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

Auction is market mechanism by which buyers make bids and sellers place offers. It is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final price is reached. Auctions can rapidly disposal of items that needs liquidation or a quick sale, they offer trading opportunities for both buyers and sellers that are not available in conventional channels and they ensure cautious execution of contracts.

The largest Internet auctioneer is eBay which has introduced several measures in an effort to reduce fraud. Following are the action to prevent e-auction fraud:

User identity verification such in IC number, driver’s license number or date of birth. For example, verified eBay user, the voluntary program, encourages users to supply eBay with information for online verification.Authentication service. It is to determine whether an item is genuine and described appropriately. It difficult to perform because their training and experience, experts can detect counterfeits based on subtle detail.Grading services which is a way to determine the physical condition of an item, such as ‘poor quality’ or ‘mint condition’. Different item have different grading systems.Feedback forum. It allows buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. It provides user with ability to comment on their experiences with other.Insurance policy. For example, eBay offers insurance underwritten, users are covered up to $200, will with a $25 deductible. The program is provided at no cost to eBay user.Escrow services. Both buyers and sellers in a deal are protected with an independent third party. Buyer mails the payment to escrow services which verifies the payment and alerts the seller when everything checks out. An example of a provider of online escrow services is i-Escrow. Non-payment punishment. To protect sellers, a friendly warning for first-time nonpayment. A sterner warning is for second-time offense, with a 30 day suspension for a third offense and an indefinite suspension for a fourth offense.Item verification which is a way of confirm he identity and evaluate the condition of an item. Third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means. For example, some collectors have their item “DNA tagged” for identification purpose. It provides a way of tracking an item if it charges ownership in future.

Review a local e-commerce site

The Optima Innovations (http://www.optima.com.my/) is one of the e-commerce sites that represent a total web and multimedia agency that helps companies establish,maintain and grow thier presence on the World Wide Web.It helps companies reduce time to web and to address opportunities in the growing Internet world to meet company’s unique requirements. There are four solution included:

• e-Commerce
• Web Site Design
• Web Applications Development
• Interactive Multimedia Design

For e-commerce, there are various strategies that Optima Innovation uses to achieve it such as keyword research, web design, shopping cart, online payment, tracking, traffic generation, and search engine optimization (SEO). All of these can help clients effectively sell their products and services on the internet.

Web Site Design is assist in the client's web site design and development needs,whether that person is starting from scratch or whether already have a web site that needs further improvement. Optimal Innovations also provided a web site design gallery section for some of their past projects which will give some person who interest on it a better ides on how their design will assist for the particular person’s needs.

Web Application Development is to provide clients with reliable and practical solutions. It uses latest web technology. Each web site is unique and able to provide customized solutions to meet the client’s specific requirements. For examples some applications developed by Optima Innovations were Content Management System (CMS), Online Ticketing System (OTS), Forum and others.

Interactive and Multimedia include the multimedia presentations ranging from corporate CD-ROMs, corporate videos, product launch animations, product demos, multimedia shows and rich media advertisement.

Multimedia Development Corporation Sdn Bhd said that there are estimated only 7% of businesses in Malaysia have started online sales. The growing population of online shopping households combined with retailer innovations and site improvements will drive e-commerce to account for an increasing percentage of total retail sales.

A review on a post on legal from my E-Commerce blog

I had reviewed the post ‘UK to get tough with illegal downloader’. These days, people are always downloading copyrighted works like software, music, movies and games. The downloading underground for movies continues to grow. Common knowledge says that downloading copyrighted material is illegal and unethical.

Peer to peer file sharing programs, the most common method of music downloading today, are easily accessible and blur the line between copyright and open source and free material. So, downloader has no way of knowing what music is legal and what is copyrighted. It is practically impossible to enforce a sanction against the downloader.

Many young people see unauthorized music, movies and games are harmless and don’t fully understand its consequences. Illegal downloading presents a serious issue on entertainment industry and can be lead to less earning to the industry every year. By changing the people's behavior could be a welcome boost to the music industry which is going through some very troubled times. Illegal downloads could have negative consequences for your company’s computer. For example, if you use pirated software on your company's computer, the company may be held liable. Malware could be installed on you PC without your knowledge or explicit consent or it could be bundled with a program you intend to download.

UK government is working on a new law to have this illegal downloader's internet connection to be cut off. Under the new proposed new law, action will be taken against the users who use their account to access pirated material by the internet services provider. By this way, illegal downloading can be reduced.

A review on a post on e-tailing from my E-Commerce blog

Touch n Go card, famous for its usage as a pre-load cash card used mainly for transportation and toll collection, is now expanding their applications and services towards the retail purchase, starting with particularly the fast-food industry.

Due to e-tailing being such a widespread phenomenon, the competition is very competitive. The growth of e-tailing has created many advantages in ways to save money and provide convenience way to consumer. I had reviewed a post on e-tailing: Using Touch ‘n Go card to buy fast food in Malaysia will be a reality. We can buy such items from 21 outlets in the Klang Valley under a pilot scheme for the Touch ‘n Go card which is currently a toll, public transport and parking paying device. The outlets are from A&W, Burger King, Dunkin’ Donut, 7-Eleven, Carrefour hypermarkets, Caltex convenience stores and Cineleisure.

This would be good news to me and also to the customer. No need to carry cash and coins, just one Touch ‘n Go. Imagine buy fast food using Touch n’ Go, so convenient, just touch it and you can enjoy your food. Don’t have to worry even u has forgotten to bring money, as long as u have Touch ’n go card with you. Now we also no need to anxious when there are no parking lot and cant buy the food we want. Touch ‘n go help us solve this problem. The card is just like our touch ‘n go card and you need to give your card when u purchase fast food. This service can benefit the people who are in hurry and the card could also be a good way of controlling children's spending as this could be their one card from taking public transport to buying their lunch or snacks.

