[ic] Warning regarding what you said....

[Jim Balcom]

On Fri, 6 Apr 2001, Young Family wrote:

YF>>You may be setting yourself up to get scammed...
YF>>Read  http://www.scambusters.com/CreditCardFraud.html
YF>>Here's an excerpt
YF>>===================start=================
YF>>Here's a personal example: Our company experienced its first encounter with

Unfortunately, everytime that you accept a credit number for payment
and the card is not present, you run this risk.

I used to process through ECHO. In several of their monthly newsletters
they begged us to not accept orders from people with anonymous e-mail
addresses, like Yahoo, Hotmail, Juno, etc.

American Express is very good about backing up merchants that have been
victimized. Echo was also good about it. I've not had any experience
with my present processor.

But: It's a two-way street! One of my check cards was used just TWICE
on-line - once at newsfeeds.com for monthly service on a recurring
basis for over a year, and at a company recommended by register.com
that would feed search engines with my site name. I wanted a one-shot
deal to get exposure for a new page.

Someone logged on to PayPal and set up an account using my CheckCard
number and took $475 out of my personal checking account. The bank
almost refused to take any action, claiming that it was my fault for
having given the card number out on line. They made me wait 45 days
before I could file a claim (the rationale of this escapes me!) PayPal,
however, agreed that I had been victimized and refunded the money.

Accepting a charge card for payment is always risky when the card is
not present. ANd, about 95% of my business falls into this category.
I've not had a charge-back in nearly 2 years. I am a firm believer in
the AVS feature that my processor offers. But, the potential for being
scammed is always present. And, it is foremost in my mind with every
charge I process on an e-commerce sale - especially with a new
customer. I am much more comfortable with a repeat customer.

(And, it has nothing to do with where/how charge card numbers are
stored on our servers. I consider that risk to be quite minimal!)

My most preferred method of payment for e-commerce is PayPal. Second is
money orders. Charge cards, and then checks. Of course, best of all is
cash on the counter! (As long as the bills aren't counterfeit!)

-= Jim =-

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Jim's Linux-Operated Underground Bomb Shelter
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Tagline for Thursday, April 05, 2001 at 22:40 PM:
I smell a rat. Did you bake it or fry it?

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This Linux System has been up 51 hours  

My web page: http://www.idk-enterprises.com
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