We are all looking for the best deals on the Internet.

How do we tell a great deal from a bogus one? One thing I did learn growing up in different countries and areas of our great country of United States of America is that in the capitalistic setting everyone is trying to make a profit without actually using any ethics or care for the customer. Throughout the years me being a salesperson and a customer, I have seen many companies use great marketing techniques and phone sales pitches to push their product. As the Internet became more popular many retailers jumped on the e-commerce market, which catered to all whom had a plastic credit card and a CVS code. This “e-trend” created a brand new market and an evil playground for credit card fraud. Speaking from personal experience and being a victim of my business identity being stolen I realized how careful you have to be when dealing with merchants in person or on the web.
First thing to remember is to realize that when the deal is too good to be true, it is too good to be true. If you have not seen a price even close to what they are offering you in the store, catalog, or the Internet be vary weary about this merchant.
Second there are what is called Phishing website. What these brilliant criminals do is create a perfect copy of a very popular web sites. Then they buy a list from a list company with the targeted company as criteria. Then they mask the return email to look like its coming from the authentic source. Once you decide to open the email and click on that coded link it will take you to, what I called the “info-black-hole”. This is where any information that you provide inside the form provided is sent to a server that could be in another country and going through a “proxy” server that can hide the thief’s identity. If USA does not have the authority to check logs, records or the company that hosts the server does not cooperate you are basically out of luck.
Third and final lesson for today’s post is not to judge the book by its cover.
There are those really “smart” people that you don’t see during the day, and most likely will not see them at night, because when everyone is sleeping or closed they are lurking
trying to open your “e-wallet” to get your personal information, SSI number, account numbers and passwords. You will be surprised what these people look like. They can be a 12-year-old kid or that transient picking through your garbage can. A rule to follow is “DO NOT TRUST ANYONE WITH YOUR PERSONAL DATA.”
There are plenty of clever ruthless people that will try to prey on the weak and the elderly. Make sure you shred all your documents, statements, anything that has your personal information, account numbers, PIN, passwords.
One of the new comers to change that is http://bargainshaq.com. This site is getting a full work over this weekend and by Monday will be much more organized. Easy to find bargains including various categories and a special section for Super Hot Bargains that will be updated daily.

Please check in now and then for a complete list of merchandise and categories.
http://bargainshaq.com/”

This is Part 1 of a series regarding protecting the consumer from fraud and identity theft.
By,

Vinnie