Modelling Victorian Railways in N Scale
A guide for beginners.

Risky Business - Credit Cards, Mail/Internet Order and Ebay

How to Cruise through it

Do you worry about using a credit card for mail order purchases, internet purchases or Ebay? You ought to. Credit card fraud is real and anyone can be a victim. Here are some thoughts for you to consider. These are my personal opinions, you must make your own judgement. I take no responsibility for any actions you choose to take.

• With many credit card purchases anywhere, you are giving somebody enough details about your credit card for them to make a purchase on your credit card. So credit card fraud can come from anywhere, not just mail order or internet purchases. If that bothers you, cut up your credit card now.
• Signatures are no use.  Hardly anyone looks at it and they ignore it anyway, it only gets in the way of making a sale.
• Dealing with reputable merchants reduces likelihood of fraud.
• When purchasing over the internet, use secure sites only (https rather than http). Avoid putting credit card details in email.
• The safest internet transactions use a method of submitting the transaction to the credit card company at the time of purchase. The merchant doesn't have to retain your credit card details. The merchant probably doesn't even see your credit card details.
• If a merchant provides the facility of you not having to submit your credit card details after the first time you do business with them, this means they have your details on their computer. Trouble can arise if a hacker breaks into a merchant's computer and steals the list of credit card details. You're better off if they don't keep your details - provide the details for each purchase and shorter the time they have your details the better. It may be more hassle to you but it is safer - your choice.
• Paying by cheque is safer but not much use for international transactions. Government BADT tax on accounts with cheque facilities made personal cheque accounts unpopular with many people. BADT tax is long gone.
• The major banks make a fortune for their shareholders by charging fees for anything and everything. I've responded with my feet and taken my money elsewhere. If you shop around, you can find an account with far superior interest rates, cheque facilities and no fees. I've been using HSBC Online Savings account for several years for my daily transaction account and it is still one of the best for this purpose. There are other places that offer better interest for "parking" your money.
• For Ebay purchases, in my opinion, PayPal offers a more secure solution. PayPay are the only people who see your credit card details. You pay them and they pay the seller. The seller never sees your banking details. PayPal, which is owned by Ebay, takes a small commission for the service (from what they pay the seller, not added to the sale price but ultimately must push prices up a little) but I think this is well worth it for the security and peace of mind unless you are dealing with a seller with whom you have high faith, in which case, why are you using Ebay? PayPal is now getting more widespread use beyond Ebay.
• Consider having a separate credit card account with a small credit limit for electronic purchasing, though I don't know how much you can rely on the financial institutions restricting purchases to that limit - they seem to prefer to let you exceed the limit and then charge you for their failure to enforce the limit. Even better, get them to send the bill to your work address so She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed doesn't see how much you spend on model trains.
• Consider a credit card account that has a zero interest period and pay it off in full before interest kicks in. Credit card interest is the most expensive money you can buy. The bank shareholders will love you.

I don't do many transactions over the Internet or Ebay, but I feel quite comfortable with the risks. If you use reputable merchants, it's no more risky than using a credit card to buy petrol.