[ic] RE: Interchaneg & Credit Card Numbers...

[Jim Balcom]

On Sun, 4 Nov 2001, Anton Vandeplas wrote:

AV>>Apparently you think that everybody is out to steal CC numbers. Won't it be
AV>>easier to look around in restaurant, gas stations etc. to collect numbers
AV>>than to try to hack into a server?
AV>>
AV>>And why do you think that my company is collecting CC numbers and not
AV>>encrypt them? Will you be the hacker to try and find out?
AV>>
AV>>How somebody handles security over the Internet is for everybody himself
AV>>like some people don't keep an eye on their wallets. When you order
AV>>something on the Internet with a CC you never know what that person might do
AV>>with your card :-)

Anton, I've got a 'Visa Card' on a bank that I rarely used on line or over
the phone. I used it exactly 3 times. (I usually use either American Express
or a card on another bank for transactions when the card is not present.)

On October 10th last year there was suddenly $475 missing out of my checking
account. Someone had used my card number to set up an account at PayPal and
had taken my $475 for their own use. I had noticed it withon a day of them
doing it and got the card number cancelled.

For reasons that I don't understand, because this was a 'Check Card' and not
a true credit card, the bank was unable to take any action for 60 days. At
that time they gave me a provisional gredit and 45 days later they made it
permanent. I lost the use of $475 for 60 days.

I've become a LOT more sensitive to credit card security over the internet.

Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express are putting a whole different
slant on CC# theft over the internet than CC# theft from a restaurant, etc.

When you are dealing with security issues you have to assume that everyone
around you is a crook and work from there.

The bottom line here is that if you compromise a CC#, the issuer is going to
crucify you and they will remove your ability to accept their card. It's
difficult to do business without a merchant account. I went through that for
3 years after I did a buddy a favor and processed a charge for a carpet
cleaning that he did for a customer.


-= Jim =-

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