Underground Internet economy poses threat to credit crunch shoppers

happygeek 0 434 Views

Verdict Research has published a report which suggests that the credit crunch is benefiting web-based businesses as consumers in the UK flock to the Internet in search of money saving bargains. With £15bn ($30bn) spent online by UK consumers in the last 12 months, , this equates to a rise of 33 percent over the previous year and interestingly also represents an increase some ten times faster that the same period for the overall retail sector. Online retail in the UK, says Verdict, will grow to £45bn ($90bn) within just four years or around 14 percent of the total amount of money being spent by UK consumers. But in the rush to beat the credit crunch, are consumers overlooking the fact that there are those who would seek to turn their profit seeking into misery?

Symantec, has also produced research under the banner of the which suggests that while the UK has 96 percent of adults saying that they shop online at least sometimes, ten percent of UK online adults have also had someone use their credit card online without approval. That's the highest level of online credit card crime in the world.

Symantec's latest global revealed that an underground online economy exists in which criminal data is sold supermarket style, piled high and sold cheap. Indeed, it's possible to buy a bundle of 50 active stolen credit card numbers for just £20 ($40) and if you buy in bulk then 500 reduces the price to just £100 ($200) which is truly shocking.

So yes, the Internet is a great place to shop and as plenty of people are discovering it's also a great place to save money when belts need to be tightened, but with the influx of people new to ecommerce and therefore naïve when it comes to matters of transactional security, it could yet well prove to be a false economy for many of them…

Dani AI

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Good points from and — the crowd moving online changes the risk picture and what people buy matters. Two distinct risks to keep in mind: (a) legitimate merchants or marketplaces can be breached and leak card data, and (b) outright scammy sellers or gray‑market offers often carry no buyer protections. The defensive steps for a casual shopper are practical and immediate.

  • Prefer credit-based payment methods or reputable intermediaries (wallets/checkout providers) over direct bank transfers or sending card details to unfamiliar sites.
  • Use single‑use/virtual card numbers or prepaid cards when available; they limit exposure if a site is compromised.
  • Turn on two‑factor authentication for shopping accounts and bank/issuer alerts for transactions.
  • Verify sellers: readable contact info, clear returns policy, consistent reviews, and a working phone number. If something looks off, call.
  • Only enter payment details on HTTPS pages from a browser you keep updated, and avoid public Wi‑Fi without a trusted VPN.
  • Use a password manager so each shopping site has a unique password; don’t reuse passwords used for banking or email.
  • Keep devices patched and run periodic malware scans.

If a card is used without your approval: contact the card issuer immediately to freeze or replace the card, open a fraud dispute, change passwords on affected accounts, and keep records of all communications. Notify the marketplace or merchant and consider filing a local fraud report if significant loss occurs.

For small merchants, the safest move is to delegate payments to a PCI‑compliant hosted checkout or PSP, avoid storing card numbers, enable admin 2FA, apply security patches promptly, and monitor for unusual checkout activity. That reduces the chance of a breach turning customer data into someone else’s bargain.

Member Avatar for jwenting
jwenting 1,905 duckman

the problem isn't that people are buying online to get a bargain (though that's often a delusion, and in the end puts more people out of work locally which is bad for the economy and thus your wallet) but WHAT they buy.
Many of them buy pirated music, movies, and software or other stolen goods from shady websites rather than sticking to reputable stores doing legitimate business.
In Europe that happens a lot more apparently than it does in the US, which goes a long way to explain why more creditcard information ends up getting stolen here.
Another reason might be cosmetic, with possibly more people here going to the police rather than just getting their credit company to block the card and issue a new one.

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