[TriLUG] (OT) Paypal/eBay Payment Thoughts

[al johson]

Don't everyone forget that the U.S. Postal Service still makes it possible
to safely send money not only in just North America but all over the world.
They have these little certificates that you can send to just about any
country you can name which would allow someone to take that certificate to
THEIR postoffice and get paid money in their currency.
   Also, there are several special internet credit cards which you can
obtain which on the face of it are Visa, American Express or Master Charge
cards, but which which have security features for use on the Internet
(including promises by the issuer that if your card is used fraudently you
will be protected). There is an American Express card, for example, which
gives you a different acct. number to use everytime you make a purchase. If
anyone tries to use that number again it won't be validated. I also have a
Citibank card which can ONLY be used on the Internet and its users are
protected against fraudulent use. The card cannot be run through a credit
card machine because it has no raised numbers on it. So there are lots of
ways to spend your money safely and avoid many of the credit card scams on
the Internet today. Moreover, more of these special cards are being created
as we speak.--AL

----- Original Message -----
From: M. Mueller (bhu5nji) <bhu5nji at yahoo.com>
To: <trilug at trilug.org>
Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 10:11 PM
Subject: Re: [TriLUG] (OT) Paypal/eBay Payment Thoughts


> On Monday 18 March 2002 05:29 pm, you wrote:
>
> > www.paypalsucks.com
>
> It certainly gets you thinking about the downside.  paypal might really
suck
> and I think more because of #1 than any other reason.  #4 is defensible in
my
> opinion because what better way to run a scam than to set up a PayPal
account
> and then have your cronies steal cards and start racking up charges to the
> account?  I would still dislike being the innocent victim of #4, however,
and
> I won't try to discount the possibility of that happening.
>
> Dealing with credit cards and bank accounts and not having a customer
service
> line is a recipe for frustration.  Not having a phone number violates my
#1
> rule of ecommerce - vendor must answer the phone. (I have one exception,
my
> webhost provider Averdata has no phone, but at $2.50/mn, I can live with
> that.)
>
> Now that we know more about the risks, thanks to the website, the risk
> assessment can evolve.  What is the max balance in the TriLUG account?
I've
> heard that it's not that great a sum.  Let's estimate $200 average daily
> balance.  Let's say that some M$ operative steals a credit card and makes
a
> donation to TriLUG using PayPal.  TriLUG's assets are frozen.  Loss =
$200.
> Donation operations are suspended for 3 months.  There is some benefit to
> using a convenience like PayPal and there is the chance that donations
> increase.  What is the value of the benefit from using PayPal (even though
it
> may suck as document)?  Let's say donations increase by $50/mn for 12
months.
> That's a $600 benefit reduced by a $200 loss for a net of $400.  Even with
> low expectations a benefit can be derived.
>
> --
> Mike  M.
>
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>
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