Safe Online Shopping

Do Your Research

Check for your browser's symbol, such as a padlock or key, indicating you're on a secure site
Look for privacy statements on each merchant website to learn what information is being collected and how it will be used
Review Citigroup's Information on Privacy as an excellent example
Get referrals from your friends on their favorite shopping websites
Check with your state/local consumer agencies or the Better Business Bureau before buying if you don't know the merchant
Look for customer feedback on the merchant's website
Use secure sites that encrypt, or scramble, all information until the receiver unscrambles it. For example, we use 128-bit encryption for security purposes.

Give your account number only when you're ready to make a purchase
Factor in taxes, shipping, duties, handling and other applicable charges
Investigate insurance on your purchase and who pays for it
Print everything, including product information, delivery details, warranties and confirmations
Dispute a purchase if anything goes wrong--remember, you're protected

Do:

Mix letters (lower and uppercase) and numbers
Use at least 2 numbers and 1 letter for your password
Make your User ID and password two distinct entries
Make your User ID and password different from the security word you provided when you applied for the card
Use phrases that combine spaces and words (i.e., "An apple a day"). Note: 1 space only between each word/character.

Don't:

Use your name
Use the following characters for your User ID: ' " = : ; < > ( )
Use a single word that can be found in the dictionary
Use something readily identifiable, such as your birthday, spouse or child's name, social security number, phone number or street address
Use letters or numbers that are near each other on the keyboard (i.e. hjkl;) or that appear in a logical sequence (i.e. 123456 or abcdefg)
Share your information with anyone--ever

Here are some formulas for creating passwords:

Choose a meaningful phrase with 6-8 words in it (e.g. we bought our home 9 years ago) and take the first character of each word to make your password: wboh9ya
Insert two digits into a word (e.g. Decem51ber)
Misspell a word, drop some letters, add other characters, or make up words using symbols instead of vowels or consonants
Drop the vowels in a long word (e.g. 'corporation' would be crprtn) and/or add some numbers (e.g. 2crprtn9)
Use your email address/screen name as your User ID

The Citibank Vulgar Language Policy prohibits User IDs or passwords containing language that:

We reserve the right to delete User IDs that contain any language contrary to the policy.