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The rampant use of credit cards, and especially that use compounded by the
secret avenues of the internet, can put the common consumer in a substantially
vulnerable position to become a victim of fraud. Much like computer viruses and
the necessary adjustments made by internet providers, card companies and
merchants are vigilantly combating fraud as it occurs and thinking of new ways
to pre-empt it before it can hit. The cost of fraud is high, over 500 million
pounds in the UK alone in 2004 so finding ways to anticipate and curtail the
damage caused by fraud, is like the credit card industry itself, very big
business.
Everyone wants a piece of the fraud protection trade. Credit card companies
offer their own incentives and programs and advertise them through clever ads
starring Donald Trump, Viking marauders, and unwitting customers channelling the
voices of the thieves who made them victims. Internet sites like Scambusters dot
com and Merchant911 dot com protect consumers and merchants respectively. Often
these services are free, or just provide a forum within which consumers and
merchants can share information regarding recent scams. Even email, which can
easily be harvested for numbers being sent back and forth in transactions, is a
potent medium through which consumers can communicate with each other about
impending threats or even scams in progress. Though the elimination of fraud is
an impossibility, its reduction is possible due to recent innovations in fraud
prevention such as security chips, picture id's and the increasing awareness of
online merchants.
Company databases often unwittingly supply massive amounts of credit card
information to hackers, having conveniently kept it all in one place. Often, the
merchant himself will be responsible for payment of the fraud if it is found
that improper steps were taken to ascertain the purchaser's identity and/or
adequately protect the identity of their consumer's. The purchases most at risk
for fraud are "card not present" purchases. Sites like Merchant911.com list
fraud screening sites like: preCharge, MaxMind, Cardinal Commerce, FraudSmack,
WhyLabs and Merchant Sense all of them offering fraud-screening services to the
merchant community, specifically e-merchants who deal exclusively with "card not
present" scenarios. Consumers have other resources, including identity theft
protection software, many of these offered by ClearCommerce.
Though the dangers of "card not present" shopping are manifold, the convenience
and ease of shopping from home will likely do little to deter even the most
nervous consumer. Though fraud may never be eradicated, online services,
software and common sense go along way towards total protection.
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