How safe is credit card transaction on Internet?

These days almost everyone uses credit card as their number one payment option, whether they are shopping at a super marker, a retail chain, buying movie tickets, paying bills at a restaurant, buying a jeans or mobile or even plasma or LCD TV. Lately, credit card transactions have become the most preferred option for payment to buy train tickets, airlines tickets, online purchase, online bill payment, or for that matter buying something from an online store like Ebay or Amazon. But one thing always haunts me whenever I make some online purchases is that how safe is my transaction. Basically, to misuse one's credit card what one needs is the credit card number, CVV (card verification value) number, and the expiry date of the credit card. If someone gets access to these three values, he can easily misuse one's credit card and can dump the original credit holder for a big sum.

While making online purchases, I always wonder how safe is my online transaction because I have to always enter these three values before making any payment and so I always check for three things before making any online purchases:

1. I always ensure that Web site I am making an online payment is a secure site by verifying whether this site has been secured and authenticated by a well-known Internet authentication agency like VeriSign.
2. I always make sure not to click on any in e-mail seeking details of my account because they could be phishing. So, even if you get an e-mail links from a well-known bank, I always prefer to directly open the site manually rather than through e-mail links and thus preventing myself from getting cheated.
3. I never give my credit card details to any suspicious websites unless I have confirmed their background and authentication.

So, I request all of you to use your credit card very safely and judiciously on Internet and last but not the least please try always to be below 40% of your credit card limits and not spend too much on credit cards because very soon they will become a big liability for you and you might end up being thrashed by their recovery goons.