hi x,
to be honest, paying online with a credit card is no more or less dangerous than paying by credit card in any store.
nowadays all you need is the number and expiry date of a card to buy almost anywhere online. imagine how many credit card numbers a shop owner / assistant sees in a busy day.
the thing with online businesses is that it any old cowboy can put up a form on his website and request the credit card details from his visitors.
the important thing to check is the little padlock on the bottom of the browser window and the
https:// at the beginning of the webpage address - the s stands for secure, the address on this page for instance is only
http://.
you can always click on the padlock to verify the security settings.
all of our hotel payments for instance are processed through our partners roomsnet (
www.roomsnet.com) - who are a major booking system operator, and who have set up the system especially for our needs. we did a lot of investigation before choosing them - mostly because they are one of the biggest and have a good rep.
credit card numbers are encypted using similar technology to cia codes, etc - it is basically uncrackable. which means the only way to get someone's number, is through negligence on the part of the supplier (that would be us). however if you can see and verify the padlock icon, though, then you are pretty much guaranteed that the company you are dealing with are serious.
still i remember the first few times i paid with a CC as well - nervewracking ;-)
regards