Friday, July 4, 2008

Review on a post on http://ecommerze.blogspot.com/search/label/Legal --- Bid shilling - a jewellery store fined USD400, 000.

Bid-shilling has been growing in the e-market these years. It is a type of e-auction fraud which the processes that the sellers would “push” the selling price higher themselves if the final bidding does not reach their expectation. This type of fraud is nearly impossible to detect the fraudsters. However, there is some website still invent some sophisticated tools to trait those fraudsters secretly. A number of fraudsters has been send to jail in the past decade.

Although technology is getting better recently, but there is still a lot of shilling fraudsters around us. All bidders who participated in e-auction should pay attention to the current issues. The related e-auction website should take action on those fraudsters in order to secure customers and building trust.

In the cases “Jeweler to Pay $400,000 in Online Auction Fraud Settlement”, the jewelry dealer ask his employees place the bid to inflate the price secretly, their deceptive behavior cause the customers pay extra for the original bidding price. Finally the jewelry dealer is being complaint and fined for USD$400, 000 and barred from participating any e-auction for 4 years.

In my opinion, the barring for that merchant has not solved the problem, that individual still able to create another account to continue his shilling deceptive behavior. He should receive a more serious punishment like jail!

For this issue, eBay has done a good job in controlling. Ebay has installed a number of policies and surveillance tactics aimed at curbing shill bidding.


*review on http://ecommerze.blogspot.com/search/label/Legal

Things to take note to prevent e-auction fraud when a consumer participationg in an e-auction

E-auction is type of business model which the auctions conducted online through internet. There are dynamic pricing changes due to demand and supply relationship at any given time. Actually E-auction is one of the best strategies to test the price of a new product. Although E-auction is convenience, but there is still some fraud occur in E-auction.

Type of E-auction fraud:

- - Bid- shielding: There are fake bidders bid at very high prices and then pull out at the last minute.

- Shilling: Placing fake bids on auction items to jack up the bidding price.

- Fake photos and misleading description.

- Improper grading techniques.

- Selling reproductions

- Failure to pay.

- Inflated shipping and handling cost

- Failure to ship merchandise.

- Loss and damage claims.

- Switch and return.

The method to prevent E-auction fraud

i) User verification: The E-auction website should request bidders to verify their personal id before bidding.

ii) Authentication service: A component of Windows Server operating systems that provides centralized user authentication and authorization, auditing and accounting.

iii) Grading service

iv) Feedback Forum: Set up a forum for all buyers and sellers, all the information or history of any sellers could be acquired through the forum.

v) Insurance policy: The transaction is protected under the insurance of websites or sellers.

vi) Escrow service: The middleman as in transaction between buyer and seller. Escrow service hold the payment or item from one party A until that party has received items from party B. Once the party A receives the item, escrow service just sends the payment or items to party B.

vii) Nonpayment punishment: The punishment to those who escape for paying.

viii) Appraisal services: To better understanding the profile of sellers and buyers.

ix) Physical inspection: Monitoring by the users themselves.

x) Verification: Final verification for the deal.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

E-Government in Malaysia

Electronic government (E-government) is defined as the use of Internet and other digital devices in public sector to deliver services and information.

The implementation of electronic government started since the initiation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) by the Malaysian government. By implementing e-government, it will help to improve the government processes, connect citizens and build interactions with and within the civil society.

Today, there are many opinions regarding the implementation of E-government in Malaysia. Some say, users are not satisfied with the e-government services provided. Others say, Malaysia has a low penetration in terms of e-government usage among their citizens. Malaysia’s online services were barely above the interactive level and the citizen-centric component is only minimally present. Malaysia is categorized under the “Slow Starters” group which means that the e-government implementation in Malaysia is at a slow pace.

There are 5 Conditions to ensure the success of E-Government Implementation in Malaysia:
  1. Usage – widespread public adoption :
  2. Access – wide variety of delivery channel for public access
  3. Equality – reaching to all segments of society
  4. Quicker Roll-out – quick, focused and comprehensive roll-out
  5. Expense – minimal capital outlay
Citizens' adoption is another important issue, because the success and acceptance of e-Government initiatives are dependent on citizens’ willingness to adopt and utilize these services. Some barriers toward adoption of e-government service are Technology and security barriers and Citizen Barriers.

1. Technology and Security Barriers: lack of technical infrastructure - a significant barrier to the development of government organizations ’ capabilities to make available online services and transactions.

