Online Safety Part 2

Form of payment

Paypal

• Let say we are buying from someone online. Then the seller offers PayPal, first thing to do is to go to the PayPal site and try to send the seller a mock payment to see if the email address matches the one in the end of auction notice. If their past auctions show a PayPal logo, but PayPal does not show the email address you have as being a current PayPal account then maybe the account been used by someone else or hijacked. Of course unless the seller is using 2 different email account.

Credit Card

• Credit card is one of the safest way to make payment for the buyer. But of course there will be certain charge back protection for the transaction. U can check with your credit card bank issuer as they sometimes charge for insurance if in cases of fraud we can get back our money. American Express might not have extra charge (pls checked for latest T&C)

Cheque or Money Order

• Cheque or money order is generally will prove that the seller is legitimate, as the person needs a valid bank account and valid ID to cash it. Since the persons banks /organizations who cash out these items are at risk of losing their money if they don't validate the authenticity of the seller, the persons /banks/organizations who cash out these items them are likely to take thorough precautions. Combined with the steps in authenticating the seller, it will provide you with a trail to the seller that law enforcement can follow. Because of this, outright scammers will usually not accept payment via check or money order

Bank Wire Transfer or Cahiers Check

• Bank wire transfer is not a fairly secure way to pay and a cashier's check only slightly better. Recovering money is unlikely on either, though a seller with a legitimate bank account with all other information verified as suggested above should be an ok risk. Buyers should proceed with great caution though, and make sure they are completely satisfied with the legitimacy of the seller before using these methods of payment. Do not proceed if there are doubts and inconsistencies issues. If the seller requests you wire payment to a location other than the one in the auction/listing, do not proceed. For example if the according to the listing the seller is located in the US, don't wire payment to Brazil or India, no matter how legitimate the reason (read that excuse) the seller comes up with.