posted on April 28, 2001 02:35:21 PM
A seller has some interesting items that I would like to bid on. They are in Taiwan and have a feedback of 4. The auction states that you can only pay by Visa card by e-mailing them your cc# at auction end. They have multiple bidders. Am I extremely paranoid?
Or are these bidders living on the edge?
T
posted on April 28, 2001 02:41:14 PM
IMHO, they are falling over the edge! I personally would not bid on this auction, no matter how much I wanted the item.
posted on April 28, 2001 02:44:49 PM
NO WAY!! IMHO, any merchant that would actually REQUEST that you send a CC via e-mail is not playing with a full deck, and might not even be legit.
As internet merchants, we are required to maintain fire walls, security on our computers, etc.
posted on April 28, 2001 03:23:23 PM
NONONONO! Everything I've ever read about credit cards on the Internet, warns you should never put your CC# in an email.
posted on April 28, 2001 07:36:24 PM
Folks seem to think that if someone accepts CC they are legit. There have already been a few horror stories. Seller posts digital cameras on ebay. They sell for $100 less than at any internet site. Buyer pays with CC. Seller uses buyer cc to order it from a legitimate site. Since the order is going to the correct address, the account is validated and the item ships. Buyer gives seller good rating. Now more buyers order, this time paying with money orders. A few days later, seller orders several more cameras, using the same credit card but ships it to other buyers or confederates. Since the account has already been validated, merchandise ships. By the time the original buyer gets the bill and realized that he did not get one camera for $100 less, but was charged for 5 cameras at the regular price, it is too late. Seller has already taken a number of folks. And the buyer will definitely have to pay for at least the one that went to him and possible a few more, since charge back protection does not necessarily extend to someone who GAVE his credit card to someone else.
As for sending your CC via email, though it sounds unsafe and is not recommended, articles I have read stated that there is not ONE case where a CC number was stolen from an email. But just to be safe, I always instruct my customers to send it in two pieces, to two different email IDs and with some stray numbers added. Rather be safe than sorry.
posted on April 29, 2001 07:34:43 AM
I still want the thing, and no one else is selling it. But I did not bid and would not consider giving them my cc. It was just surprising how many others were willing.
T
posted on April 29, 2001 08:23:55 AM
Ask them to sign up with billpoint, bidpay or any good on line payment service. I have a lot of people who wish to deal with me direct, so they call or email the cc #.