2. Citizen Barriers: little is known about how consumers distinguish and estimate electronic service release.

The underlying criteria for evaluating security in e-government are based on the common security principles which are: Availability, Integrity of Data and System, Confidentiality of Data and System, Accountability, Assurance, and Trust. This research will Identify and analyze the factors that affect the adoption of e-government services that will successes e-government Implementation, Characterize the barriers of citizen adoption of electronic service, and The final objective of this study is to implement conceptual framework that successes the adoption of e-government services.

Some Malaysian e-government websites:
  1. Malaysia Trade And Industry
  2. Road Transport Department (JPJ)
  3. Majlis Perbandaran Kajang (MPKJ)
  4. Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara (JPN)
  5. Immigration Department
  6. IPTA

-Joel Vergis-

Review of Local E-Comerce Site

*Updated Post

The website I have chosen to review is Noel. This is a website that specializes in gifts and flowers for various occasions.

Here is a video walkthrough of Noel.com.my:

*Noel.com Main Page


This website has a large selection of flowers as gifts, yet, Blooming has much more variety and is much more customizable. I would even come to the conclusion that Blooming's main competitor in the e-commerce scene is Noel.

Being a gift website, Noel does not have many choices of practical gifts that I could actually give to my friends and family members. Most of their array of gifts are very exotic in nature. Hence, they are not suitable to be given just to anyone. However, if a last-minute purchase needs to be made, and you don't have any idea what to get, this website is an excellent choice.

Another thing that I couldn't help but notice was that most of the products offered are focused on the 'Valentine's Day' market, because they are very 'lovey-dovey' in nature and have many flowers and cute soft toys, etc. for purchase.

They also have a large selection of cakes. In my opinion, SecretRecipe has a better selection of cakes to choose from. Therefore, we can assume that Noel is focusing on a one-stop solution for gifts in general, hence, it does not have a wide variety of products to choose from.

-Joel Vergis-

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies.

Blogs were born from the need to easily publish personal voices online. Blogs, by the nature of the medium, encourage casual banter and informal language. Unlike Web sites, which are crafted and branded and carefully planned out to be "on message," the daily journal format of a blog produces more vulnerability from its authors. In marketing terms, a blog can bring a human personality to a faceless company, which can create a connection between the corporation and the client. This can lead to deeper loyalty and richer feedback.




A corporate weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. A conversation going on the company, for internal communication or for community building.
There is scope – even if limited – for using corporate blogs.
For example, a company could keep a customer relationship blog as a forum for discussing products. CEO blogs can be used as an instrument for business agenda-setting or image-building. Before a corporate blog is established the responsible parties must address various strategic issues in order to decide on the practicality of the tool:

1. Is a blog a good fit for the company, its targets and its culture?

As blogs can sometimes be very provocative, they may not be compatible
with a company’s image.

2. As regards content, limitations arise – especially for listed companies.
The content of a blog has to comply with legal and regulatory standards.
From the reader’s standpoint, this substantially dims the attractiveness of
CEO blogs in particular.

Even if companies decide against running a corporate blog, the topic should
stay on their agenda with a view to developments going forward. Companies
should keep track of how their image fares in the “blogosphere”, the new
communications arena. This is underpinned by the argument that
substantial reputational risks can emerge if the companies misjudge the
rapidly formed opinions in the blogosphere.

In companies employees will inevitably start blogging as private individuals
one day. For this reason, companies require a clear blogging policy.
Besides setting guidelines for employees blogging privately, it should also set
out rules saying how employees are allowed to blog on behalf of the
company.

5 most popular corporate blog:



1. Yahoo!



2. Dell



3. General Motors



4. Google



5. Kodak

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Credit Card Debts: Causes And Prevention

Credit card debt is an example of unsecured consumer debt, accessed through ISO 7810 plastic credit cards.

Debt results when a client of a credit card company purchases an item or service through the card system. Debt accumulates and increases via interest and penalties when the consumer does not pay the company for the money he or she has spent.

The results of not paying this debt on time are that the company will charge a late payment penalty (generally in the US from $10 to $40) and report the late payment to credit rating agencies. Being late on a payment is sometimes referred to as being in "default". The late payment penalty itself increases the amount of debt the consumer has.

When a consumer has been late on a payment, it is possible that other creditors, even creditors the consumer was not late in paying, may increase the interest rates the consumer is paying. This practice is called universal default.

