Joseph Kenny asked:




It is the latest craze at the moment and everyone seems to be enjoying gambling at home with the increase of poker sites on the internet, but its not good news if you are running up debts on your credit card. I don’t know about you but it seems that I have a misconceived perception of time when I am sitting at my computer; time just seems to fly by. The longer you are gambling on an internet poker site, the more money you are spending.

Online gambling is being seen as pushing up consumer debts and that’s not good for the UK economy. Figures from the government have revealed that the amount of money spent on gambling last year was

Jimmy Roos asked:


Ask any credit card owner what they fear the most and they’re likely to tell you they fear falling prey to a credit card scam.

Although credit scams have been around for as long as we can remember it is especially now with the advent of the internet that they have become a real headache.

The particular danger with online scams is that it may take a while before you notice it; and by that time your credit card may have been totally maxed out, leaving you in a deep dark hole.

Of course, you can proof that you were not responsible for such debts especially if they happened in a far off place where you could not have been.

However such an experience can shake you up so much, that it puts you off buying online for good.

Now one of the most common ways to get sucked into an online scam is through email. The e-mails are so professionally done that people get fooled easily.

These type of scams are called “phishing” and how it works is this. You’ll receive an email which purports to come from your credit card company, while in reality it is not.

The email message will link to a website prepared by the scammers. When arriving at the website you’ll be prompted to enter your credit card details.

The moment you do this you’ll have revealed your credit card details to the scammers who can then go on a shopping spree with your credit card until it’s maxed out.

Hence the best advice I can give anyone is this. Never click on a link in an email from someone you don’t trust, even if it threatens to suspend or close your account. This by the way, is a well-known tactic used by scammers to prompt you into taking the desired action, which is to click on their email link.

One thing to remember is that a real and legitimate business will never ask for your personal details in an email. The best thing to do if you’re at all suspicious about an email you received is to give your credit card company a call. They will quickly be able to tell you if this email is legitimate or not. They will probably give you an email address, so that you can forward the suspicious email to them.



ARTHUR

Richard Greenwood asked:


opping is an excellent way to shop. Huge range of products and stores as well as great prices, there is no doubting it’s a great way to buy things. However, with so many online stores online and new ones popping up all the time, how do you know if sites are legitimate and secure. Here’s what you need to know before parting with your credit card details online.

Shopping online can be a very rewarding experience; you can find a huge number of items online that you would never find in your local mall.

However, the savvy shopper knows how to spot risky eccommerce websites and avoid giving them their personal information, including credit cards. The havoc that can come from giving the wrong website your personal information can be widespread.

One of the best ways to ensure you will have a successful online shopping experience is to make sure that your computer is up-to-date on the latest spyware and technical advances. By downloading this information onto your computer, you will be more likely to spot a problematic site. Your internet security software with anti-virus and spyware detection can help you detect if the website your visiting is trying to place a virus or harmful software onto your computer.

Credit card security is always seeing improvements online. More and more consumers are demanding that their online shopping experience is a positive one. As a result, there are online software solutions that specialize in ensuring that their credit card security is never compromised by hackers.

If you are about to purchase an item online, be sure to see if the website page is “secure” when you enter your personal information. An easy way to check if the website page is “secure” or not is to look at the web address. If the web address begins with http:// then the site is unsecured. However, if the webpage address shows as ‘https’:// the page is secure. You are less likely to experience problems with your online shopping experience if you only type in your personal information on a website page that begins: https://

Another solution for wary online shoppers is to contact the business directly. If you are at all concerned about the business you are about to shop with online, find a phone number and contact the company. A reputable business will have an established customer service center where you can give your personal information to a human being – versus a website page. While your on the phone you can also ask them a few questions about the business such as asking how long they have been in operation, how they secure credit card details and so on. This will help you decide if they are running their online store well and treating credit card security with the importance it deserves.

Finally, a simple and easy way to determine if a website is legitimate is to look and see whether the company has an SSL-certified listing on their website. These symbols indicate that the business offers a secure online shopping experience to their customers. In addition, if you see a BBB (Better Business Bureau) symbol on the website, you will know that these symbols indicate that the company will not engage in illegal credit card fraud.

Keep these tips in mind before you start your next online shopping experience. This way, you can be sure that your personal information will not be accessed by hackers or other online thieves.



ETHAN

thilak asked:


I am just scared that if any person who knows my credit card details like number and address might use it to download online purchases like music or to view porno sites by not revealing his original identity. While processing online purchases are they (credit card providor) asking for passwords. Please help me to solve my doubts.

DEREK

Ernest Paul asked:


So you are a merchant with a website and you wish to process credit cards online because you are aware that credit card processing is the most convenient and most common mode of payment on the internet. Well, first of all, besides your website or online store you need to have a merchant account provider, engage the issuer of the credit cards that you plan to accept as payment, and use the payment gateway services.

Let’s see what actually happens when credit card payments are accepted online.

Now, in order to sell your goods online, you, the merchant, need to have a merchant account and a payment gateway account. When a customer visits your website and decides to buy something he will type in his particular credit card details. The billing information and order details are immediately dispatched to the payment gateway secure server by the online store administrator where they are processed and then sent to the merchant’s acquiring bank. The bank then sends the information to the bank that has issued the credit card in order to get the transaction verified.

