AbeBooks Security Center

How Does AbeBooks Keep my Information safe?

AbeBooks uses SSL (secure socket layer) technology to secure and encrypt any areas of our website that access any of your personal or financial information. All management of personal and financial information in the AbeBooks system is maintained according to the stringent regulations of the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard). For more information on the PCI DSS, and what these standards include, go to the PCI Security Standards Council website:  https://pcisecuritystandards.org/

We have internal policies about managing your personal information. We provide secure webforms within our website for you to edit your account and credit card information. If you’re having trouble updating your account information, our customer support staff will be happy to help you, but we’ll neither take financial information over the phone or email, nor will we do the actual update for you.

Protect Your AbeBooks Account

Log off of any shared computer

If you use your AbeBooks account at a public computer, whether it is at a library, internet café, or even if you have family or roommates with access, be sure to sign out after each session.

Choose a strong password

For any of your accounts, Choose a password that is not easy to guess. Don’t use information that relates to your own personal information that people could easily associate with you. Kids’ names, pets, and phone numbers are all things to avoid. A strong password is longer than 8 characters, contains random capitalization, numbers, and punctuation, and is not easy to guess.

The most important factor in keeping your password safe is to not share it with anyone!

Shop Smart

We provide a star rating for each bookseller that indicates what percentage of their orders each bookseller has successfully completed. This percentage includes all the orders they’ve received, and considers returns, cancelled orders, and items that were already sold. We strongly recommend purchasing from 4 or 5 star sellers to ensure the most satisfying purchase experience.

Use AbeBooks for Purchase Protection

For complete purchase protection, we recommend you use one of our accepted credit card payment methods, and use the AbeBooks Shopping Cart to complete your purchase. When you make your purchase through the AbeBooks Shopping Cart, your credit card is securely processed by AbeBooks, and our Customer Support team can support your order, and ensure that the AbeBooks policies are adhered to by the member bookseller. We do not recommend completing your purchase outside the AbeBooks system, particularly if suggested by the bookseller. If the bookseller does solicit your business outside the Shopping Basket, please let us know. If you do choose to complete your purchase outside the Shopping Basket, AbeBooks cannot provide support or a refund for your order if it is not completed.

We have clear policies that you can review in our [Policy Center]. Our Return Policies ensure your purchase satisfaction, and our Bookseller Policy ensures that all of our booksellers are providing uniform and quality purchase experiences on AbeBooks. Our Customer Support team is also available to talk to you about your purchase, your experience, or any of our policies. Click here to Contact Us.

Communicate Through the AbeBooks System

We provide an online method for you to contact the bookseller. You’ll find a red button beside each listing in the search results, and beside each of your orders in your AbeBooks account.

We recommend using this method to communicate with your seller, as it maintains a copy of the correspondence in your account for our Customer Support team to review if needed. Just be sure that you are using the link next to the correct purchase in your AbeBooks account, or next to the listing in your search results that you are enquiring about – each link only directs your comment to that particular bookseller.

Use the AbeBooks Approach on all Ecommerce Sites

While the information above is specific to AbeBooks, we’d recommend these approaches when shopping on any website.

General Security Tips

Handle your Credit Card and Personal Information Safely

The most important way to protect yourself from identity theft and fraud is to ensure you manage your personal information safely at all times. Some of the most important ways to protect your personal information from theft include:

• Never send credit card or other sensitive information by email.
• Shred and destroy all bills, especially those with credit card or banking information. If possible, eliminate paper billing.
• Do not provide your credit card or other personal information over the phone unless you are the one who initiated the call.
• Be cautious of solicitation emails – a financial institution will not email you and ask you to enter your information online.
• Do not open any unknown attachments.
• Ensure your virus protection software and firewalls are up to date, and maintained.
• Listen to your instincts.

Report all Fraud to Law Enforcement

If you have been a victim of identity theft, in either USA or Canada, the following law enforcement agencies can help. There have been great strides made in fighting internet fraud and identity theft in North America in recent years, thanks to the combined efforts of many of these organizations. Local law enforcement tends to have little knowledge or understanding of these crimes that happen on a global level, but you can also start with your local law enforcement. They will likely refer you to one of the following agencies, who are better equipped to deal with this type of crime.

Internet Crimes Complaint Center (IC3): The IC3 has the ability to channel any complaints related to fraud or identity theft. An investigation might involve the FBI, FTC, USPIS, or other agencies, but by starting with the IC3, the complaint will be channeled to the appropriate agency.

United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS): This law enforcement branch of the United States Postal Service has wide-reaching authority to deal with any crimes involving mail fraud. They work closely with the IC3 and other law enforcement agencies both within the US and internationally to combat online fraud that involves shipping.

You can file a complaint via the USPIS website. This website also provides a number of tips and information on protecting yourself from identity theft and mail fraud.

Federal Trade Commission (US consumers):  The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them.The Federal Trade Commission hosts an extensive set of facts and tips for protecting yourself when shopping online.

Note: AbeBooks reports all fraudulent activity to Law Enforcement, and will prosecute to the full extent of the law

Law Enforcement – Contacting AbeBooks Security and Trust

Any law enforcement agencies wishing to contact us either to obtain or provide information about a case can email our Security and Trust team directly at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or through our toll-free line at 1-800-315-5335. We are very happy to work with law enforcement on any investigation, however we will request proof of identification before releasing any transactional or customer information.

AbeBooks Security and Trust