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Online shopping has changed the consumer behaviour and forced retails to change business models. It’s also opened the doors for criminals to exploit consumer’s naivety. However, the threat of fraud while shopping online is not as great as perceived. In fact, in most cases the fraud could have been prevented with a little common sense.

By next year – assuming we bounce back from the recession – consumers are expected to spend more than $35-billion online for goods, services and digital downloads.

In recognition of Fraud-Prevention Month, here are the top five tips on ways to safely shop online. Also don't miss my top five tips on avoiding e-mail fraud and ID theft.

1) Keep it real
Only deal with companies online that you can verify actually exist. Shop on sites that offer protection against fraud such as eBay. And if you’re looking at a Louis Vitton purse for $80 don’t be surprised if it’s a knock off.

2) Protect Yourself
Instead of your credit card directly, use Pay Pal to protect against fraud. Always know where your credit cards are. They’re worth 1000 times their credit limit to cybercriminals. Even better, up the ante on your card’s security with a service like MasterCard's SecureCodeand Verified by Visa. They’ll set up an addition PIN, which you should not share with anyone.

3) Get With the Program
If you do a lot of online purchasing with your credit card and you have a chip card, get a one-time PIN generator you can hook up to a USB port. It generates a unique PIN every time you use it so even if your card is compromised, hackers will not be able to use your card number. Pay Pal has a similar device. They cost about $10.

4) Buyer Beware
Don’t agree to any trial offers without scrupulously reading the fine print. You may find you’ve got yourself into a contract that will incur monthly payments that are difficult to stop. And don’t expect your credit card company to step in. They’ll hide behind the card holder agreement that says you entered into a contract.

5) Be Smart
D’uh. Don’t keep a written record of your credit card or debit card PIN in your wallet or purse and do not write it on the back of the card. Don’t laugh, people do it all the time. And while we’re on basic smarts, don’t go online shopping at an Internet café or on a wireless network at the local coffee shop. Public networks are hacked all the time and the guy sipping the latte a couple tables down may be sniffing for information floating.