Hi guys,

I will have to buy something with a Visa card on the Internet while in Amsterdam soon.

I'll probably go to this place on Nieuwendijk, called Internet City or something like that ? ... that's located not far from top end of Damrak (station side), in fact that's the only Internet access non-wireless I know (I have no laptop).

I don't know much about Internet security, I always buy from home, do you think that would be risky to buy in a public place ? ( having my card hijack or something ).

Thanks for advices.

I wouldn't do it. You have no idea what kind of software is running on those systems.

it's safe enough.

if by some chance someone did get CC#, you would not be held responsible for the charges. if you call your cc company you can probably get a one time virtual #.

cant you buy a pre paid top up debit card there from the post office for online like they do here then just put the funds on it you need for thst item.

Save doing it through your main card??

I hate doing anything with my main card which my wages would go into.For booking hotels etc i use a different account
that has no money in.

If i do use my main card i will report it lost to my bank every so often to get a new card and numbers cuts the risk down that way.

Best way is carry a preloaded topup debit card though i got a couple of them talksport one and post office there very good for this kind of thing.They must do them in Amsterdam.

Some credit card companies will provide you with a virtual number. Its a separate number, tied to your regular account, and can only be used one time. After its used once, its automatically deactivated. You may want to contact the bank that issued your credit card and ask.....

Thanks guys for answers,
virtual number Dave you are talking about looks like a good solution for secure payment, but my bank doesn't provide this service.
Prepaid debit card seems to be unknown here where I am living (France), all related sites refer to UK-based company and process to register not easy nor fast, lots of document to provide.

I may have found a good alternative anyway, that's called Wirecard, Germany-based company, looks like a bit like Paypal, you have an account to upload funds, then you get a virtual card to buy online ( number + 3 secure digits ). Fees only apply to uploading funds, that's 3% if you do it by credit card, or 1€ by bank transfert whatever the amount ( at least that's what I understood ...). Process to register is simple, no need to send them your whole life, I gonna give it a try.

EasyInternet (do they still exist or did they close the Damrak one down too?) have PCs that rebuild themselves entirely on restart.

You might be mistaken here, a re-boot naturally, but a windows re-build, that will take at least 30 minutes and possibly a lot longer!

I would be very suspicious of such a scripted process that must run within another always active operating system.

There is an alternative that could work - a sort of run 'live' from CD (or elsewhere), but this will still take quite a long time to boot into. This is often offered by many Linux distributors - knoppix is famous for this.

dont buy with yout visa card on a public computer!!!! its too risky because of the "nigeria people" they got sooo many techniques to get your details!!!

Do it as many people here said get a pre paid visa card (e.g. "tuxedo" in the uk) or what ever but i woundt reccomend you to use your privat visa card!

Nah I'm not mistaken, a small OS image is downloaded off the network at reboot and installed. Of course, you still need to check that the keyboard underside doesn't have a hardware keylogger installed.

But software-wise it's bulletproof.