Merchant Newsletter - November 19, 2005

Holiday e-cards: the dark side

This guy got the Christmas card with the virus!

 
Watch your mailbox for credit card theft:  Those credit card offers that flood your mailbox are each a potential problem for you. All a crook needs to do is intercept your mail, fill out the form and mail it then wait for the card to be sent to you. Then one day, surprise, you get a huge bill for a credit card that you didn't even know you had.

Several years ago the Consumer Credit Reporting Companies acted to alleviate consumer anxiety and provide a way to put a stop to credit card and insurance solicitation. You know these credit reporting companies as EquiFax, Experian, TransUnion and Innovis. Together they created Optoutprescreen.com so that consumers could send in requests for removal (opt out) from pre-approved credit card and insurance offers. These offers are also referred to as "firm offers" of either credit or insurance. You are also given the choice of opting out for five years or you can opt out of firm offers permanently. If you have already decided to opt out of firm offers and would like to opt back in (hey, it could happen) OptoutPrescreen.com provides a means for that as well. Opting out will not remove you from mailing lists! Don't be alarmed if six months after opting out you still receive credit card offers. What you have opted out of are unauthorized credit checks. A bank can request your credit history without your authorization and then “pre-approve” you for a credit card. This is the "prescreen" part that is the cause of all the problems because this is where the danger lies. It doesn't do a criminal much good to your intercept mail only to find out you were declined.

Optoutprescreen.com  works like this: Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT and you will stop getting credit card applications in the mail. You will be asked for your name, address, phone number and social security number so that you can prove that you are who you say you are. Don't worry about giving them this information. Remember that you initiated the call so you are talking to someone that actually is who they say they are. You can also opt-out online at: https://www.optoutprescreen.com.  Optoutprescreen stops Credit Card Companies from Accessing Your Credit History

Many people have wondered if this is a legitimate website and not just a scam itself. While the website is very basic, it is secured by 128bit SSL to protect the information you send. Optoutprescreen.com is actually what it appears to be and that is a way to get off those mailing lists. Yes, they do ask you for your social security number, however, they need to be able to verify your identity.




e-Cards are getting more and more popular these days.  e-Cards can be a handy way to send a quick thank you, sorry, or thinking of you message -- as well as a cheap and easy emergency fix when you forget a special occasion, they can also reduce the stacks and stacks of handwritten cards:

 

Most e-Cards you receive from friends are safe and easy to use. However, since there are quite a few e-Card scams going around right now, we want to help you make sure you don't become an e-Cards scam victim. This is especially important since the holiday season is perfect for e-Cards scams -- Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, and New Years.

One common e-Card scam involves e-Cards that download adware or spyware -- and they get you to agree to this in the fine print when you click saying you accept the Terms of the e-Cards company! 

A legitimate-looking e-Card, once it is clicked and/or downloaded, might actually be spyware or a computer virus.  For example, your computer then may start displaying obscene images, barrage you with pop-up ads, launch adult websites, or start sending bogus e-Cards to those in your address book that appear to come from you.

 


  OSCommerce is completely compatible with merchantanywhere.com credit card merchant accounts

CRELoaded is a version of OSCommerce with a bunch of contributions already added in, some done badly. The standard payment module does not function with CRELoaded, but after installation, if you  change cc_validate1.php to cc_validate.php, it will work.  Also, you may want to change the code so that the module sends the billing, not the shipping address to the gateway.

The new password procedures for Transaction Central are STILL causing some confusion,  but by following a few simple rules, you can easily navigate these new waters.

New security rules are causing merchants to periodically change their passwords.  There is an online interface to do this, here.  Please note that where it says "Check Account", they are looking for, as security, your CHECKING ACCOUNT NUMBER.  Many merchants have mistaken this as a confirmation field, and they re-enter their Merchant ID.

Most importantly, When you change your password, enter it in UPPERCASE as a MiXeD case password will not work with Mobile or PC swiped software products. You need to use at least one number and symbol, here are some examples:

These will work- 
ABCD1234$
$BUCKAROO1
1GOODTIME4$

These will NOT work:
AbCD1234$ (a lowercase letter)
BUCKAROO1 (no Symbol)

 

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Copyright (c) 2004 Advanced Merchant Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
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