The Ultimate Online Shopping Quiz

You can know that a Web site is secure if it has a tiny padlock icon in the right hand corner and if its URL begins https:// and not http://. Also, never send account details via email, or click on links to shopping sites from an e-mail.

A credit card is safer than a debit card, because a debit card is linked to your bank account and a hacker can cause much damage if they get access to it.

Credit card companies ask for only $50 of fraud liability. Some companies even have a zero dollar fraud liability policy. Most also have the option of giving you a single use credit card number linked to your account that expires after one purchase to prevent fraud.

The Fair Credit Billing Act protects consumers from identity and credit card theft.

If debit card users notify the bank within two days of a fraudulent purchase, they have a $50 fraud liability. After that, it goes up to $500.

If you return an intensely packed item, like an electrical appliance, they will charge you a restocking fee of 15 percent of the price of the product. Check a Web site's return policy page, because some stores charge up to 25 percent.

If you damage the UPS code or serial number on an item, it cannot be returned. The best way to get your money back would be to sell it on Craigslist or eBay.

It is easiest to bargain hunt online, because you can do multiple product searches using different browser tabs, or use price comparing Web sites.

Google Product Search, formerly Froogle, allows you to conduct a focused search for an item online and then compare prices across a number of stores.

Web sites like FatWallet. Com or CurrentCodes.com offer coupons for discounts on price or free shipping. Just enter the coupon's code before checking out. A lot of online stores give out coupons if you sign up for their e-mail newsletters.

If no time frame is specifically mentioned, then a retailer must ship items within 30 days of purchase.

If you purchase a number of items at once, retailers will charge you one shipping fee.

Cookies function as a Web site's memory. Therefore, if you have an account with an online retailer, cookies will store items in your checkout basket so that you only have to pay one shipping fee.

Standard shipping is the slowest, but most economical. It usually takes three to five working days to arrive.

APRANET was the original system created by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1960s, on which the Internet is based.