Electronic Currency

Electronic currency also know as electronic money, electronic cash or digital currency. It refers to money which is exchanged only electronically. Normally, it involves use of computer networds, the internet and digital stored value systems. For example, the Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and Direct Deposit. It is also a collective term for financial cryptography and technologies enabling it. Nowadys, many companies that provide onlie payment can make through the electronic currency.

Besides, it is being able to use it through a wider range of hardware such as secured credit cards and linked bank accounts that would generally be used over an internet means, for exchange with a secure micropayment system such as in large corporations (Paypal). Paypal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfer to be made through the Internet.

Electronic currency can provide many benefits such as convenience and privacy, increased efficiency of transactions, lower transaction fees, new business opportunities with the expansion of economic activities on the Internet. Although it have a lot of benefits but there are many potential problems with the use of it. One of the problems is the happen of the fraud. If a consumer somehow misplaces his private key and a perpetrator uses it to withdraw funds, the bank would never jnow and the consumer would be liable. For example, credit cards have limited the consumer’s liability for unauthorized activity to a certain amount. It is important to protect our security from the hacker. Although fraud is a potential drawback of electronic currency, this risk is no greater than the traditional forms of payment.

Thus, electronic currency is important as a payment through the Internet and is should be secure by the good security system.

Credit Card Debts : Causes and Prevention

From my personal knowledge of the credit card, it serves as if it was money and it would accumulate total money spent as debt when a client purchases an item or service by using this card. Debt increases as a result of interest and penalties are accumulated when the client does not pay the company the debt on time or dragging the payment. However, credit card was said to have bad operating system as it does not add interest to the respective debt precisely especially those late payment. In other words, it could be considered as a low-secured alternative of money.

Now I would like to share with you all about the causes and prevention for the credit card debts.

Causes:

Poor money management. A monthly financial plan is essential. Without it you have no idea where your money goes. You may be spending money unnecessarily and excessively each month and end up with bearing of heavy debt where interest is added in. Planning is not difficult as it involves reconciliation of your expenditure made and planned expenditure by taking your income into the planning. Gambling could be addictive, hard to stop and loans are easily available. Gambling is subject to high uncertainty and it might cause you to use credit card to solve your debt when being pressured by creditors. Saving too little or not at all, the simplest way to avoid unwanted debt is preparing for unexpected expenditures by saving money to support three to six months of living expenses. With a savings cushion in place, a job layoff, illness or divorce will not cause immediate financial strain and increase debt. You always hear, "Pay yourself first." Do it and it will grow and be there when you need it. No one has ever regretted having a savings cushion. No communication of financial matters. It is important to communicate with your spouse or significant people and your children about financial matters. Keep the communication going on and discuss financial goals and spending styles with them Financial Illiteracy. Many people don't understand how money works and grows, how to save and invest for a rainy day, or even why they should balance their checkbook. The schools don't teach it, your parents may not have sat you down and explained it. It doesn't matter. You are responsible for your life and your money anyway. Financial mistakes are increasingly expensive and complicated to resolve. Get educated and get in control.

Prevention of the credit card debt:

Photocopy the credit card offer, including the interest rate and terms. Create a letter to your credit card companies stating that you are thinking of switching to their competition because they are offering a far more reasonable interest rate. Credit card companies do not want to lose your business. Nine times out of ten they will match or even offer a lower rate than the competition has offered. If you can afford it, pay doubles the minimum payment. The minimum payment usually pays just enough to cover the interest and a little more that pays down the balance. Paying extra will pay your balance more quickly. Pay off smaller balances first. It is common for a person to try to focus on their cards with larger balances first. Pay off the smaller ones. It will take less time and you will feel a sense of satisfaction when you have actually completed your goal. This will boost your confidence and make it easier to tackle the higher balances. If you have equity in your home, look into paying off credit card debt with a refinance or fixed-rate home equity loan. Do not use a home equity line of credit, the rates will rise as the prime rises and suddenly you may find it impossible to keep up with your bills.

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

In Malaysia, mobile payment system is still considered a new system, however this system it is already very common in Japan. Mobile payment system in Malaysia is called Mobile Money and it was launched by Malaysia’s richest man, Mr Koay(Sugar King).The query is what is Mobile Money ?

Mobile Money system is:

1) A system allows users to pay bills by using hand phone via SMS (short message service) such as telephone bill, electricity bill, income tax.

2) Besides that, it is also a system functioning similar to credit card as we could make direct payment via hand phone when we purchase goods during shopping.

3) Additionally, it allows transferring of funds between users’ bank accounts via hand phone provided both sides have registered the system. For example, we could transfer money from our account to friend’s account when they need money urgently and withdraw it immediately at any nearby ATM machines.

4) This system is also very user-friendly as you can pay your bills anywhere anytime as its operating 24 hours by using hand phone.

Above definition is giving you briefly an idea about Mobile payment system in Malaysia (Mobile Money)

Now I would like to share my ideas about the implementation strategies of the mobile payment system in Malaysia.

The system implementation strategies:

1) This system communicates your bank account, Mobile Money bank account and your hand phone.

2) Next, funds need to be transferred to the Mobile Money company bank account from our bank account and the company will convert it into mobile money form and SMS to your hand phone. For example, you bank in RM 100 to Mobile Money Company then the company will send u a SMS.

3) In the SMS, the amount of money is displayed and you can use the money to pay any bill by sending SMS to certain number or operator. You can also buy reload card for Maxis, Digi and Celcom by using particular phone number