How to buySAFE on the Internet

(Courtesy of buySAFE)

The Center for American Progress and the Center for Democracy and Technology recently released a report concluding that not enough is being done to protect the public from fraud on the Internet. "If problems such as malware, phishing, and spam are left unchecked, many consumers may lose trust and abandon e-commerce," according to the report.

What if a shopper could safely enjoy the convenience, lower prices and choices offered by the world of e-commerce, while avoiding all the fraud lurking on the Internet free?

In 2006, buySAFE entered the e-commerce scene with a unique concept, giving sellers the ability to become bonded and display the buySAFE seal on their site. Once a seller is bonded, the purchase is guaranteed up to $25,000.

The buySAFE guarantee covers virtually any loss that might occur during an online shopping transaction. This includes, but isn't necessarily limited to fraud, phishing and financial misdeeds.

Last month, they grew their concept with the buySAFE Shopping Advisor, which is a free software tool that rates the safety/security of all sites within a search term. The tool also points to sites sites with the buySAFE seal, which guarantees the transaction.

Shopping Advisor leverages buySAFE’s advanced technology and bonded merchant customer base to provide a fully closed-loop safe shopping experience. "There is nothing else like it in the world as it provides comprehensive safe shopping for consumers from search through purchase and beyond – guaranteed," according to Jeff Grass, buySAFE's CEO.

While buySAFE offers a free service to the e-consumer, they aren't in business to lose money. Some of the due diligence performed on every bonded merchant includes ensuring they have a SSL certificate and a privacy policy describing how they protect personal information. Additionally, bonded sellers are required to allow buySAFE access to inspect their business anytime they choose to do so.

Shopping Advisor provides a tool to analyze e-commerce sites and provides a safe shopping portal, which consists of bonded sellers, only. Once in the safe shopping portal every purchase is guaranteed within the limits of the bond buySAFE provides.

Shopping Advisor uses buySAFE's proprietary website inspection and assessment technology to analyze almost 100 different safety/security attributes of an e-commerce site. It then provides objective ratings on the site when searching with Google, Yahoo and MSN (Firefox is on the way). This allows the shopper to make an informed decision before forking over their hard-earned cash.

Within the Shopping Advisor tool is the Safe Shopping Portal providing alternative product choices from thousands of merchants that are protected with the buySAFE seal. It is within the Safe Shopping Portal that every purchase is guaranteed with a Bond of up to $25,000 and it's protected against identity theft, also.

Essentially, Shopping Advisor shows all the shopping opportunities for the search term listed, rates the sites in question and then gives the consumer the ability to make an informed buying decision. If the buyer chooses to buy a product via the Safe Shopping Portal, it is automatically guaranteed and the transaction is protected against identity theft for 30 days. When the buyer purchases an item from the Safe Shopping Portal, they automatically receive an e-mail with the specifics on the guarantee for their personal records.

buySAFE offers a lot of benefits to sellers, also. The biggest is which is what ensures any successful business, or the trust of it's customers. They've also added a cost-per-sale pricing model that has received positive feedback from the merchants using it. If a merchant needs more information on this, I'll refer them to Jeff Grass' blog, or the press release on this matter.

According to most if not all of the reports out there, Internet crime continues to grow and become more sophisticated. Saying that, no matter how sophisticated it becomes the primary motivation to commit cybercrime is money. This rings true from the most simple social engineering scheme to most sophisticated attacks using crimeware. What buySAFE has done is remove this primary motivator from the mix, or at least made it a lot less attractive to Internet fraudsters, charlatans and tricksters.

Shopping Advisor takes this concept to the next level by providing the consumer with a tool to make an educated shopping decision without falling prey to the pitfalls of a too good be true come-on. Too good to be true lures are the common theme Internet fraudsters, charlatans and tricksters use to snare their prey. In other words, Shopping Advisor is a tool a consumer can effectively use to practice the principle known as caveat emptor, or buyer beware.

buySAFE is also offering a shopper referral program. They pay $1.00 for every user referred to Shopping Advisor. This is a great fundraiser opportunity for charities, sports leagues, churches or any good cause.

On eBay, the buyer better beware!

Despite a lot of publicity that eBay is going after fraud, the bottom line is that the buyer better BEWARE when they purchase something on eBay, or for that matter, any digital auction site.

This morning, I read a story from Wales, where a person just got caught selling laptops that didn't exist.

