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Just a quick one. If you're paying or ordering online from anywhere (but particularly firearms/parts suppliers) be aware of where you're sticking your details.

I ran in to one such website the other week with images claiming to be secure, but no such systems in place for security. no encryption whatsoever, and following a discussion with the owner it appears the site fires an email via the form on the website directly to their inbox, where it sits until they process it via the PDQ as customer not present.

This is not good practice and can lead to card details being compromised. I for one would not want my card details sitting in someone's email inbox for any amount of time...

Just be aware of where you submit your card details. Look for padlocks and encrypted connections when asking for sensitive data. Images of "trusted security" or the like are not enough...

^ that's incredible and there is absolutely no excuse for that in this day and age. Fully functioning eCommerce sites with SSL Certs and the like can be had for buttons or almost free if you DIY.

My trade is/was eCommerce so stories like that make me shiver a little!

Kungfugerbil wrote:^ that's incredible and there is absolutely no excuse for that in this day and age. Fully functioning eCommerce sites with SSL Certs and the like can be had for buttons or almost free if you DIY.

My trade is/was eCommerce so stories like that make me shiver a little!

As is mine.

The response from the owner when I told him what he was doing was very bad practice, was basically "I can't afford anything else", which is simply not true.

If you can't afford to provide your customers with adequate security, then you can't afford to trade at all. Wonder if they have business insurance at all, and if they do, would it be exempt for such bad-practice?

In the absolute worst case Paypal costs 3.6% directly to your bank account. A PDQ probabaly costs nearly as much for processes. There's no real excuse.

If i'm ordering from a site that I don't usually use or I have any doubts about I'll only use PayPal - if they don't offer Paypal then I'll go somewhere else.

Yes, I had one online shop tell me their "system was down" and that I should send my debit card information along with a scan of my FAC to them via e-mail!! I've not shopped there since.

Not sure if they are available in the UK, but mail money transfers ( emt )work fantastic.( for the moment at least ) I use emt to send and receive funds all the time.

Direct bank transfers are safer. The point is, putting your sensitive card details into any system online is a risk. Mostly retailers use third party ISO12007 certified third parties whose entire purpose is card security. In this case, and I'm sure a few others. No attempt at security has been made (despite claiming that it is "secure" via the webpage in question).

There are a number of ways to take payments cheaply but securely online. I can't help but think that this retailer is trying to cut a few corners rather than incur the setup fee's of such systems. As mentioned Paypal is dead simple, secure and with a set pricing fee for payments. At the very least you could do it "as a gift" and incur no fee's whatsoever, if both parties are happy with the lack of security.

My issue with this is the blatant lie of promoting a "Trusted Commerce" image via the web and hoping that the customers are ill-informed enough to just go along with it.

I've just been back to the site for the first time since the conversation I had with this vendor a week or so back, they have removed some of the images suggesting it is a secure payment method.

"Secure Website" has disappeared along with an image of a DSS Certificate of Competence that was previously displayed...

The problem for many RFD's and Gunshops is they physically cannot gain merchant banking or card facilities so they have to resort to the likes of PayPal which is on the cusp of contravening the terms of PP dependant on what their specific sales are. Accordingly they have to resort to less ideal means and security is compromised.

Personally I prefer bank transfer or cheque then card over anything else with cash being bottom of the list as it loses half a day to get it paid in.

Don't forget that bank transfer does not offer any guarantee so only do it with people you trust.