Hot Deals are a steal

Watching a documentary on shoplifting on the Discovery channel was shocking. As a retailer I understood theft is an ongoing never ending issue. I did not understand how big of an issue shoplifting is. It really is killing business for some people. People struggle to make sales only to have the five finger discounts walk away with any profit.

The real problem is that most people are unaware that the great deal they are getting on eBay, some online stores, flea markets and even some discount stores started off on a store shelf. How can an honest person know what was stolen? A seller of stolen product is going to strive for a golden reputation, great feedback and a very professional image just like those who are not selling stolen product.

What can the average person do? Think before buying, if a deal seems to be too good to be true that is a good sign it is. However as long as we don’t know for sure an item is stolen most of us are going to take the deal. Sometimes it is the only way to afford the things we need or want. Do I want to be buying stolen product, no. Can I be 100% sure that I am not, no. Not even when I am buying in a store.

When will the phishing stop

Today I had about 10 different banks or money transfer companies like Paypal contact me to let me know someone has been doing something with my account. All I have to do is click this link and confirm my information so that they can investigate the unusual transactions or dispute. Of all of them I knew one by name, most were not even in my country, let alone a place that I had an account with. You have got to love those mass email programs.

It seems people actually fall for this phishing and give their information out because someone emailed them asking for it. There must be a lot of money in it because these thieves do put a lot of work into making their fake websites look like the real thing. Also because most of the crimes take place outside of their country and over the Internet it is hard to find them and then prosecute them. So they are getting away with it and people like me are paying the price.

I stopped using eBay because someone used another person’s account fraudulently and I ended up being out almost $500.00 and a lot of time. It seems that the thief may have used phishing to get the person’s eBay and Paypal information. Then they used it to buy up about ½ a million dollars worth of high end jewelry on eBay, and had it all rush shipped before the fraud was caught by the person who’s account they were using. This one person burned many people within a few hours, most lost rings valued at $2000 to $10,000. Multiply that by the number of people who actually fall for the phishing emails they could be making millions in a very short time. All of which is in untraceable product that is easy to transform into money.

Rule of thumb, if you get an email questioning your account information on anything do not respond directly to the email or use any links on it. Go to the web site using a link you know is theirs and then check out your information. If someone is sending you an email about your account there should be a message on your account. Almost every company and bank out there now has contact information on where to send phishing emails to so they can investigate it. If you get one take the time to pass the information on to the company or bank. As an individual all we can do is add it to our Spam list and delete it. I am not sure what a company can do at this point but at least they are taking it seriously.