From the Evening Leader:

Christopher Malcolm Amos, from Green Lane, Shotton, admitted swindling customers of the online auction site out of thousands of pounds to fuel his gambling addiction.

Under the user name 'Whitefruit,' the 22-year-old accepted payments from 130 bidders wanting to buy laptop computers.

Some used eBay's PayPal facility, while others transferred the cash directly into Amos's bank account, but nobody ever received their orders.

Please note that at least some of the fraud victims used eBay's preferred method of payment, PayPal.

And Mr. Whitefruit, who I gather is a gambling addict, didn't get into very much trouble for swindling about 100 people. He was ordered to pay some restitution and got a 12 month suspended sentence.

I'm sure eBay fraudsters around the world are quivering in their boots!

I ran into another story in the ChronicleHerald (Halifax, Canada) describing a significantly larger operation involving selling neat "tech toys" that never existed:

Police said Wednesday several complaints about alleged electronic commerce crimes have come in during the past week to 10 days. Customers are from such countries as Australia, Sweden, Norway, the United States, Italy and Estonia. Const. Jeff Carr, a spokesman with Halifax Regional Police, said Canadian EBay users have allegedly been victimized as well, but there are no complaints from the Maritimes.

The person behind this, who hasn't been caught yet was selling laptops that didn't exist.

The story also indicates that PayPal was used on some of these transactions:

He said one complaint, from PayPal of San Jose, Calif., includes more than 100 alleged victims. PayPal, which was acquired by EBay in 2002, is an online money-sending service that provides users worldwide an opportunity to buy and sell goods without sharing personal financial information.

Even when you get the merchandise you paid for on an auction site, you are taking the chance that it is a cheap "knock off," or might be some of the stolen merchandise being fenced on some of these digital marketplaces.

Knock off merchandise can be dangerous when it doesn't work as well as the item it is passing itself off does. Buying stolen merchandise poses certain moral issues, also.

When buying something on an auction site, it is up to the buyer to make sure (beware) they are getting what they paid for. This can include using some good old "horse sense," and being able to realize when the deal you seem to be getting is a "little too good to be true."

Previous posts, I've written about fraud on eBay, can be seen, here.

Evening leader story, here.

I've also written about a company called buySAFE, who certifies sellers and guarantees what they sell. The seller pays for this -- and while I suppose the cost is included in their cost of goods sold -- this might be a good way to avoid fraud without having to do a lot of homework.

buySAFE's CEO, Steve Swoda does a blog, which I read from time to time can be seen by clicking, here.

buySAFE takes on the issue of counterfeit (knock off) merchandise

buySAFE bonds sellers after verifying they are reputable and honest. They also contribute their time to protecting the average person in the sometimes murky waters of e-commerce. Recently, buySAFE has been taking on the (huge) issue of counterfeit merchandise.

Consumers are protected when they buy from a merchant bearing the buySAFE seal. Not a very bad deal for the consumer! Bonding isn't free, but many merchants experience higher sales volumes after being accepted by buySAFE. Trust can drive a lot of sales! buySAFE is also a viable means for a merchant to protect their assets.

The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners noted in their last report to the nation that small businesses suffer "disproportionate fraud losses," when they are victimized by fraud. Large merchants can afford experts to deal with their fraud problems, however the cost is hiring experts can be restrictive for smaller merchants.

Of the numerous fraud issues found on auction sites, complaints about counterfeit goods rank pretty high. People buy items believing they are the "real deal," only to discover the item is a (knock-off) counterfeit.

Companies, who sell respected and trusted brands, are impacted by a loss of sales and consumer trust in their products, also. Some of them have already filed civil litigation against eBay because of the amount of knock-off (counterfeit) merchandise being sold on the site.

Even though auction sites offer seller rating systems, these ratings are often compromised when seller accounts are hijacked (taken over). eBay and PayPal (by most accounts) are recognized as the two most phished brands out there.

The intent of most of these Phishing schemes is to obtain personal/financial information to steal money (and or) take over legitimate accounts.

This can also happen when malware (crimeware) is inserted into an unprotected system and personal/financial details are stolen, normally using key logging software. Sadly enough, the criminal element has found it pretty easy to remain anonymous on auction sites, and few of them seem to get caught.

Whenever the Anti Phishing Working Group (APWG) releases a new report, both of these activities seem to set a new record that surpasses the previous one.

Recently, eBay seems to be taking the fraud problem a lot more seriously, but someone using the name of "Vladuz" is intent on proving their systems are easily compromised. A good place to keep up on the Vladuz saga is firemeg.com.

