Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

New guidelines from the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) aim to encourage consumer confidence in on-line retail. The DTI hopes to reassure shoppers that they can do their Christmas shopping on-line as safely as they could do on the high street.

A survey carried out by Mori and commissioned by the DTI showed that the UK is home to more on-line shoppers than any other European country. The study claims that 12 million UK residents had shopped on-line in the past year.

The study also outlined some concerns to be addressed, that 47% of the 2000 people questioned were worried about credit card fraud and one third were concerned about giving out personal information. These worries were not unfounded for the 3% surveyed who had personal experience of card fraud on-line.

The DTI advises shoppers to use known or recommended web-sites, to obtain the telephone numbers and addresses of suppliers and to keep a record of the transaction.

The head of legal affairs at Amazon.co.uk was quoted, by the DTI, as saying that none of Amazon's 4 million customers had ever reported credit or debit card fraud. The DTI campaign also points out that, in the event of such fraud occurring, EU law requires the credit card company to refund the card holder.

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