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eXtropia FAQs
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Sending credit card Iinformation over the Net
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The following is an excerpt from the magazine
Internet World.
Isn't It Unsafe To Send My Credit Card Number Over The
Net?
I always get a kick out of people who are wary of typing their credit
card number in an e-mail message. Many of these people wouldn't think
twice about giving their card number over the telephone to buy flowers
or to order something from a mail-order catalog. And they certainly
wouldn't worry about paing a restaurant ccheck with their card. But the
chances of someone stealing your credit card number are as great -- if
not greater -- in either of those situations than when you send it in an
electronic message.
Think about it: When you give your number over the phone to an operatior
at L.L. Bean, for instance, you don't know who your're talking to. You
trust whoever it is not to buy themsleves a new wardrobe with your
MasterCard. You also can't be sure that someone else isn't listening
in. How many times have you heard other conversations while on the
telphone, thanks to "crossed wires"? How do you know that isn't
happening to you when your're talking to Tracy at Time-Life? And the
problem is compounded if you use a cordless or cellular phone, which
anyone with a police scanner might be able to tap into.
This material originally appeared in Internet World
Volume 6, Number 10, October, 1995; pp. 18.
Copyright 1995 Mecklermedia Corporation, 20 Ketchum Street,
Westport, CT 06880;
(203) 341-2802; info@mecklermedia.com;
http://www.iw.com. All rights reserved.
Reprinted with permission.
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