Although a good information source, I'm not certain that bashing Meg is the solution to fraud on auction sites.

Being the largest auction site, eBay is targeted by fraud all the time because of their popularity.

Fraud has already migrated to other auction sites, but they will always target the most popular.

The reason for this is simple (and it's only business for them) - there are more victims to harvest in popular places.

The term "Vlad" was based on a Romanian historical figure, Vlad Tepes, who inspired the novel, Dracula. In recent times, the term has come to signify fraudsters from Romania, who are well established and organized in the world of auction fraud.

Besides, protecting merchants and consumers, buySAFE makes a lot of contributions to addressing fraud issues on auction sites. Most recently, Jeff Grass (buySAFE CEO) has posted a lot of educational information on his blog about the counterfeit problem, here.

Jeff also appeared on the Today show, when they did a piece on counterfeit goods.You can view a clip of the show, here.

And the Today show isn't the only place that considers buy Safe’s views on the counterfeit problem important. The French government recently included buySAFE as part of a U.S. delegation (including government experts) to discuss the problem of counterfeit goods.

The INTERNATION ANTICOUNTERFEITING COALITION (a non-profit) sums up the problem when they state:

Counterfeiting is big business.It is estimated that counterfeiting is a $600 billion a year problem. In fact, it's a problem that has grown over 10,000 percent in the past two decades, in part fueled by CONSUMER DEMAND.

The real truth is people who purchase counterfeit merchandise risk funding nefarious activities, contributing to unemployment, creating budget deficits and compromising the future of this country in the global economy.

IACC site, here.

Part of the reason the activity has grown 10,000 percent is probably due to the explosion in e-commerce, especially on auction sites.

buySAFE seems to be doing a little more than just selling a product. In fact, they seem to be exercising some corporate responsibility by educating the public on fraud trends in the rapidly growing world of e-commerce.

Consumers can become a member of their Smart Buyer's Club, which leads you to a lot of good deals (safe to buy), here. Club members accumulate points, which can be redeemed for goods, or services (listed on the site).

Anyone claiming to be a buySAFE merchant can be verified, which can be done on the site, also.

buySAFE Survey Reveals Customer's Fears about e-Commerce

Rob Caskey - who is buySAFE's marketing guru - sent me this interesting survey they conducted. What's interesting about the survey is that takes the fear of Internet fraud beyond bogus financial instruments and identity theft to a more basic level.

The survey reveals that the average person fears they won't get the product received, or get something other than what was represented. And if you consider all the variations of auction fraud on the Internet, this is what normally happens to the average customer when they are defrauded.

And - after all - when we go shopping the goal is to have a pleasant experience and get something we want. We don't want to have to constantly worry about getting ripped-off.

Here is what the press release from Market Wire had to say:

On the brink of Black Friday – the biggest shopping day of the year - identity theft and credit card fraud are not the only issues causing consumers to abandon their online shopping carts this holiday season. A recent survey by online trust and safety company buySAFE, Inc. (www.buysafe.com) and online market research service Insight Express revealed that respondents are almost equally concerned with the possibility of non-delivery or receiving something different than promised. These concerns – along with concerns about the trustworthiness of the retailer, quality of merchandise, and shipping costs -- are amplified when shoppers are considering buying from smaller, independent online retailers.

Detailed survey results, here.

There is no doubt that there are a lot of hard-working and "honest" sellers on the Internet, who have been hurt by all fraud that takes place on auction sites. In fact, according to the experts, auction-fraud seems to be the number-one complaint these days.

From legitimate accounts being taken over by phishing (eBay and PayPal are the two most targeted brands) to a wide-array of counterfeit and stolen goods being sold, consumers face the real fear of getting ripped-off when buying an item.

I had a conversation with another person who writes about fraud on the Internet recently, and we both agreed that the average Internet customer almost needs to become a "fraud expert" to ensure they aren't going to be "taken advantage of."

buySAFE has created it's own "niche" in the market by ensuring a seller is legitimate and giving their customers the "peace of mind" that they are dealing with a legitimate and "trusted" retailer.

Although the service isn't free to sellers (customers don't pay anything), it protects the average person from all the fraud we hear read about in the e-commerce world. So far as the honest sellers - who have been damaged by Internet fraud (consumer confidence) - it lets everyone know they are a "trusted source."

