Jul. 26--Banking and law enforcement authorities say online financial transactions actually can be safer than in person, as long as people take the right precautions.

Without those precautions, however, a person is liable to falling victim and assuming liability.

Capt. Brad Wells with the Madison County Sheriff's Department said that before the Internet was popular, identity theft was something that happened locally. A person physically obtained another person's identification to make fraudulent charges in the area. Those offenders were caught more easily, he said.

"With the popularity of the Internet, it's developed into a new type of identity theft that local law enforcement had never seen before," Wells said.

Nor had the federal government, he noted.

Instead of targeting an individual for a specific reason, today's offenders choose victims at random through the exchange of electronic transfers, and usually behind the relative anonymity of sitting behind a keyboard and computer screen. Many times, offenders aren't even in the same country or can leave for a country that doesn't extradite criminals before their fraudulent transactions are spotted.

"You can't win the lottery, but you can become a victim," he said.

But that doesn't have to be the case. There are a number of safety precautions a person can take, ranging from keeping passwords safe to monitoring accounts to catch fraud early.

Determine whether the Web site is reputable before doing business.

If an online business is not run by a household name, consumers should be wary of completing financial transactions with them until some research has been done.

Look for articles online from reputable newspaper sources or other reputable companies to learn more about the business.

Establish a telephone number for a human contact with the company, as well.

Reputable sites will have a Better Business Bureau logo that should be visible on the site, Wells said.

"It's not online shopping that is dangerous," Wells said. "It's the Web sites you are shopping at."

Make sure a Web site is secure before entering personal information.

If it is determined that a site can be trusted, one should check for the level of site security.

Wells said a secure Web site will have a lock symbol visible near the URL bar or will be preceded by "https:" rather than the typical "http:". The "s" stands for secure.

Another way to check a Web site for security is to look for third-party verification.