There is NO positive side to credit card use. You will spend more if you use credit cards. Even by paying the bills on time, you are not beating the system! But most families don't pay on time. The average family today carries $8,000 in credit card debt according to the American Bankers' Association.

Here are a few videos taken from the Documentary 'Maxed Out':


credit cards, credit card debt

Causes:

When you pay cash, you can "feel" the money leaving you. This is not true with credit cards. Flipping a credit card up on a counter registers nothing emotionally. If you use credit cards instead of cash you will spend 12-18% more.

Prevention:

Personal finance is 80% behavior. You need to cut out habits that make you spend more. You do not build wealth with credit cards. Use common sense. When you play with a multi-billion dollar industry and you think you're going to win at their game, you are naive. You cannot beat the credit card companies.

-Joel Vergis-

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Mobile payment systems in Malaysia: Its potential and consumers'adoption strategies

Mobile payment is the collection of money from a consumer via a mobile device such as mobile phone, Smartphone, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) or other such device.

There have two primary models for mobile payment: Premium SMS based transactional payments and Mobile web payment (WAP). Mobile payment can be used to pay any number fees of digital or physical goods, such as videos, ringtones, games, wallpapers, books, magazines, tickets and other goods. Mobile payment service is developing fast recently in Malaysia. It will work best in those areas where it can emphasize the core virtue of mobile networks-convenience.

WAP is consumer uses web pages displayed on their mobile phone to make a payment. This process is quicker than premium SMS based transactional payments for digital content and also enables the sale of physical goods.


In the following, some benefit that consumer make payment through mobile payment system:

  1. Follow-on sales where the mobile web payment can lead back to a store or to other goods the consumer may like. These pages have a URL and can be bookmarked making it easy to re-visit or share with friends.
  2. High customer satisfaction from quick and predictable payments
  3. Ease of use from a familiar set of online payment pages

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

The application of pre-paid cash card for consumer


Pre-paid cash card is a card that works exactly like a credit card, but in condition that money must be deposited or reload in it first before using. This allows customers better monitor and budget usage. Pre-paid cash card included debit card, prepaid credit card and stored value card. A debit card is issued by a bank to allow consumers access to their funds without going to bank. Debit card can be multipurpose, customers can use it as payment method at merchant locations or ATM card for withdrawing cash. Stored-value card is similar with debit card, the major difference between debit card and stored-value card is debit cards need a bank account and usually issued in the name of individual account holder, while stored value cards are anonymous. The value associated with the card can be accessed through using magnetic stripe, RFID or enter code number. An example of stored-value cards is Malaysians’ Touch & GO cards.

Application of pre-paid cash card for customers

  • Those customers who have poor credit record may not be eligible for credit card but they are able to apply for debit cards.
  • Paying bills.
  • Safer for consumers for bringing a pre-paid cash card rather than carry cash.
  • Visa and MasterCard are worldwide.
  • Don’t worry about paying a credit card bill and avoid incurring any debt.
  • Anyone who over age of 18 is qualified to apply debit and be accepted without fulfill the qualification of applying credit card.
  • Easy to reload or deposit eg. Through online, mobile money or any ATM.
  • Withdraw cash from ATM.
  • It is suitable for Internet transaction. It provides customers convenience to make purchases online.
  • Parents could better manage their kids’ financial problem by limited amount in the debit card as well as provide convenience to younger people and avoid getting into debt.

Monday, June 23, 2008

Electronic Currency

*Updated
Definition:

money or scrip which is exchanged only electronically. Typically, this involves use of computer networks, the internet and digital stored value systems. Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and direct deposit are examples of electronic money. Also, it is a collective term for financial cryptography and tech
nologies enabling it.

Many systems will sell their electroni
c currency directly to the end user. Some examples are such as Paypal and WebMoney, but other systems, such as e-gold, sell only through third party digital currency exchangers.

Some examples of Electronic Currency:

1. PayPal




2. neteller





3. WebMoney





4. Goog
le Checkout






5.
Microsoft Points








Global Digital Currency Association


The Global Digital Currency Association (or GDCA) is a trade association of electronic money operators, digital currency exchangers, merchants and users.

