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cl A top concern for any online merchant is consumers making fraudulent purchases from their website. According to the Internet Crime Report (IC³), there were 275,284 incidents of Internet fraud reported in 2008, up 33.1% from 2007. (Internet Crime Report: 2008, 1). The monetary loss to both consumers and businesses for that same year was estimated to be $264.6 million. In an ever-evolving Internet market, online merchants must be vigilant in protecting themselves from savvy scammers. While Internet fraud has been measured by IC³ since 2000, digital download delivery merchants experience an untold incident of fraudulent purchases, and often have no recourse but to eat the costs[..]

With unemployment at the highest rate since the early 1980's record numbers of people are desperately searching for work. The Internet is the medium most job seekers turn to today as do con artists who use the Internet for fraud by preying on the unsuspecting. In today's economy, employment scam has become one of the fastest growing categories of fraud. Fraud practitioners use Internet marketing and email scams to lure unsuspecting individuals who are looking for work. Employment is advertised on legitimate job placement sites and message boards or the "supposed" job offers arrive to the individuals by email. The typical guise is an international company needs to hire U.S. citizens as[..]

  Fighting Internet Auction Fraud By Ulf Wolf Cybercrime is up again for 2007. Hardly news, of course; it is no secret that this plague is spreading farther and deeper by the hour. And here's another unsurprising piece of news: at the head of the pack, same as last year: Internet Auction Fraud. The FBI Numbers The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3), a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NWC3), recently released its 2007 figures on cybercrime complaints received and referred to law enforcement. Again, the numbers showed that Internet Auction Fraud was by far the most reported offense in 2007, comprising at it did 35.7% of all complaints. In[..]

The Internet is a hard-to-control marketplace. The medium enables trading between parties that do not have to see each other, let alone be in the same country. A fair share of people jump on the opportunity to do business without providing the proper paperwork that goes into running a company. However, any organization with a website is not a business. If the legal framework is not there, you are dealing with a scam company. All legitimate US companies have a federal tax ID number. However, tax ID numbers are confidential and not likely to be shared with consumers without reasonable purposes. There are however ways in which you can determine the legitimacy of the company you are dealing[..]

As an individual, you may wonder if you actually need to purchase a paper shredder for your own personal use.Now is the time to invest in your privacy and security. There are many reasons to buy a paper shredder, here are just 5... As an individual, you may wonder if you actually need to purchase a paper shredder for your own personal use. The answer is, quite simply, YES. Today's world is rife with identity theft, credit card theft and other fraudulent activities. Now is the time to invest in your privacy and security. There are many reasons to buy a paper shredder, here are just 5: 1)Identity Theft: Almost 9 million people per year have their identities[..]

Credit is good, but only when it is absolutely necessary. An irresponsibly used credit card is a sure shot way of getting yourself into a debt trap that is nearly impossible to get yourself out of with out the help of a debt professional. So, for those who feel that they have been adorned with the privilege of being trusted with a credit card, this could be a wake up call to stay out of debt. Use Your Credit Card for Emergencies Make it a rule to use your credit card only for emergencies. You never know when you will need the credit facility your card offers you. Though the card facilitates you to buy something you would not normally be able to buy with cash, you should try to pay some[..]

So why is my computer running very slow? The truth is that there could be one or multiple reasons. Here are the 3 most common problems and then how to fix them. PROBLEM #1) Lack of space This is what immediately comes to mind when you think of PC slowdowns. Lack of room is not always the reason but very often is. Do you have to get rid of all your programs manually? Not necessarily-there is something known as a "disk cleanup" program on your PC... and you can utilize it to find the programs you no longer need and get rid of them. But I recommend doing it by hand. It takes a bit longer, but this way you can make sure you get rid of all the necessary programs. The above tool is convenient[..]

Business insurance can often be a high cost item for companies, but by checking out online options corporations can save time and money. Business traveling is a must if your company has employees or even contractors traveling regularly, either domestically or overseas. Without an effective business insurance policy in place companies may be liable for the costs incurred as a result of any illness or injury that befalls an individual on the company's payroll while they are traveling. Without adequate business travel insurance in place the company could also suffer significant financial loss in meeting the costs of any medical or hospital bills. Often annual business traveling insurance is[..]

