Debt horrors over the internet
A credit card gives you the freedom to run up debt without even having to move from the comfort of your armchair. In one computer sitting, you can purchase goods from anywhere in the world, whether it be a handbag from Paris, a designer dress from Rome or even tulips from Amsterdam, simply by disclosing some small details.
Once you have decided on your purchase, you will be asked to provide the long number across the front of your credit card, together with the security verification code on the back. You will also need to provide the full name of the card holder and the start/expiry date of your card.
Once these details have been supplied, your information will be verified and if your details are correct, you will receive an email to inform you that your purchase has been successful. The cost of the goods you have ordered are automatically withdrawn from your credit card and passed over to your seller. Your credit card company will then send you a statement requesting payment of the amount that you borrowed.
It all sounds fantastic but this form of selling is also an easy way for thieves to hijack your account. The information that you provide when you make a transaction is all that a conman would need to make purchases on your card and leave you with devestating debt problems.
Before the advancement of the internet, the only way that a person could use a credit card belonging to someone else was to physically steal it from them. Nowadays the life of a thief has been made much easier as he doesn’t even need to step out of the house, he can simply take the information that you supplied, and use it to his advantage.
The only way to avoid your credit card information from falling into the wrong hands is to buy goods from a seller who has a secure, encrypted merchant account.
Debt Advice News posted on 31/05/2007 07:03:52
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