Internet security is of paramount importance to all people that buy products online. We all know about identity theft and how it is a growing hazard to all who venture into the world wide web. This section of ayecasher deals with another aspect of internet security that is pertinent to people that buy online.
Until you start buying online it is almost impossible to understand the many ways that internet traders have of accessing your money. In fact the internet in 2008 can be likened to the American Wild West of the nineteenth century in as much as it is still waiting for the honest Sheriff to ride into town and start laying down a few rules for safe living.
When you feel safe with the level of your internet security it is time to start building your own online business. Don't ever make the mistake of rushing in and thinking that you can trust everybody.
The first internet security level is to be cautious in all dealings and understand that many people out there are not as honest as we would like them to be.
Beware making internet payments using a credit card; from time to time we all make purchases online and we usually make the purchase for a reason. Sometimes, however, we purchase a small item for just a couple of dollars and haven?t read the spiel on the over-long sales page that tells us that if they don?t hear from us after 30 days we have agreed to subscribe to a service of some type. I have been buying online for more than ten years now and even with that amount of experience I have recently been caught in the trap; so how somebody that is new to the net can avoid it is a serious internet security problem that should be addressed.
To help you to understand what I am talking about it is best to explain the series of events I refer to and then suggest ways to avoid being caught a similar online security trap.
After receiving an email from one of the better known internet gurus to pay about $2 dollars for access to a site for 30 days: ?Just To See How Good It Is? I ignored the golden rule of understanding before purchasing.
His sales letter, like 99% of sales letters, was just too long and I didn?t have time to read it. The low cost appeared a reasonable price to pay just to see what it was all about. As there was no option offered to pay using the safety of PayPal I gave details of my credit card.
After a few days of checking out the website I decided it was not for me and forgot about it. That all took place almost three months ago.
Yesterday I received a credit card statement and was shocked to see that two payments were taken from the card by the owners of this site. The first for over $102 the second for $27. I telephoned the credit card company to ask who these people were and discovered during that call that the same payments had also been taken on the following month and will show in my next statement. This alerted me to the fact that I had allowed my usual internet security standards to slip.
I instructed the credit card company to stop all future payments to this source and they informed me: ?We cannot do this ? you have obviously entered a contract with this company and must ask them to cease taking money from your card.?
This raises the question of whose card is it? But that is for another article.
The fact of the matter is the credit card company will do nothing to help you if you find yourself in this position. In fact they encourage an insecure internet by handing your right to control your credit card expenditure to a party that is not responsible to pay your bill.
Finally I went to the website of this online guru and using their contact form requested that all future payments from my credit card cease immediately. - That was 24 hours ago and so far I haven?t even had the courtesy of a reply, other than the automatic one sent by auto-responder. So I am assuming that the taking of these payments will cease.
This brings us to the question of what can we do to avoid this situation: It is pointless to say ?pay more attention when reading a long sales page.? Nobody has sufficient time to do that. So here I will state what I propose to do and leave you to make your own decision.
In future I will not deal with any company or person online that do not accept payment by PayPal; regardless how big and well known they may be.
I hope I?m not sounding like a paid ad for PayPal because I am not; but I do believe in giving credit where credit is due. If you pay by Paypal you are able to go online and cancel any subscription that you don?t wish to pay by the simple click of a couple of buttons. Sellers do not get access to your credit card details and if you feel that you are not getting what you pay for PayPal will act as court of arbitration to ensure a satisfactory conclusion.
This raises another question: ?What if I want to buy something and the seller does not have a PayPal option??
In future I will just not buy for two reasons:
a. Any trader can apply for and get an account with PayPal.
b. The only traders that cannot be a member of PayPal are traders that have previously breached rules and are banned from using the service.
Beware making internet payments when you are asked for details of your credit card, alternatively write to your credit card provider and ask what your rights are in a case similar to the one listed here. Never forget the importance of internet security and the first line of internet security is you. You have the choice to deal or refuse to deal. If the internet cowboys stop getting sales other than through a reputable agent like PayPal they will soon join or cease doing business.
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