ETD: 878 Paying foreign suppliers; Swirls of Color; LexisNexis
Reveals Further Breaches of Database
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Apr 14 11:46:42 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0878 April 14, 2005
George Matyjewicz, Moderator mailto:georgem at gapent.com
Published by: GAP Enterprises, Ltd. http://www.etailersdigest.com
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CONTENTS
[1] Greetings
[2] Paying foreign suppliers
[3] Swirls of Color
[4] LexisNexis Reveals Further Breaches of Database
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
One of our list members offers some word of caution on paying suppliers
overseas. Does anybody else have some alternatives they use to pay
suppliers in foreign countries?
Security and identify theft is becoming more serious every day. LexisNexis
has reported more breaches on their database. The Federal Trade Commission
estimates 27.3 million Americans were affected by identity theft in the
five years through 2003, with the pace of theft quickening toward the end
of that period. And the U.S. Congress is investigating this issue to see
what can be done to get this under control. Be careful.
List member Amy Knowles tells us about her business Swirls of Color, which
will remain for posterity at our "Members: Who Are You?" site. This is
a courtesy to our members who contribute to our forum, and not merely a way
to advertise for free. Anything to do with the retail world, i.e.,
supplier, retailer, consulting,
etc. http://etailersdigest.com/resources/members/index.htm And we have a
form there for you to tell us about you. As I said when I first proposed
this idea, we have "known" each other for a long time, yet we often don't
know anything about each other. So, tell us who you are and what you do.
Now, let's get to everything for the retailer.
Sincerely
George Matyjewicz, PhD
Chief Global Strategist, GAP Enterprises, Ltd.
mailto:georgem at gapent.com
http://www.etailersdigest.com
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[2] Paying foreign suppliers
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> Another simple alternative for everybody is to use your
> local bank. Open a separate account for your supplier
>and get two debit cards - one for you and one for him.
A friend of mine did this in Hong Kong, with debits happening in
Canada. He was called into the bank to explain. Although the amounts
withdrawn at any one time were not that huge, not over US$5,000 certainly,
apparently the bank thought it was looking like tax evasion or
money-laundering. No further action was taken by the bank, but my friend
stopped this method of payment.
Better be careful with this one.
Have a brilliant day!
Francisca de Zwager, Vice-President
Domus Accents Trading Company Limited
OFFICE AND SHOWROOM IN SHENZHEN, CHINA
DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIO IN MANILA, PHILIPPINES
See what Dreamers that Do can DO for YOU:
www.DomusAccents.com
+++ [Moderator's Comments] +++
Yes, this is an issue. Ask your bank if you can pay an employee working
oversees. Since 9/11, many banks and countries are very leery of unusual
transactions. It's best to talk with your bank.
We had a similar incident, where one of our partners was an Australian
citizen, working in the U.S. His bank closed his Australian account, since
the debit card was being used in the U.S.
George
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[3] Swirls of Color
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Swirls of Color offers high end Decoupage, Art, Crafts and Handmade Custom
Furniture to the Retail, Corporate Gift, Hospitality and Health Care
Markets. We offer many unique and imaginative never before seen products.
This enables retail companies the ability to offer their customers unique
products.
Have you ever experienced visiting a new office or hotel only to see the
same artwork, accessories or furniture that you have just seen somewhere
else? Because most of our products have never been promoted until now, you
will not see the same furnishings or art in another location.
10% of our yearly net profits will be donated to the Alzheimer's Association.
Having been an Interior Design for over 25 years I had the opportunity to
purchase and sell art, accessories and furnishings to all types of
corporate, hospitality, health care facilities. I fell in love with the
industry and decided to become more involved. I also am a true supporter
of helping those who create to market their products.
Swirls of Color has been in business for 5 years. We created a new web site
in November of 2005. This has helped the business
tremendously. Publishing press releases, participating in business forums
and email promotions are an on going process.
Most of our products are priced for high end businesses. You can fill out
our contact us form on our web site to request additional information.
http://swirlsofcolor.com/
Amy Knowles, Owner
Swirls of Color
26 Brooklyn Heights, #2
Thomaston, ME 04861
Tel: 207-354-8833
Fax: 207-354-0183
http://swirlsofcolor.com/
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[4] LexisNexis Reveals Further Breaches of Database
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LexisNexis said 310,000 Americans, nearly 10 times its original estimate,
have had their personal data accessed by unauthorized individuals via its
computer systems, raising fresh concerns about the data-collection
industry's ability to guard against hackers amid a surge in identity-theft
crimes.
LexisNexis, a legal- and business-information provider owned by Reed
Elsevier PLC of the United Kingdom, said it has identified 59 security
breaches over two years -- a rate of about one every two weeks -- making
the problem far more pervasive than it had previously realized. The
accessed information included Social Security, driver's license numbers and
other personal information.
Separately, Tufts University sent a "precautionary" letter to alumni last
week warning them that personal information may have been stolen from a
computer database used for fund raising. The letter, sent to about 106,000
graduates and other donors, says Tufts "detected abnormal activity" on a
computer that included names, addresses, Social Security and credit-card
numbers.
The latest revelations are likely to give new urgency to the clamor for
laws to prevent data brokers from amassing sensitive personal information
without consent and for better safeguards of other databases. Recently,
data broker ChoicePoint Inc. of Alpharetta, Ga., said identity thieves had
obtained information on about 145,000 people by posing as legitimate
customers. Sensitive data also have been compromised at some banks, mutual
funds and other universities.
U.S. law-enforcement agencies are investigating the breach, and Reed said
it is offering fraud insurance and other services such as credit checks,
free of charge, to individuals whose data were accessed by unauthorized
people. Reed's latest announcement comes five weeks after its initial
disclosure that breaches had affected about 30,000 people.
Once individual information has been purloined, it can be used by identity
thieves to fraudulently obtain credit cards, mortgage loans and car loans,
among other things. The Federal Trade Commission estimates 27.3 million
Americans were affected by identity theft in the five years through 2003,
with the pace of theft quickening toward the end of that period.
Data brokers, which collect and sell personal information, represent a new
and still largely unregulated industry but virtually every state is
considering some kind of privacy legislation. In at least 20 states, the
law would require companies to notify individuals when their personal
information is compromised, according to the Electronic Privacy Information
Center, a public-interest research group in Washington, D.C. Congress is
also considering a federal notification standard, based on a California law
that exposed the ChoicePoint breach.
Details at...
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111330074833404446,00.html
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