No modern man should be caught dead without a credit card, but credit card holders beware. There are more disadvantages to owning that strip of plastic than living without it because once you've missed a credit card payment, you're done in. Here's how to avoid the trap of getting the reverse Midas touch. Pay Or Borrow As You Go? The lure of credit cards is irresistible. You have the purchasing power in sticky situations - paying an emergency bill or renting a car. You can have your card swiped anywhere and anytime. Credit card holders also have the edge of making purchases with companies that only accept credit card payments. With a credit card, you can go anywhere in the globe and have[..]

There are three types of cards available in the market - debit cards, ATM cards and credit cards. There are risks associated with each of these cards and you should be aware of those. ATM cards offer limited convenience of withdrawing cash from the ATM machines. These cards cannot be used for making any purchases, in stores or on-line. There are limited risks associated with this type of cards. If your card is stolen, it can be misused by the thieves on ATM machines. While you are using your card, a thief may be waiting behind you to watch your actions. Then he will try to steal the card from you. If he is successful, he can empty your bank balance within no time. If you take care[..]

With the advent of the internet came scores of people looking to come up with the next great idea so they too could cash in on the never ending opportunities now available from the comfort of their own home. Unfortunately, with these honest, hardworking individuals came people promising the world for just a few of your hard earned dollars. And if everyone would only listen to the old saying "You can't get something for nothing", we would continue past these scams and actually find the legitimate opportunities. However, with that being said, knowledge about home based business scams is so readily available on the internet, scam artists are having to come up with new and different ways to[..]

Simply put, online shopping is buying products and services on the internet. As per a recent survey, nearly 86 percent of internet browsers are online shoppers. Why so? It is because web research has become the in-thing for value buyers in today’s recession. You browse, compare product quality and prices and decide whether to buy or not. Research is the keyword for online shoppers today; so much so that even retail sales are boosted by exhaustive product surveys done on the web. When Did Online Shopping Begin? You will be surprised to know that online shopping dates back to even before internet, IBM or Microsoft. In fact this concept was developed by Michael Aldrich of Redifon[..]

It's fairly common for merchants to think the merchant account provider and the card issuer are one and the same, but they're not. A good merchant account provider works to protect the merchant whereas Visa and the other card issuers primarily work from the standpoint of protecting the cardholder. If a customer calls in for a refund as a merchant you've got to use your discretion as to whether you wish to issue the refund or not. Even if they are just a few days past the returns window our experience is that you're better off issuing the refund. Expect a chargeback in that scenario, in which case you'll have to decide whether you wish to contest the chargeback or not. Some merchants[..]

Caller ID spoofing, for those unfamiliar with the term, is the act of manipulating or changing the phone number that appears on someone's call display when you place a call to them. As a user of a caller ID spoofing service, you would simply enter in your real number, the number you are calling to, and the number you want to appear on the receiver's call display. Caller ID spoofing providers such as and also offer other services such as call recording and voice changing among others. The opponents of caller ID spoofing providers have existed since the inception of the service. Over the years, numerous organizations and individuals alike have exhausted all available means in order to[..]

Unfortunately, everyday purses and wallets become lost or stolen. The missing credit cards in your purse or wallet become the biggest concern. Do you know what to do if this happens to you? Well, you should because a few simple steps can save you a lot of headache. It really isn't difficult to develop an action plan for your lost or stolen credit cards. All major credit card companies have policies to protect you from loss or theft. You just need to know how to get their policies working for you if your cards become missing. The first step is to contact your credit card companies to report your missing cards. Many companies offer a toll free number or an online service to handle this[..]

A Bed and Breakfast, often referred to as a B&B, is a private residence with several rooms of which are set aside for overnight guests whose paid accommodations include breakfast. Modern Bed and Breakfast often consciously tries to recall earlier days - they are generally established in charming older houses which have been refurbished and adorned with antique furniture. Hence insuring one's bed and breakfast property is a better idea to recover any loss caused accidentally. Also, if a guest is injured while staying in the bed and breakfast, and if the adequate liability cover is not in place, the owner has to face the loss. Another important reason to insure one's property is incase[..]

