I'm about to order flowers with a debit card. Which way is safer?

[ContraBass Black]

Should I do it by phone, or through the website?

[realisticphish]

1. depends on whether

you want your wife to find out about your mistress :evilgrin:

edit: To actually answer your question, IMHO phone is SAFER, but not by much; you're still giving your info to a total stranger.

[Serial Mom]

2. Technically, it isn't safe anywhere...

I've had people tell me they won't use their credit/debit card over the internet, but yet many people give it to a server in a restaurant who walks away with it for several minutes, sometimes as long as 10 minutes - you don't know where they went with it, what they are doing with it, how many times they are copying your numbers, who they may be giving the numbers to, etc.

And when you give your name/number/info over the phone, the people most likely are entering into a system over the internet or onto a server the same way you would if your were doing it yourself.

So since the invention of credit cards, our numbers truly have not been safe, except for the trust we put into other people.

[Raven]

3. I don't use my debit card for anything but to get $ from an ATM.

My feeling is that since the debit card is attached to my bank account, if it was hacked, I could be cleaned out. I use a credit card for things over the net.

[Serial Mom]

6. Only cleaned out if...

http://www.nydailynews.com/money/2007/04/02/2007-04-02_debit_or_credit_not_all_cards_are_create.html

If your credit card is lost or stolen, for example, the most you will have to pay for unauthorized charges is $50 on each account.

But if your debit card is lost or stolen, you could have unlimited liability unless you notify the bank within two business days of discovering the loss or theft.

According to the Electronic Funds Transfer Act, if you notify the bank about a lost or stolen debit card within two business days, you may only be liable for $50.

If you take longer than two days, you could lose up to $500 - and if you wait longer than 60 days after receiving a statement showing unauthorized withdrawals, you could be liable for everything withdrawn from your account.

Some protection with debit card, better than when they first were introduced, but not as good as a credit card.

[Akoto]

4. It's paranoid, but I only use my debit with a separate account.

When I know that I'll want to use the debit, I stick some money in the account and then do it. That way, I can only be cleaned out for so much. :)

If you want to use your debit online, make certain that you scan for spyware and viruses first. I'd also share it only with very large, well-known companies, where the risk is much reduced.

[caty]

5. My advice is

use your credit card and then add the amount you paid for the flowers to the amount you planned on paying on your credit card balance.