That never made me unwilling to shop online, due to identity theft concerns. And, gladly, I was a victim of identity theft only once, when my debit card was charged twice in Paris (I wish I was there, buying ice cream on Champs-Élysées). The bank solved the issue promptly by issuing another card and charging back the amounts. All I had to do was sign a statement and that was it.
I was clearly a lucky fellow, you can read stories about people having their credit worthiness ruined and going through the long and painful process of having to work with the credit bureaus and the collection agencies in order to have their history cleared (if ever possible).
With more people moving towards an online and wireless world, and so many activities online requiring us to sign up, register, log in, it is reasonable to assume that identity theft won’t decline in the nearest future.
One could notice a certain increase in sophistication. The social media sites like Facebook or Twitter are being targeted also, and most people are less alert in those “friendly” environments. It is really easy for a hacker to get into your account and send fake messages to your friends, containing viruses and keyloggers. It is just a matter of time before they get access to private information.
So my question is: how is this going to affect E-Marketing and E-Commerce ? There is a percentage of the public who perceive online commerce as risky, and online transactions as unsafe. How will the consumer confidence be regained, how will the companies provide the best safeguards and treat data with the highest level of security?
According to a top official at Software AG: “The perennial threat of identity theft has hampered the growth of e-commerce and digital businesses as both business organizations and consumers remain fearful of becoming victims.”
Here is a link to an article that shows how Lifelock’s CEO was vulnerable to a number of identity theft attempts.
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/05/lifelock-identity-theft/
The online shopping industry is growing by leaps and bounds. According to AC Nielsen statistics, 875 million people worldwide have shopped online. The number of online shoppers in the US alone has reached 139 million. Security online is definitely important and it is something that companies need to be aware of. Most consumers these days are very worried about the security of their online purchases and by implementing high standards of online security, the online company can also use this as a marketing strategy. Today most retailers have stepped up their use of sophisticated security software to ensure the safety of the consumer's personal and financial information. Purchases made online today with major retailers are just as safe as the same transaction made in the store.
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