There has been concern about giving out Credit Card numbers
over the Internet.
However, the consumer's liability for a stolen credit
card is only $50 according to United States law. Furthermore, if a merchant
does not get the card holder's signature and your number is stolen (for
example, by using an 800 number OR by sending your number over the internet),
the consumer's liability is exactly $0.00.
That's right. It won't cost you a penny if your number is stolen. So why
is it such a big deal and why is everyone talking about encryption? Well,
if you're not liable that means the credit card companies are.
However, if you explore the issue further, there is only one case of credit
card
numbers being stolen over the internet. In that case, a hacker broke into
a
company's computer and stole files to obtain the numbers. So, while the
thief did use the internet to steal the numbers, those numbers were supposedly
safe in the
company's computerized accounting system. There is no known case of a number
being stolen during a transaction.
Underground called Myths, Truths and the 'Net by Simson Garfinkel.