If you watch the news or have an email-box, you've undoubtedly seen warnings about gift card scammers who are draining the value from gift cards that were displayed publicly in retail stores. Although these gift card scam warnings are widespread, this type of gift card scam is currently quite rare. Gift card scams abound. Yet, it's the little-known gift card scams that are actually the biggest threats. In fact, there are three little-known gift card scams involving online action sites that pose a much bigger risk to consumers. We'll explain what these bigger threats are in a moment. But first, let's take a quick look at the email warnings making the rounds: --- Begin Email --- The[..]

Web Proxies are getting very popular these days among countries such as China, Iran, and US just to name a few. One of the main purposes of web proxies is to protect your identity by remaining anonymous while surfing online. While web proxies are created with good motives for good use, there are also people abusing web proxies by visiting illegal websites or making purchases online through fake or stolen credit cards. Such practices are condoned by the law in most countries which results in the ban of web proxies. There is a general consensus that using a web proxy for illegal means and evil motives is forbidden. However it is also true that there are many people who use proxies with[..]

Car Wash operators are always looking for ways in which to both cut costs and save time. Most new Car Wash facilities start with both a monitoring system and a video surveillance system from day one. Many existing facilities are seeing the need to create accountability for not just criminals, customers, and employees. Monitoring systems keep honest people honest and helps eliminate shrinkage as well. Video Surveillance - Be aware when your not there. Car Wash operators already know the value of having a digital record of what happens at their wash when they are not there and when employees ARE there. Having cameras in each bay that can be viewed from the comfort of your home office can[..]

Wherever you go in the world and whatever your profession is, there will always be scammers who are trying to take advantage of people and get them to commit money for stuff that is fake, dangerous or which simply never arrives. Most eBay fraud happens when a seller does something to try to defraud their customers, but there are ways for those who are customers to commit fraud as well. Here are a few things to avoid if you don't want to have problems: • Don't send without Shipping Confirmation. If you ship using the USPS, you can ship using their online shipping service and it will automatically add on an extra few cents for shipping confirmation (last I checked, it was 13 cents, but[..]

Have you noticed it yet? You keep hearing about payment gateways from other online merchants. The term seems to be a hush-hush, and sounds like an exotic mumbo-jumboo jargon from some glib-talking finance guru you know practically nothing about . As far as the term is concerned, you are in the dark. But your friends chatter about it. And online businessmen speak praises for it. To ease up your confusion, here are some important things about payment gateway. 1. A PAYMENT GATEWAY IS A SOFTWARE It is a computer program built particularly for online shop owners. If you plan to put up an Internet based store, and you want browsing customers to purchase items from your site and then pay[..]

With so many concerns today with identity theft and stolen credit cards, the safety of transacting business with a merchant who is willing to accept a credit card by phone remains on the minds of many people. We know that with secure websites, firewalls, and other safety precautions, the Internet is usually a safe place for transacting business using a credit card, but what about using the phone for credit card processing? How safe is it to give your credit card information to someone on the other end of a telephone? This is especially of concern with so many people today using only wireless or cordless telephones. Unfortunately, many people still think of the telephone as a mechanism[..]

If you have been involved in a case of identity theft then there are going to be a couple of people you should contact immediately. Apart from possibly contacting identity theft lawyers, there are a number of other places you are going to need to contact for yourself and the sooner the better. The first place you should contact if you are involved in a case of identity theft is your creditors and credit card issuers. Put a stop to all accounts that you feel may have been compromised or linked to stolen credit cards. Also contact at least one of the credit bureaus. This will put a fraud alert on your credit report. You can also have your report and score sent to you to determine if[..]

Affiliate marketing is one of the best online marketing tools that companies are using in order to reach out to more people and make more sales. However, a lot of people are asking the question: is affiliate marketing illegal? Basically, it's not. It just becomes illegal when some people use it to scam other people, which become affiliate marketing fraud. Becoming a victim of affiliate marketing can have expensive consequences. In fact, it can even jeopardize an entire affiliate program's business model which can result in huge losses to a particular company. You have to remember that affiliate marketing is not illegal. In fact, it is used by millions of companies out there to broaden[..]