For the smaller seller and the person out there in search of a "good deal," the service allows them to focus on their primary goals (selling and shopping) and it leaves the "worrying" to someone else, (buySAFE).

buySAFE has a couple of bloggers on their team (who I've had the opportunity to correspond with) and I've found more than one interesting insight about e-commerce when reading them.

Jeff Grass, buySAFE CEO's blog, here.

Steve Woda, buySAFE founder and Chairman's blog, here.

Here is more about buySAFE, courtesy of the Market Wire release:

buySAFE, Inc. is the leading trust and safety company for e-commerce transactions. buySAFE qualifies merchants, identifies reputable online businesses with the buySAFE Seal, and uses surety bonds to provide broad protection for individual buyers from online transaction risks. The buySAFE bond is backed by Liberty Mutual, Travelers, and ACE USA for up to $25,000, and boosts consumer confidence for lesser-known online retailers, allowing them to compete with the big, established brands. buySAFE has issued more than 9.5 million surety bonds on individual online purchases. There are currently more than two million items bonded with buySAFE that can be found at www.buysafeshopping.com. buySAFE is headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. More information can be found at http://www.buysafe.com/.

Feedback Farms and the Need for Third Party Verification Sources eBay

Steve Swoda wrote an interesting commentary about Feedback Farms on eBay.

In his own words:

Last week, Ina Steiner documented the basic story of 'Feedback Farms' on eBay.

I have to be honest, these scams continue to amaze me, and one has to conclude that these scams are damaging and undermining the entire feedback/merchant rating system. If fraudsters can so easily create feedback/merchant ratings in the thousands, then buyers will have to increase their vigilance online. From a buyer's point of view, it continues to be more and more difficult to truly discern good from bad.

Link, here.

Steve makes a good argument about how the need for "third party verification" process is becoming necessary for (prudent consumers) in the e-commerce world.

His company (buySAFE) provides this type of service and is free to the consumer, who chooses to shop where their "seal of approval" has been given.

How to Spot a Counterfeit on eBay

Steve Swoda (founder of buySAFE) offers the following tips on how to avoid buying counterfeit merchandise (knockoffs) on eBay.

These tips were published in the Miami Herald a couple of weeks ago:

• Don't buy based on price alone. We all know that if the price is too good to be true, it probably is. Not all knockoffs are cheap, however. High prices can add a sense of legitimacy, and many knockoff sellers know this. Just because the price is high doesn't mean it's authentic.
  
• Pictures aren't always worth a thousand words. If a seller has only a few pictures and won't share more, you know you're dealing with someone illegitimate. Anyone selling high-value goods -- used or new -- understands the importance of authenticity. If the merchant is selling something genuine, he'll have nothing to hide.
  
• Read the fine print. Some ''e-tailers'' or auction sellers will lure you in with words that you're likely to use, such as ''Chanel'' or ''Gucci.'' Many sites also resort to overkill with words such as 'authentic,'' or 'genuine'' to describe items. It's only by reading carefully through the descriptions that you will see comments such as ''inspired by . . .'' to let you know that the merchandise isn't an exact copy. This sort of wording affords the seller immunity from trademark infringement.
  
• Return or get burned. Make sure the seller offers a return policy, or ensure that he uses a buyer-protection program.
  
• The extras. Designers love to provide value-added extras, such as boxes, identity cards and storage bags. The counterfeiters are always one step ahead, so don't let down your guard. Recent reports indicate that counterfeiters are even buying fake receipts to prove authenticity.
  
• At the end of the day, it's caveat emptor. If you suspect that the merchandise isn't genuine, don't buy it.

Link, here.

Of course, fake receipts are nothing new - shoplifters have used them for years to refund stolen merchandise. A Google search will show you that this "activity" is alive and well on the Internet, here.

Someone should go after the companies selling the means to do this!

Steve also does a blog, "Steve Woda's Blog: buySAFE, eCommerce, Trust & Safety" and was recently appointed to the "Commonwealth of Virginia's Joint Commission on Technology & Science Cybercrimes Advisory Committee."

Here is a previous post, I did on how to safely navigate auction sites:

25 Ways to Avoid Auction Fraud From a Seller's Perspective

I did a post on counterfeit goods (knockoffs), it mentions a book by Tim Phillips on the subject (Knockoff), which is a great reference on this subject:

Counterfeit Goods, A Borderless Problem

How to Protect Yourself on eBay

Kathleen Day of the Washington Post did an excellent article on "Self Defense for E-Bay Buyers," where she took an in depth look at fraud on eBay and came up with some pretty good suggestions on how to protect yourself.

