At 11:15 PM 11/14/2002, you wrote:
OR another US vendor that doesn't require faxing or emailing a scan of both sides of your credit card...The fax is only necessary the FIRST time a credit card issued by a non-USA bank is used. Thereafter if the same card number is used, no fax is necessary. In an age when credit card fraud and identity theft are rampant, we have learned that this simple, safe, prudent measure is REMARKABLY effective in reducing credit card fraud when non-USA cards are used. While reducing fraud certainly benefits the retailer it ALSO benefits the card owner in several ways, among which are (in no particular order):
No offence, but that sucks.
And by the way, you've missed a couple orders from me for that reason. I live in Japan.
reducing fraud helps the retailer control costs which allows the retailer to control prices;
banks which permit retailers to accept credit cards require that retailers demonstrate security measures and remove their permission to accept cards if the retailer permits an excessive number of fraudulent charges;
retailers are entrusted with customer's valuable credit data daily and have both a legal and a moral obligation to protect the customer.
You can read about MY family's sorry experience with credit card theft and the unwitting assistance extended to the thieves by overeager under-cautious store clerks online at <http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bh2.sph/FrameWork.class?FNC=GetPage__Aindex_html___page=firstlook_7_99.html___>. It took almost a full week of daily telephone calls, faxes and e-mails before we could even write checks again and my Bloomingdale's account STILL has a security watch on it requiring I provide photo-ID to use their card. Had even one store clerk from even one store paused before offering either "instant-credit" or the opportunity to revive existing but dormant accounts to the pirates, this might have been avoided.
It's your choice -- you can live with a safe and effective one-time requirement, or you can bandy your credit card all over the internet with folks who, by NOT asking for verification, demonstrate their more cavalier attitude towards YOUR security.
--
regards,
Henry Posner
Director of Sales and Training
B&H Photo-Video, and Pro-Audio Inc.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com
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