Peer-to-Peer and Auction Sites Like eBay Have Highest Fraud Rates, Says Government Report
Published May 12th, 2009
A new government report shows that the biggest rip offs on the Internet occur on peer-to-peer trading sites and auction sites. The report by the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), states: “While the complaints consisted of a variety of fraud types, non-delivery of merchandise and/or payment ranked number one (32.9%).”
Internet auction fraud was the second most reported offense (25.5%). “That’s because traditional online fraud protection systems have proven inadequate”, says Michael J. Schultz, CEO of GenMobi Technologies. Schultz explains that the increasing reliance on passwords, PINS or other invasive data such as social security numbers and mothers’ maiden names has actually made the Internet less safe. “Hackers and fraudsters are adept at getting around systems that use these linear devices.”
GenMobi Technologies recently introduced Check-Mates™, a new service that lets those who use peer-to-peer and auction websites to protect themselves by allowing them to verify their own identities without necessarily disclosing their personal information. The system gives both the buyer and seller opportunity to answer randomly generated “out of wallet” questions about their personal lives–things that a fraudster could not guess at. “They are green-lighted if they give the right answers and shut out if they cannot.”
Should any fraud occur, Check-Mates logs can be sent to law enforcement authorities. The online validation process is completed in a few minutes, does not require any software download and is available at www.check-mates.com.
About GenMobi Technologies
Founded in 2006, GenMobi Technologies developed the patent pending CQR-ID (pronounced Secure ID) suite of anti-fraud solutions to protect digital identities. CQR-ID applications include Authidex™, B2B and white label solutions for the financial, medical and social networking segments and Check-Mates, a C2C dual ID validation process. For more information please visit www.genmobi.com and www.check-mates.com.
