Shopping the Internet is fast, fun and convenient. Every day is bargain day.

But down every dark cyber alley is a crook waiting to defraud you.

During a one-week period recently, 6,300 complaints deluged the Internet Crime Complaint Center — a collaboration of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the National White Collar
Crime Center in Henrico County, Virginia.  

During the comparative year-ago week, 5,000 complaints rolled in, center spokesman Craig Butterworth said. At that rate, Internet complaints may top 300,000 this year, a first, he said, compared with about 220,000 in 2007.

Victims complain about the same old frauds that always work — online auction rip-offs, identity theft, Nigerian letter scams, credit-card cons, pet scams, work-at-home schemes, college bowl ticket cons and other hustles.

So with Cyber Monday starting the online shopping season yesterday, follow these tips:

  • Keep your personal information to yourself. Don’t even think about disclosing your Social Security number unless you can verify that the Internet entity is entitled to have it, Butterworth said.
  • You’re not required to give it to a private business. But if it’s a retailer and you fill out its credit application, you must decide whether to give it.
  • Never use your debit card online. It’s a direct pipeline to your bank account, said Paul Stephens, director of policy and advocacy at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
    “The protection with a debit card is much less than with a credit card,” he said. “The risk to your underlying bank account is you could potentially be wiped out.”
  • Shop with vendors that you know and can trust. Web sites can be infected with viruses and spyware and you wouldn’t know it, said Marian Merritt, Internet safety advocate at Symantec Corp. in California.
  • Don’t throw caution to the wind just because you found a great bargain.
  • Look for evidence that the site is secure. On the merchandise order page where you enter personal information, look for a locked padlock icon.
  • Then be sure the Internet address bar says “https,” meaning it’s securely encrypted, not just “http.”
  • Skip ordering merchandise on a public computer such as at a mall kiosk. It may not be properly encrypted, Stephens said. It may have keylogger software on it and capture personal information as you type it. Use your home computer.
  • Don’t let your security software subscription lapse. You can become a victim just browsing on poorly protected sites, Merritt said.
  • Your computer definitely needs protection. Be sure you’ve installed up-to-date security software that’s working — that is regularly scanning for viruses, malware, spyware and other malicious codes. The big names in security software are Norton and McAfee.
  • Keep close tabs on your bank account activity. Monitor all your accounts often, Merritt said.
  • Be sure it was you and not some crook who made every credit transaction. Web sites such as www.mint.com let you monitor all your accounts in one place.
  • Delete unsolicited e-mail inviting you to buy. Don’t open them, Butterworth said. They may contain malware, a type of malicious software that can infect your computer with a virus or disable it.
    “Should you open one, whatever you do, do not click on the attachment. There’s a good chance you will be taken to a bogus Web site where you will be asked to provide personally identifiable information.”
  • Check out these online resources. Go to www.privacyrights.org. Look for “Fact Sheets” and choose No. 23. File a complaint about an unscrupulous encounter at www.ic3.gov.