Future evolution of E-Currency:

The main focuses of digital cash development are

  1. being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards; and
  2. linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means
Theoretical developments in the area of decentralized money are underway that may rival traditional, centralized money. Systems of accounting such as Altruistic Economics are emerging that are entirely electronic, and can be more efficient and more realistic because they do not assume a zero-sum transaction model.

Issues/Problems Faced:

The transfer of digital currencies raises local issues such as how to levy taxes or the possible ease of
money laundering. There are also potential macroeconomic effects such as exchange rate instabilities and shortage of money supplies (total amount of digital cash versus total amount of real cash available, basically the possibility that digital cash could exceed the real cash available). These issues may only be addressable by some type of cyberspace regulations or laws that regulate the transactions and watch for signs of trouble.

-Joel Vergis-

Friday, June 20, 2008

The threat of online security: How safe is our data?


The advance technological is improving and changing in our world. Many things can be done through internet, such as search information, download, online banking and chat with friend. So, computer becomes part of their life of students, even or workers. Besides, computer became the best place to store information and data. However, it also raises the issue that hacker who create virus or tools to hack into computer in order to get our confidential data. Those hackers normally spread the viruses through e-mail attachment and normally those viruses are being hid by hacker inside the documents.

Another virus can be generally categorized into Trojan horse, virus, worm, spyware and etc. Those viruses can attack our computer through the internet easily. The remote attacker can enter the computer undetected, when the user is online, to access or destroy any information stored. Alternatively, the Trojan can be programmed to automatically send any information on our PCs back to the attacker. This could include,

  • Client or customer information or other business data
  • Credit card details
  • Passwords for access to your online bank, ISP or web services
  • Information you would rather remain hidden
  • Email addresses, which may be used for spamming
  • Children's names, photographs, ages or other personal details held on the computer
  • Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attack on other computers via the victim's computer

Among those viruses, virus or worm can,

  • Disable the computer
  • Add, modify or delete files or reformat the hard disk
  • Steal addresses held in our computer to send on virus-infected emails to our friends, colleagues, clients or customers
  • Send unsolicited bulk email (spam) to those in our mail address books and other users.

Having read through the computer Internet security risks, you'll now know some of the many dangers you're facing as soon as you go online. Our personal information and data remains as secure as possible.

How to safeguard our personal and financial data?

We live in an increasingly online world. Many transactions can be done through internet, such as online banking, booking, buying, auction and etc. However, it raise the issues that hacker who to hack into computer in order to theft those confidential data. So, keeping our personal and financial data as secure as possible. In the following, some guidelines learn to keep our private personal and financial data safe online.
1. Choose your PIN wisely
. While we want to choose something we’ll remember, we don’t want it to be something that a clever thief could figure out just by learning our birth date or your child’s name. A combination of uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols will offer us more security.
2. Secure network
. If we have a wireless network at home or workplace, make sure that it is secure. A hacker can gain access to anything you do over an unsecured network in a matter of seconds. If we look at the documentation for wireless router, we’ll be able to find out how to lock router and encrypt our information. It won’t affect the way we use wireless network, but it will keep intruders from getting a hold of info.
3. Don’t reuse passwords
. As tempting as it may be to reuse passwords, it’s a really good practice to use a different password for every account we access online. This way, if someone does find out what our password is for one credit card, they won’t also be able to access our checking, brokerage and email accounts. It may take a little more organization to use different passwords for each site, but it can help marginalize the effects of unauthorized access to your accounts.
4. Don’t put private information on public computers
. If we’re away from home, make sure not to save private information onto a computer used by the public. If we’re accessing a private account at the library or cyber cafĂ©, make sure to log out completely from our accounts, and never choose to save login information (like username or password) on these computer.
5. Protect computer’s security. Use as many tools as you can to guard our computer information from the nefarious. Failing to protect our computer is just as bad as leaving your door unlocked, your windows wide open, and a sign on the mat, saying, “Burglars, come on in.”