Always look at other ebayers feedback rating, this is important becasue it tells you their trading history on Ebay. If they have numerous negative comments which make them sound un-trustworthy, then its best to contact them first or leave it and look else where. If they have no feedback and are new, it is best again to contact them. Never buy or sell to places from abroad such as Nigeria, Africa etc. These are again fraudsters using stolen credit cards and if they do pay you, well that money is guaranteed to be stolen which will be retracted from your account so you would lose out basically. Always email or contact them some other way if unsure. At least this way, you'll know about[..]

We need a better punishment for all Identity Theft Criminals. If they steal someone's identity, then they get to pay off all their bills, including the ones they made. This way if they steal a Soccer Mom's credit cards and we catch them, well fine. Indeed a fine fine, which will be to pay off all the Mom's credit card bills, car loans and shopping bills? What do you think of my idea? Do you like it? I knew you would. You see I believe that the "Perfect Punishment for Identity Theft" is that the person doing the crime has to also join in that person's identity and can start by paying off all the victims bills. And since people are living longer why not make them pay off these bills for as[..]

How many of you have struggled with annoying pop-up browser windows, unexplained toolbars showing up in your browser, or even the dreaded fake antivirus application on your PC? This guide is intended to provide you with a basic knowledge level for manually detecting and cleaning most of today's virus infections that have found their way onto your Windows based computer. While there are many automated tools out there that can be helpful for detecting and removing malicious software from your PC (malwarebytes, ad-aware, hijack-this, etc), the problem lies in the fact that malware is beginning to become more and more effective at finding ways to hide, trick, and attack the software that you[..]

The credit card is an evolutionary approach as they have been in use for a long time. The credit card protection on electronic network is improved by using PIN number during the transaction. The scheme is also easy to implement as most users and merchants are familiar with the procedures. The transaction is given below: * Customer orders an item, web store and the merchant provide an invoice/bill. * Customer offers to pay through credit card and the credit card number is passed on to the bank. The merchant does not access to the credit card number. * The bank verifies the availability often from the credit card issuer and informs the merchant. * The merchant conforms the transaction,[..]

You can help protect yourself from identity theft if you have the right tools and tips. You need to make sure that you have all the right information so that you are not unknowingly putting yourself at risk for identity theft. You must be attentive, careful, and realize what actions must be taken to protect yourself and your credit score as well. Here are some important tips to help reduce your identity theft risk. You may not be able to completely protect your good name from some stranger targeting you for identity theft, but you can lessen the chances. Make habits of the following suggestions to help keep yourself safe. * Shred and destroy all unwanted documents like junk mail and[..]

Beware of this kind of home business opportunity which can cost you a lot of money and get you into deep trouble. In March, 2007, Chris Hansen of Dateline NBC aired a story called "To Catch an Identity Thief" in which a man became victim to an international identity theft ring. What made him a victim was that he lost tens of thousands of dollars in the reshipping of products overseas using his own money. Reshipping fraud is the newest home based business opportunity scam. Home business shippers are promised lots of money if they receive, repackage, and then ship items that were ordered online to a foreign address. What the shipper is not aware of is that the goods were purchased with[..]

The big question is what kind of coverage is provided on your credit card. Some offer basic assistance benefits, while others will build in a medical evacuation program. Remember--the devil is always in the details! Here are questions to ask about your travel insurance coverage on your credit card. 1. What are the details? Always read the fine print. Remember: The big print giveth and the small print taketh away! 2. Who do I contact if I get sick or injured and need coverage? The last thing you want when you are in need of medical care and/or evacuation is a voice message. You urgently need to speak to a live person who specializes in your concerns, not someone in the company who only[..]

Unfortunately, because of the relative anonymity afforded by the internet and due to the relative ease and cheapness with which internet communication can be achieved it has become an increasingly fertile ground for fraudsters. There is even an evolutionary competition going on between email filtering applications and fraudsters' attempts at conning their unsuspecting victims. Below I am going to list some of the most prevalent scams and I will tell you a little of how to recognize the scam and protect yourself from it: - Advance fee fraud (419 fraud) -- This is also sometimes known as the 'Nigerian Scam' which is a confidence trick in which the target is persuaded to advance relatively[..]