Once a company is well established and has the card details of thousands of customers, what's to stop them suddenly taking money from all of those accounts before disappearing?
2006-07-21 04:27:36 · 15 answers · asked by calwal26 1 in Computers & Internet ➔ Security
The consequences of doing such an action. No company would do that because EVERYTHING that is done electronically is trackable. Credit Card companies would notice the large amounts of money being taken from their customers at an alarming rate, customers would notice their money gone/bills increase/ charges... the bank where the company transfers the money to would see a great increase of deposits into one account. I think the credit card company would suspend the transfer of any suspicious money to the companies account, and contact the bank, who would in turn suspend the companies account, allowing the no money to be taken out. And if they do obtain any money... well they are gonna have to deal with the FBI after that.. basically the ends do not justify the means.
2006-07-21 04:34:16 · answer #1 · answered by rachelle105210 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Any company big enough to do that is probably retail, for example, Amazon. If Amazon up and disappeared, they would have to leave behind a whole bunch of warehouses with all the merchandise inside. Doesn't really make sense if they are still making money. Also, if they emptied the accounts of customers, that means they probably hurt a few international customers as well. Interpol would be after them and Interpol is a little harder to run away from than the FBI.
However, smaller companies that are doing poorly do it all the time. They usually don't empty the accounts, though, that is tougher to get away with. Instead, former employees might sell customer information to identity thiefs over the internet. Identity theft is a big business in Russia, and lots of hundreds and thousands of identities are sold to people in Russia and across the world every day. Why doesn't the Russian police do something about it? They've got bigger problems to deal with (like the Red Mafia and their corruption).
2006-07-21 11:36:04 · answer #2 · answered by Dick Nixon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
as a consumer, always use a credit card for online transactions as opposed to a debit card (like for your atm machine). Credit card companies will cover the risk of online transactions and persue your grievences and most important refund any money deducted fraudulantly. Your high street bank will offer no such guaratees. As for the stance "the consequences of emptying everyone's account would deter people from doing so....." is a bit niave, follow the press and you will see it happens an alarming amount of times. Be very careful who you transact with over the web and protect your electronic identity by all means possible such as firewalls, anti spam, antispyware etc, 'cos next time it could be you
2006-07-21 11:44:26 · answer #3 · answered by jarrajackie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Typically, the credit card clearing house develops a profile of the depositor (in this case the online merchant) they usually do a pretty good investigation of new merchants. If the deposits start to exceed their typical amounts, they can very quickly put a freeze on the account and prevent the merchant from accessing those funds until they are confident they are legitamate. The banks have a lot to lose if someone skips with ill-gotten funds.
2006-07-21 11:34:32 · answer #4 · answered by badslaw 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The FBI.
But it still has happened thousands of times! And those people are out there money because most times the thieves are out of country and using a fast easy to move site.
To continue your question...
What do you mean by "well established" A Slick website?
A few Months On-Line?
I won't deal with any company less than 2-Years old and has a BBB and other seal of approval's.
I let other people test them for me for those 2 years.
Sorry start-ups that's just the way it is!
2006-07-21 11:46:15 · answer #5 · answered by space_man_stitch 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The financial institutions of course! They would react if they find their customers accounts be drained without authorisation because they'd be held accountable for allowing it to happen. Anyway if the online company is making plenty of money and is giving good service and has the correct Trust-E certificates etc they wouldn't dare! Where would they go?
2006-07-21 11:34:34 · answer #6 · answered by Rowdy answers 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The real answer the stores NEVER see the credit card numbers.
The online banking institutes that provide credit card transfer services for stores supply an encrypted program that a store links too. This is used to transfer money to the store owner via their bank account.
I know this because my store uses such a service from Paypal.
www.stringpluckers.co.uk
2006-07-21 11:45:46 · answer #7 · answered by Mr_Moonlight 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
most banks and credit cards offer internet protection, so if it did happen on a large scale the banks would know about it
2006-07-21 11:35:05 · answer #8 · answered by lovinthisgame 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hmmmm that is actually a good point. I mite try that. Ill let you know what happened once i get out of jail.
2006-07-21 11:31:12 · answer #9 · answered by CrayzeeKat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
For one thing the FBI.
For the other, the fact that most people are wise and not fools.
But for the few fools that do get suckered, they have my sympathies.
Cheers
2006-07-21 11:30:54 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