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Review of 'Internet Security' from My E-Commerce blog

I have chosen to review the post on :
Firstly, I'd like to say that this post is very brief, and direct to the point. However, it is merely summarising the actual news story as it happened in Singapore. It did not give the whole article reported in newspapers. Secondly, although the source was referenced, it was not adequately referenced. Here are some websites that I have found, containing the news excerpt, and other reated stories:

  1. http://www.itconsulting.com/news/singapore-misuse-crime-011707/
  2. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/infotech/view_article.php?article_id=31954
  3. http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/Report-Singapore-teen-faces-3-years-jail-for-tapping-intoanothers-wireless-Internet/2006/11/11/1162661936948.html
  4. http://www.zdnetasia.com/news/security/0,39044215,61982282,00.htm
  5. This is a related post, which contains other examples of such cases:
  • Here is a YouTube video regarding the above news story:


*Please view from 1:38-1:59


Next, the term 'Computer Misuse Act' was not clearly defined although it was stated in the article. Here are some references regarding the definition of 'Computer Misuse Act':

  1. http://www.thinkcentre.org/article.cfm?ArticleID=2229
Here is a video from YouTube regarding the Computer Misuse Act:



The question posed at the end of the post is very intellectual in nature, and helps us think from various perspectives: legal, political, social (a minor was convicted). Although the question was a very good one (Who's responsibility to secure the home WIFI systems? Owner or Service Provider?), yet there were no suggestions on the part of the blogger concerned. It was 'left hanging' so to speak. Therefore, I would like to attempt to answer the question posed. In my opinion, HOME WiFi systems are the responsibility of the home owner. The Service Provider cannot, and should not be held responsible for breach of Wireless Network setup by a home user.
As a Wireless Internet consumer myself, I have noticed that harware manufacturers today, such as Aztech & Linksys, and many others, have made it simple enough for any home user to setup his or her 'Security Enabled' Wireless Network with very few & simple steps.

Linksys WRT54G - One of the most famous & Award-winning Wireless Routers

Some problems/issues that could be faced as to the innocence of one convicted under the Computer Misuse Act are such as a Wireless Network from others which is not security-enabled can be automatically accessed, unknowingly by a person who has his own Wireless Modem, thinking they are using their own line. They could be convicted, not knowing what they have done!

-Joel Vergis-

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Phishing - Examples and its prevention methods

Phishing is defined as a criminal or fraudulent action which through e-mail, instant message, link manipulation, filters evasion, website forgery or phone phishing. The purpose of “phisher” is to steal others' usernames, password, and credit card details.


Examples,

The example of phishing e-mail shown as above is targeting Paypal users. The spelling mistakes in the e-mail and the presence of an IP address in the link (visible in the tooltip under the yellow box) are both clues to prove that is a phishing attempt. The e-mail above lack of personal greeting, other signs that the message is a fraud are misspellings of simple words and the threat of consequences such as account suspension if the recipient fails to comply with the message’s requests.



Some phisher show official-looking logos from real organizations or identifying information taken from legitimate website in their pop-up windows. The example above show a deceptive URL addresses that links to a scam website. It could be a phony scam site or pop-up window that looks like the official site. Once you are at one of these “spoofed” websites, you might unveil your personal information accidentally.

Some phrases like “Verify your account”, “If you don’t respond within 48 hours, your account will be closed”, “Dear Valued Customer” and “Click the link below to gain access to you account” might trigger you to send your personal information to the con artists.


There are some methods to prevent phishing (anti-phishing):
1)
Be suspicious of any e-mail with urgent requests for personal financial information.

Phishers always will show some upsetting phrases to make victims react immediately in order to acquire their information. Beware of any suspicious e-mail unless the email is digitally signed.

2) Don't use the links in an email, instant message, or chat to get to any web page if you suspect the message might not be authentic or you don't know the sender or user's handle.

3) Avoid filling out forms in e-mail messages that ask for personal financial information.

4) Always ensure that you're using a secure website when submitting credit card or other sensitive information via your Web browser.

The yellow lock near the bottom of the screen usually is considered as another indicator that you are on a 'safe' site. It will display the security certificate for the site when double-clicked it. Don’t continue if the displayed does not match the certificate.

5) Remember not all scam sites will try to show the "https://" and/or the security lock. Get in the habit of looking at the address line, too. Were you directed to PayPal? Does the address line display something different like "http://www.gotyouscammed.com/paypal/login.htm?" Be aware of where you are going.

6) Consider installing a Web browser tool bar to help protect you from known fraudulent websites. These toolbars match where you are going with lists of known phisher Web sites and will alert you.

For examples, Internet Explorer version 7 and EarthLink ScamBlocker.

7) Regularly log into your online accounts.

8) Regularly check your bank, credit and debit card statements to ensure that all transactions are legitimate.

9) Ensure that your browser is up to date and security patches applied.

10) Always report "phishing" or “spoofed” e-mails to the following groups: