Okay, so as some of you may know, we have been having some serious issues logging into Chris’ E-Bay Account. So far whenever we go to log in to his account it says

“Welcome Half.com member. Please read important information below:

Because of the closer alignment between Half.com and eBay, you will need to review and accept the eBay User Agreement before continuing to use Half.com and eBay. Just click the Continue button and complete a couple of steps, and you’ll be able to bid and buy on eBay and Half.com.”

It then goes on to ask for  a credit card number to register with the site. This has been happening ever since our bank canceled our previous debit card due to fraudulent purchases happening with the card numbers with other bank customers.

Since this issue began, Chris has tried to contact Ebay, staying on the phone for HOURS at a time trying to fix the situation. He also has called many times to try to resolve the situation.

The problem arises because Chris has almost $200 in Ebay fees to pay (Which he is MORE THAN WILLING to pay), but he is simply not allowed to because he cannot log into his Ebay account. When he is on the phone with the company, they tell him over and over to log in to his account and pay from there.

Chris has been getting emails from the billing department at Ebay saying that if he does not pay that his account will not only be closed but they will also send the bill to collections. COLLECTIONS for a bill that he wants to pay them and has contacted them repeatedly to do.

This entire situation has gotten completely out of hand. Ebay has failed us and if this goes to collections, I don’t know what we’re going to do because a ding like that on his credit report is going to look bad for both of us.

There were three arrests made on Monday in relation to a group of computer hackers that stole more than 130 million credit card numbers. U.S. authorities said that this is the largest identity theft case that has ever been prosecuted.

The men who were indicted in the case were hacking into the credit card processor Heartland Payment Systems to get the card numbers. Heartland confirmed the breaches, but did not know exactly how big the fraud had one.

The one American arrested in the group is Albert Gonzalez. He is a former government informant and was already in jail in connection with an unrelated hacking case. The other two people named in the indictment are two Russian citizens who have yet to be identified.

Gonzalez is in jail after he was indicted with 10 other people because he was accused of stealing another 41 million credit card numbers from retailers. The largest retailer was TJX Cos, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. That ring of hackers cost retailers an estimated $400 million in damages.

Charges against the three men included conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers, commit fraud in connection with computers and to damage computers, and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The three men are each facing up to 35 years in prison along with large fines.

So, the obvious reason to hack into these systems is to get the credit card numbers and sell them to others who want to use the numbers to make other fraudulent purchases. Many credit cards have some kind of protection to protect the owners from fradulent purchases, but what would have happened if 130 million people would have come forward to say that $1,000 in credit card fraud had been committed? There is no way that the credit card bank backers would have been able to pay for that, even though they would have to.

This is just another example if you’re going to spend money, don’t run your bank card as a debit card, run it as a credit card so that you’re protected by Mastercard, Visa, or any other credit company.

More and more Americans are starting to use their cell phones to make purchases. The main users are men and young adults.

A study conducted by Harris Interactive for Billing Revolution, a mobile credit card security firm, indicated that half of those surveyed (of just over 2,000 individuals between April 29th and May 1st) thought buying something using their cell phone was “somewhat safe” and a quarter thought it is “completely safe.”

Nearly half of those surveyed, 46%, would shop using their phones if credit card security was not an issue. Ironically, merchants as well are always looking for online payment solutions that are dependable and secure.

Now this isn’t talking about calling in somewhere like a catalog to shop, it is talking about actually pulling up a browser on your phone and doing “internet shopping” on your phone.

I would be quite likely to buy something using my phone’s browser. I would be more likely to do that than to do some kind of call-in shopping service. The reason for that is I don’t know who is listening to my calls. Yesterday while I was waiting for a class to start, there was a girl booking her plane ticket over the phone in the hall and gave out her credit card number. Everyone in earshot heard her loud and clear. That is why I would not consider ordering something over the phone ever in a public place.

I’m a stickler for credit card security. Even when I go to Wal-Mart (yes, I do shop at Wal-Mart, it is the only place within 30 minutes of my house to do shopping for a reasonable price it seems), I tend to cover my card with my hand when I’m scanning it. I have just heard too many horror stories about people having their credit card numbers taken because when they had their card out, someone took a picture of it with their camera phone.

There is a growing market for mobile shopping according to the survey, but I don’t really see the difference in mobile shopping versus online shopping. You would have to go through the exact same automated process. However, as more and more people spend lots of time on their cell phones, I’m sure mobile companies will find a way to take advantage of the trend.

The idea is to convince consumers that their phones are safe and that they can be used for more than making phone calls, sending text messages, and casual browsing.