ETD: 900 Identity Theft; Retail Trivia; European E-Commerce
Feeling Pinch from ID Theft
E-Tailer's Digest
etd_post at gapent.com
Thu Jun 30 12:07:27 GMT 2005
E-Tailer's Digest --- Everything for the Retailer
Issue #0900 June 30, 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] Identity Theft
[3] Retail Trivia
[4] European E-Commerce Feeling Pinch from ID Theft
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[1] Greetings.
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Hi All:
Issue 900 - wow! We have come a long way and have seen a lot happening in
retail. The highs of the dotcom days; the lows of the burst bubble; the
stabilization of e-commerce; the different face of retailing. I want to
thank all our members for your continuing support and for being part of the
E-Tailer's Digest community. We all learn a lot.
We have some retail trivia today, which is always fun. It's amazing how
much trivia we can find about retail. I hope you enjoy these, and welcome
others.
There has been a lot of concern with identity theft, and it is now
affecting e-commerce in Europe. However, identity theft is not just
limited to online events. There have been some reported issues that are
frightening. What do you think? Is it affecting you?
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] Identity Theft
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I watched an interview with some folks whose identity was stolen. In one
case, somebody bought a car and got insurance for that car using the
identity of somebody else. Can you imagine getting a bill each month for a
car and insurance that you never purchased?
Let's look at the reality of identity theft:
o 9.9 million Americans were victims of identity theft last year, at a
cost of roughly $5 billion nationwide.
o Almost three-quarters of Americans are concerned about Internet and
computer security, and a similar number fear their personal information
could be stolen or used improperly.
o A majority of PC users choose passwords which are easy to remember, and
therefore easy to unravel.
o Online consumers were defrauded to the tune of over USD700 million last
year, reports Newsbytes.
o Of 1,000 online consumers polled by Gartner, 5.2 percent suffered online
credit card fraud and 1.9 percent were victims of identity theft.
o Jupiter Media Metrix indicates that almost 70 percent of US consumers
worry that their privacy is at risk online.
What's interesting is the probability of identity theft offline is more
significant than online! The "free" offers provided by banks for credit
cards are a major issue. You should always shred those offers - don't just
toss them.
There are three bits of information that are critical to your ID:
1. U.S. Social Security Number (or government-issued number in other
countries)
2. Date of birth
3. Mother's maiden name.
When I go to a doctor, and have to fill out that form, I always tell them I
will give them my SS# or D.O.B., but not both. They always say the
insurance company requires both, to which I say no they don't. Call them
and ask. Sure enough, they don't.
So, be very careful with your ID. It can take years to fix once the ID is
stolen.
And it is affecting e-commerce (see 3 below).
George
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[3] Retail Trivia
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o Baseball cards were first manufactured in 1951. The first company to
produce these collectible favorites of children and adults alike was Topps.
o The "M's" in M&M's candy stand for Mssrs. Mars and Merrie, who developed
the popular candy during the war in 1941.
o The Volkswagen Beetle, icon of the anti-war, flower-power 1960's, was
originally introduced as a car designed for the masses in Germany by
Hilter's Reich in 1935?
o Coca Cola, the omnipresent soft drink and cultural symbol, was invented
by a pharmacist from Atlanta, Georgia, Dr. John Pemberton, in May of 1886.
o The name of the Michelin man, composed of tires from head to toe, is
Bibendum.
o The 1873 patent received by Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis for putting
rivets in their denim apparel was titled "Improvement in Fastening
Pocket-Openings." This simple improvement was the key component of what are
known as Levi's jeans.
o The Mall of America in Minnesota, attracts more visitors annually than
Walt Disney World, Graceland and the Grand Canyon combined.
Speaking of which...
o Mall of America is the largest, fully enclosed retail and family
entertainment complex in the U.S.
o Seven Yankee Stadiums would fit inside Mall of America.
o Mall of America's 13,300 short tons of steel is nearly twice the amount
in the Eiffel Tower.
o Walking distance around one level of Mall of America is .57 of a mile.
o Spending 10 minutes in every store would take a shopper more than 86
hours to complete their visit to Mall of America.
o More than 4,200 couples have been married at Mall of America since
opening in August of 1992.
o Mall of America is located on the former Metropolitan Sports Stadium
which was home to the Minnesota Vikings and Twins. Home plate can be found
in Camp Snoopy.
o Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota is home to Camp Snoopy -
Peanuts creator Charles Schultz is a native of St. Paul.
o There are 30,000 live plants and 400 live trees planted in Camp Snoopy.
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[4] European E-Commerce Feeling Pinch from ID Theft
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European consumers are being driven away from online banking and commerce
by fears that their identities will be stolen and their financial resources
raided by information highwaymen.
Survey results released yesterday by Entrust, a publicly traded digital
identity security firm located in Addison, Texas, showed 13 percent of
consumers in the United Kingdom and Germany have decreased or stopped
online banking activities in the past 12 months because of concerns over
identity theft.
The poll of 1,486 European consumers conducted in March also found that 12
percent of the respondents decreased or stopped conducting any form of
e-commerce online for the same reason.
Voting with Keyboards
Entrust conducted a similar survey for North America last fall and, taken
together, the polls show a heightened concern by consumers over identity
theft tied to online activity, Vice President for Technology Chris Voice said.
"What's disturbing is that people are voting with their keyboards," he told
the E-Commerce Times. "In many cases, they are decreasing or stopping their
online activity. So identity theft is having quite an impact on online
behavior."
Jonathan Penn, an analyst with Forrester Research in Cambridge, Mass.,
agreed that reports of data theft, like the recent pinching of 40 million
credit card numbers from CardSystems Solutions, is frightening consumers.
"We've been doing surveys on this for about a year now and we definitely
see people saying that they're leaving online bill-pay or online banking or
not even opening their e-mails from their providers because they're worried
it might be a phishing attack."
Details at...
http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/44218.html
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