Re: [SG] Possible FAQ - Ordering GZG from the States?

On Mon, 15 Jan 2001 14:46:44 -0800 (PST), Michael Llaneza
<imperialdispatches@yahoo.com> wrote:

>All GZG has to do is open a business account (there's a small rake-off,
which
>is how they pay their bills) and presto, 'they' accept credit cards.
This
>simplifies the matter and is far more secure (anyone who can steal one
email
>with a credit card # can steal the two with half each).

I recently used PayPal and it works quite well. However, it's intended
for use
by people who don't usually take credit cards. GZG already does take
credit
cards, which means they take a hit already on credit card orders. Taking
PayPal would mean an extra hit.

As for someone stealing your credit card by e-mail, this is highly
unlikely.
Anyone harvesting credit card numbers is doing it in other ways: hacking
databases, cracking credit card algorithms, stealing unissued numbers,
etc.

In reality, you stand a greater risk of someone on the other end making
use of
your credit card number than of someone stealing an e-mail. It's far
easier,
for instance, to have your credit card number stolen after you've used
it at a
gas station. Thieves will sometimes steal credit card receipts as well
as cash
for this reason.

Finally, credit card companies have been losing sales to debit cards. As
such,
they have been quick to market credit cards as a safe tool for
e-commerce. If
someone steals your credit card number, it's an inconvenience, but you
can
contact your bank and they will cancel the transactions. It won't cost
you. In
some places, such as Canadian banks, you can have a replacement card in
a day
or two, sometimes within hours.

In all honesty, of the various things to worry about, someone stealing
your
credit card number via e-mail is incredibly low. A friend of mine, who
at the
time worked for a bank, had his credit card number stolen and he had
NEVER
made a purchase over the Net with it. 

If Jon is truly concerned that clients may lose their credit card
numbers, he
should look into Pretty Good Privacy and accept encrypted e-mails. For
that
matter, I'm waiting for GZG to -- some day -- set up an actual secure
e-commerce site.

Allan Goodall		       awg@sympatico.ca
Goodall's Grotto:  http://www.vex.net/~agoodall

"Now, see, if you combine different colours of light,
 you get white! Try that with Play-Doh and you get
 brown! How come?" - Alan Moore & Kevin Nolan,