In her own words:

"Goods that are damaged, counterfeit, don't match what was advertised or are never delivered remain a persistent problem for eBay and its customers -- even though the numbers represent a relatively small fraction of transactions on the Web site. How big a problem is unclear. EBay Inc. does not disclose specific totals."

She interviewed Ina Steiner of Auction Bytes, who clarifies this; despite eBay claims to the contrary:

"Ina Steiner, editor of AuctionBytes, an online newsletter that follows eBay and other electronic auction sites, said the estimate does not include many unresolved disputes that exceed the company's time limits for consideration or were not counted for other procedural reasons. It also does not include cases in which customers persuade their credit card company to cancel the charge. And Steiner points out that by comparing confirmed cases of fraud with the number of goods listed rather than the number of actual sales, eBay makes the percentage seem smaller."

In 2005, the NCL (National Consumers League) listed auction fraud as the most prevalent type on the Internet. Interestingly enough, eBay removed the link from their site to them (which tabulated the complaints) so the percentage might be higher than they reported.

For the full story - which contains some excellent tips on how to protect yourself on eBay - here is the link.

For a new service, which protects buyers and sellers on eBay:

buySAFE Protects it's Customers from Fraud on eBay

buySAFE Protects it's Customers from Fraud on eBay

Fraud on eBay has become a growing concern - and because their internal programs have not satisfied their customers - a new "service" has come into vogue. I recently spoke to Rob Caskey (Senior Director of Marketing, BuySAFE), which is a service that certifies and guarantees purchases on the auction giant; about how they protect purchases on eBay. Rob provided me with a lot of information, including press releases and independent articles, which show how their program works.

A recent press release from BuySAFE said:

(www.buysafe.com), the leading online trust and safety company for e-commerce transactions, today launched the first service that enables Retail Websites to display a meaningful trust signal (the buySAFE Seal) backed with a broad guarantee. Merchants who qualify to use the buySAFE Seal have passed the buySAFE Business Inspection, which ensures the merchant is trustworthy, reliable and committed to delivering on the terms of the sale. These retailers can then display the buySAFE Seal on item listings, which tells consumers the transaction is guaranteed with a surety bond of up to $25,000. Additionally, all buySAFE Bonded Sellers agree to allow buySAFE to continuously monitor their performance. This ensures a virtually risk-free shopping experience.

For the full press release link, here.

In a follow-up press release, buySAFE did an impact study:

The study analyzed 1.6 million item listings from 188 Internet retailers.

• the visitor-to-buyer conversion rate of Bonded Items was 2.1 percent higher than that of non-Bonded items
  
• Bonded Items received 4.7 percent higher prices than non-Bonded items
  
• Overall, using buySAFE increased revenues by 6.8 percent
  
• buySAFE impacted both high and low-end product sales. For example, in the high-end jewelry category, Bonded Items saw the average sales price increase 40 percent. In the lower-end camera and photography accessory category, Bonded Items saw an increase in the average sales price of nine percent.

This study would indicate to me that the greatest increase in sales corresponds with the types of merchandise that are considered "desirable" to criminals, or items that are easily sold, elsewhere.

These are some pretty impressive statistics and when I spoke with Rob Caskey, I asked him for proof that buySAFE actually made good on their claims. The reason I did this is that - eBay claims to provide protection - and I've read a lot of "horror" stories of how frustrating it can be to file a claim.

Rob (Caskey) directed me to a recent story in BusinessWeek.com by Rob Hoff. In his own words, he said:

That said, I'm pretty satisfied now, because I just got a check from buySAFE, the company that offers bonding to online merchants--including Glacier Bay. Essentially, it's a reimbursement for what I paid. Although eBay's feedback system has worked amazingly well, at least for me, clearly it didn't work in this particular case, and I'm sure others like it. I had never paid much attention to that buySAFE seal, but you can bet I will on future auctions.

AuctionBytes (Ina Steiner), also did a story on this.

I've written about the individual (human) frustration of victims on eBay and often commented that they needed to get their act together. Now market forces are beginning to fill the "niche" that they have failed to provide.

Here are some previous posts, I've written about fraud on eBay:

California Issues Alert on Emerging eBay Fraud Trend

Package Deals to Commit eBay Fraud

BBB Worker Takes Job Processing Fraudulent eBay Transactions

Diary of an Identity Theft Victim

How Much Fraud Can e-Bay's Customers Endure