Posted on February 7, 2008 at 5:37 am “We accept credit cards” is a statement that you must have come across multiple times at various shops, grocery stores and other merchant outlets. This statement is generally accompanied by a few stickers (Visa/Master card etc). Credit cards have transformed the businesses and our lives to a great extent. A few years back there were just a handful of shops that would accept credit cards but today you will find that most of the shops accept credit cards. In fact, some shops (like those belonging to a big retail chain) not only accept credit cards but also supply credit cards. These credit cards entitle you for rebates when you use them at any of the stores of that retail chain. With credit cards around, a lot of people have stopped carrying any cash with them or just carry a very small amount of cash with them. That means that any shop that doesn’t accept credit cards is potentially losing customers. In fact, this is one reason why almost every merchant accepts credit cards. With the evolution of internet, credit card industry too took a new turn and up came ecommerce and e-shops. So, those stickers of “We accept credit cards”, moved on to the doors of internet shops. Thus came the era where almost every online-shop would accept credit cards (directly or indirectly). In fact, this was the premise on which the complete online-business industry was based. This is convenience at its best. Fraud is associated with almost every financial instrument. So there came fraudsters too, who too said that “We accept credit cards”. These fraudsters use a lot of techniques to commit credit card related fraud. Some of them disguise themselves as online merchants who accept credit cards as mode of payment (the actual motive being extraction of critical credit card details). Others are people who work at merchant shops that accept credit cards. These fraudsters either clone the credit cards or just note critical information from them (and use that for online-shopping). Some other fraudsters lure innocent people into revealing credit card details in chat rooms. And then there are tech-savvy fraudsters who use computer programs/softwares/devices (called spyware) to spy on the people who use their credit cards for online payments. The spyware capture their credit card information and get it transmitted to the spy using internet.So a lot of merchants and service providers do accept credit cards but keep in mind that the fraudsters too welcome/accept credit cards. This is something you surely need to be careful about.

Posted on June 13, 2008 at 3:42 am This is exactly why people  are initially put off  by using credit cards for online purchase. The fraudsters are the most feared one of all. And you don't even know that your  cards has been used to make purchases online until the statement come. However, as online purchases become more prominent, people try to encrypt codes into the transmission of credit card purchases detail through the net. I guess this works very well and deter the fraudsters from being able to use the information concerned. Nowadays, practically anybody would feel safe to make online purchases using credit cards.

Posted on June 13, 2008 at 2:39 pm Really anyone you talk to about purchases could easily rip you off. For example, when you are reserving a hotel they will often ask for a credit card number in advance, they even often will ask for the 3 digit code on the back and expiration date. They may need such information to process it, but with all that information they could easily commit fraud. As you mentioned that is those working for the stores doing it. The ones who set up false shops are a bit easier to avoid, just don't buy from small places no one has ever heard of. Wait until they have a good reputation. I never was really against using a CC online, heck I didn't even have a CC until I had been online actively for over 5 years. To me it is just as natural using it online as at the local shop downtown. I do know of people who are leary about it though. I worked for a bank a little while and we even had someone wanting to cancel their card because they had made a purchase online, they didn't necessarily suspect anyone stole their information they just wanted to cancel it since a purchase was made and they were a bit paranoid. There is fraud so one should be careful, but a lot of people are just paranoid in the end. Of course all this fraud is part of what I dislike about our entire lives being based around a social security number and a credit rating, it isn't all that hard to commit identity theft if you really want to.