Once the verification is made the payment will be either approved or rejected. This response is then forwarded to the merchant’s acquiring bank by the credit card issuing bank and the bank then forwards these transaction details to the payment gateway. If a payment has met with approval, the payment will be deposited into the merchant’s account. The details are then sent back to the website or online store. Then the same information is then presented to the customer, and he is informed that his credit card was charged. If a payment has not met with approval, it will be rejected or denied and the customer will be informed of this, too.

Although this sounds as if it is a lengthy process it is streamlined and takes only a few seconds to be performed.

How much a merchant account and a payment gateway costs can be different depending upon the provider. Of course, you will be expected to pay a one-time set up fee, and you may also be obliged to pay a discount rate for each payment, as well as a minimal fee for each transaction. Again, fees could also be charged on the transaction total, at various processing stages of an online payment. All this normally adds up to but two to three percent of the total charges.

Practically all experienced webmasters all over the world realize the value of online credit card processing and use it to their advantage as it helps to optimize their business. Why don’t you join them?



OLIVER

Abhishek Agarwal asked:


The internet is perhaps one of the most phenomenal barrier breakers when it comes to communication and knowledge. With the internet access to information became global and today information on almost any issue is available online. Also with this came concepts of virtual shops and e-shops that exist only within the net. These websites allow you to use their online credit card payment and acceptance ability. Once they verify and approve your credit card payment, they deliver your order to your doorstep. This is truly convenience at its very best as you do not have to do much than sit at your computer to get what you want.

The number e-shops today are increasing by the dozen and usage of online credit cards is becoming more and more popular. Shopping has received an entirely new dimension with the advent of online credit card payments. Now it is not only possible to shop from home but also get discounts on a variety of products. This is truly amazing. There is no requirement to worry about bad weather and no traffic jams and other hassles. Just go online, visit an e-shop and select your product and use your online credit card payment-acceptance option. Your order will reach you in no time. Another advantage of this card processing facility is that starting an online business has become incredibly easy.

However, there are always ups and downs to everything. One disadvantage of using an online credit card is fraud of online credit card. There are two ways in which this fraud can take place. The first is regarding the company who owns the website on which you made your credit card payment. This company could be a fake company, that is, it might take your payment and not deliver your product. They can also use the details that you fill for payment with fraudulent intentions. Fraudsters who steal online credit card details by using different devices/software cause the second fraud. These details can captured when you supply the site with these for your online payment. These softwares are called spyware and the fraudsters use them for online spying. The spyware either takes screenshots of what you do on your computer or capture keystrokes and then passes this information to a spy. There are, thankfully, many anti-spyware softwares which are available to counter such actions.

Overall, the ability to use online credit cards is a terrific advantage to us. But in doing this, strict caution must be exercised and care should be taken while disclosing details. Do not use internet cafes to make card payments and access bank accounts unless you are positively sure about the reliability of the caf

ROBBIE

sachin k asked:


someone has used my credit card details to do online purchase. guide me how do i handle the case

NATHANIEL

Art Taylor asked:


Now, since we have e-shops and virtual shops we, consumers, are able to make purchases from these online stores using a credit card. This we can do by making use of the online store’s credit card payment approval facility. Once our online credit card payments are accepted and verified, the purchased goods are delivered to our doorstep. This is purchasing convenience at its best.

Having more and more e-shops popping up everyday, online credit card usage is becoming more popular than ever. The option to receive online credit card payments has brought an entirely new dimension to shopping, for both merchants and consumers. Now, you can both shop from the comfort of your home and get discounted products purchased on the internet. This is makes shopping far more pleasurable. Shopping on the internet, you have no need to worry about the weather, traffic jams or other things needed to shop outside your home. Instead you can go to an e-shop, select product/s, and make use of the merchant’s online credit card acceptance and approval facility, to make the payment for your goods. Then, all that is left to do, is wait to receive the products at your doorstep. Online credit card processing also makes starting an online business very easy.

As with almost anything else, credit card usage on the internet is not without its pitfalls. A pitfall of online credit card usage to guard oneself against is the possibility of online credit card fraud. Credit card fraud typically happens in two ways. The first way has to do with the online merchant that you are going to purchase goods from. This merchant may be a fraudulent merchant who takes your online credit card payment, but does not deliver the products to you. Moreover, they could use the credit card details you have put on the credit card payment form, for dishonest purposes. The second kind of fraud is committed by fraudsters who use spyware software and devices to intercept the details of online credit card payments. The spyware software captures keystrokes or takes screenshots of what you do on your computer and sends it to the spy. This type of online fraud is easily managed by using anti-spyware software designed to counter the effectiveness of spyware.

It is readily observed, the advent of online credit card usage gives a very useful purchasing option to consumers and merchants. However, caution must still be exercised when making online credit card payments. And, always remember, don’t access your bank accounts or make online credit card payments from internet cafes, unless you are absolutely sure the internet cafe is reputable and rightly credentialed.



DION