The rampant use of credit cards, and especially that use compounded by the secret avenues of the internet, can put the common consumer in a substantially vulnerable position to become a victim of fraud. Much like computer viruses and the necessary adjustments made by internet providers, card companies and merchants are vigilantly combating fraud as it occurs and thinking of new ways to pre-empt it before it can hit. The cost of fraud is high, over 500 million pounds in the UK alone in 2004 so finding ways to anticipate and curtail the damage caused by fraud, is like the credit card industry itself, very big business.

Everyone wants a piece of the fraud protection trade. Credit card companies offer their own incentives and programs and advertise them through clever ads starring Donald Trump, Viking marauders, and unwitting customers channeling the voices of the thieves who made them victims. Internet sites like Scambusters dot com and Merchant911 dot com protect consumers and merchants respectively. Often these services are free, or just provide a forum within which consumers and merchants can share information regarding recent scams. Even email, which can easily be harvested for numbers being sent back and forth in transactions, is a potent medium through which consumers can communicate with each other about impending threats or even scams in progress. Though the elimination of fraud is an impossibility, its reduction is possible due to recent innovations in fraud prevention such as security chips, picture id's and the increasing awareness of online merchants.

Company databases often unwittingly supply massive amounts of credit card information to hackers, having conveniently kept it all in one place. Often, the merchant himself will be responsible for payment of the fraud if it is found that improper steps were taken to ascertain the purchaser's identity and/or adequately protect the identity of their consumer's. The purchases most at risk for fraud are "card not present" purchases. Sites like Merchant911.com list fraud screening sites like: preCharge, MaxMind, Cardinal Commerce, FraudSmack, WhyLabs and Merchant Sense all of them offering fraud-screening services to the merchant community, specifically e-merchants who deal exclusively with "card not present" scenarios. Consumers have other resources, including identity theft protection software, many of these offered by ClearCommerce.

Though the dangers of "card not present" shopping are manifold, the convenience and ease of shopping from home will likely do little do deter even the most nervous consumer. Though fraud may never be eradicated, online services, software and common sense go along way towards total protection.

The author is owner & operator of several successful credit sites. For more info & resources visit: Bad Credit Credit Cards or: Credit Cards For Bad Credit

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