like Arenanet then you’re unlikely to run into any problems provided your computer is virus and malware free.

Just make sure that you buy directly from the guild wars 2 website.

Also just a heads up, running your web browser in private mode just stops it from saving cookies or text that you enter. It’s not going to make your purchase more secure unless you’re worried about someone else with access to your computer using your information.

Figlilly.3907:

I believe as long as you are dealing with a reputable company – such as ArenaNet (or Amazon etc) your credit card details should be safe.

Yeah .. that is at least my experience from the last 12 years or so.

Just never use them on sites where you can get keys maybe cheaper especially
if they also sell ingame gold.

Thank you all, will take everything into consideration.

Honestly, I’ve had my credit card information stolen twice. Neither time was online. It can happen to you if you use one anywhere – the first time it happened I think I hit an ATM with a card skimmer late one night. I shopped at Target in the US which had thousands of card details stolen.

What you really need to know is how your bank handles fraudulent transactions. In both cases my bank caught the fraudulent purchases right away. They shut down my card and I wasn’t liable for any of it. My bank calls me and goes through all recent transactions so I can confirm which ones are legitimate.