Shopping online is rapidly becoming the preferred mode of bargain hunting for many. In 2007 Britons spent a whopping £55.3 billion via the web – an increase of roughly a third on the previous year – and we have already dropped £13 billion into web retailers’ (or etailers’) tills in the first three months of 2008, according to IMRG, the trade body for UK online retailers.

The problem is, as spending increases, so does fraud and the number of online Del Boys trying to relieve us of our cash. Losses from “card not present” fraud, where criminals use stolen credit card details to buy goods online or over the phone, are approaching £300m a year, warns Apacs, the banking payments trade body.

The good news is that there are plenty of simple steps you can take to protect yourself from the scammers or from finding yourself at the sharp end of iffy practices by even the biggest etailers. We’ll show you how to enjoy the best of the global bazaar yet steer clear of any infected web pages, pay for goods securely and unearth the best guides to your extensive consumer rights if it does all go wrong.

PROTECT YOURSELF

The web can seem benign, but it is full of nasties lying in wait to ambush the unprotected shopper. A growing trend is for scammers to lure you to a fake website that looks like a well known site and then steal your credit card details – a practice known as “pharming”. Others try to get your computer to inadvertently download dodgy software (or “malware”) that later steals your personal details. Even legitimate websites have been “injected” with similar malware.

So how should you protect yourself? Get Safe Online (www.getsafeonline.org), the government-backed consumer website, is a crucial pit stop. It advises you to always download the latest version of your web browser as these have built-in filters than can spot many fake websites. To be sure of exactly which site you are visiting, download and install SpoofStick (free at www.spoofstick.com), which will then display the real name of the website in the top of your browser window.

Antivirus software and a firewall are also must-haves. Yet a 2006 YouGov poll for Get Safe Online found more than a fifth of UK internet users didn’t employ a firewall and a sixth lacked antivirus software. Many companies sell a bloated suite of internet security software that often slows your computer down. So before you rush to invest, take advice on what you need. The market for one-stop security suites is competitive but ZoneAlarm 7 (£40 from www.zonealarm.com) is hard to beat. Many providers offer free versions of specific software in the hope you will buy their full package later.

AVG antivirus from Grisoft (www.grisoft.com) is an excellent program that even automatically scans links on search results to see if they lead to known scammer sites. McAfee Site Advisor (www.siteadvisor.com) is an unobtrusive tool that uses a traffic-light system to warn you about the validity of any link before you click on it. Want a free firewall or spyware protection? Try Comodo Firewall Pro ( tinyurl.com/yuvt5k) or Spyware Terminator ( www.spywareterminator.com).

VET THE SHOPS

One in four online shoppers don’t check if a website they are visiting is a safe place to shop. If you are out to snaffle a bargain using a price-comparison website such as Pricerunner ( www.pricerunner.co.uk), Shopping.com ( uk.shopping.com) or Kelkoo ( www.kelkoo.co.uk) you can check an etailer’s customer ratings before you hand over any money. It’s also worth considering how many reviews a site has received; the more the better.

There are also vetting schemes you can consult such as Shopsafe ( www.shopsafe.co.uk), which has checked out more than 3,000 shops and rated them for their range of goods, delivery costs and security. Similarly look for the Internet Shopping Is Safe (ISIS) logo from IMRG ( www.imrg.org/isis). IMRG also vets more than 1,000 accredited retailers for reliability, data protection and security, and excludes any that don’t come up to scratch.

Always click on any accreditation scheme logos to check they are live links and not pictures put up by dodgy retailers trying to look legitimate. Consumer Direct ( www.consumerdirect.gov.uk) warns that just because a website has a .uk web address it isn’t necessarily based in Britain, so check for a physical address and avoid sites that don’t publish one. Buying from abroad is riskier because UK consumer law doesn’t apply and getting redress can be difficult if things go wrong.

SMART CARDS

When making a payment online, check that the company has a secure, encrypted connection, indicated by a closed padlock symbol in the browser window and https:// in the website’s address. The latest web browsers now also change the colour of the address bar to indicate whether it is secure.

Despite the rampant rise of online fraud, paying with a credit card still makes sense. Under the Consumer Credit Act you are covered for your loss if goods valued between £100 and £30,000 don’t show up or are faulty. As an additional level of security, sign up for the extra Pin/password security measures offered by the Mastercard SecureCode ( www.mastercard.com) and Verified by Visa ( www.visaeurope.com) schemes. However, be aware that debit cards, American Express and prepaid Visa and Mastercards are not covered by the act.

Middleman services such as PayPal (www.paypal.com) or Moneybookers ( www.moneybookers.com) can handle online payments for you so that a retailer never sees your personal details. Though these services are free for customers, once again you lose a whole layer of legal protection compared with paying by credit card.

BEWARE HIDDEN TRICKS

All shoppers hate hidden charges such as unclear delivery costs added at the last minute, booking fees and credit card handling fees – not to mention the annoying “plus Vat” trick that makes goods look cheaper. All such costs must be clearly outlined at the point of sale, and if they are not, you should take your custom elsewhere.

Dell, the computer manufacturer, recently fell foul of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) for not spelling out that there was a hefty £60 delivery charge on a £200 laptop, and Ryanair has breached advertising rules so often the ASA has referred it to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).

Some etailers have taken to manipulating price-comparison sites results by quoting prices exclusive of Vat. Many also quote for goods they don’t have in stock, though this is sometimes an innocent mistake. Always use price comparison sites that show stock levels clearly and double check with the retailer’s website before you buy.

In March the OFT’s “web sweep” report found that two-fifths of more than 400 websites it checked didn’t warn people that compulsory additional charges would be added at the checkout. A third didn’t comply with refund requirements, and more than half of these didn’t include delivery costs in the refund. It’s clearly still a jungle out there.

BANG TO RIGHTS

The OFT report also found that more than half of web shoppers didn’t know about their right to cancel an order within a seven-day cooling off period. So if that pool table that seemed such a great idea on Friday night looks impractical on Monday morning you are not lumbered. This also applies to mobile-phone contracts you have bought from your network online.

Finally, hats off to the OFT for its aforementioned Consumer Direct website, which is colourful and clearly laid out. Its “Do you know your rights?” quiz is a fun way to test your knowledge and wise up.

The free Which? report available at tinyurl.com/2smdkg neatly summarises the consumer laws that apply to online shopping and clarifies how to make a complaint if things do go wrong.