My mum is terrified of using her credit card on the internet, but I’m not sure how to reassure her. How safe is it?

Being able to use your credit card without being present at the transaction is wonderful for avoiding cross-country dashes to pay for flight tickets, but it’s also responsible for ever-increasing levels of fraud. We’ve all experienced moments of concern as we reveal our credit card details to a complete stranger, so it’s not surprising that concern rises to panic when the internet is added to the equation. The good news is that, according to the UK payments association APACS, you’re far more likely to have your details stolen in the real world by, say, an unscrupulous restaurant employee, than you are by any technological subterfuge. Lottie Snow’s email was typical of many received this week: “I buy stuff online all the time, and I’ve never had a problem. Touch wood.”

But there are steps you can take to minimise risk. Paul Waite writes with computer maintenance advice: “Make sure you have the latest anti-virus software installed. Some computers become infected with keystroke loggers, which can send everything you type to criminals – including credit card details.” Make sure you’re buying from a store which uses SSL encryption, either by checking for the padlock symbol in your browser, or that the page address begins with “https”. “Of course,” points out Ratnesh Singh, “any online precautions you might take are pointless if someone happens to be looking over your shoulder in an internet café.” And avoid using debit cards; a queried credit card balance is far less stressful than hundreds of pounds disappearing from your bank account.

Both Visa and Mastercard have introduced systems which require credit card purchases to be verified by a password – but these systems are bypassed if your chosen vendor doesn’t participate in the scheme. An alternative solution is to avoid using your credit card number at all; Tom Burt recommends Cahoot’s Webcard, which “generates a new, unique credit card number for each purchase you make.” Paypal, which began by providing payment services to small traders, is now recognised by larger companies such as Apple and Dell as a service which the public find more reassuring to use, as the merchant never sees the credit card details, and Paypal handles the password-protected transaction. Last week, after many months of development, Google finally launched a similar payment service in the USA, with expansion planned worldwide. Of course, there will continue to be issues of breachability as criminals use a variety of underhand methods to try and get you to reveal your password. But, unlike a 16-digit credit card number, you shouldn’t have to tell a soul.

Martin Cutler writes with next week’s question: “Sandi Thom and the Arctic Monkeys supposedly reached the big time by using internet publicity alone. So what’s the trick? How can my own band become successful online?”