WeWatch Launched
I have a new Sunday Blog. This is not my full time gig. (Hell, I love my job for a lot of reasons). I am not sure if I would even get anything out of these blogging gigs. I just want to make sure that there is less shit in the Internet. I am a victim. The first step to getting back is acknowledging your ignorance and acknowledging that you need to know how the world works.
This is my love story with e-commerce and today, my battle against scammers begin.
A few years ago (2006), I got a partnership offer to develop an application to improve the e-commerce experience and to help entrepreneurs local to Baguio to sell their items on the Internet. I was approached through our shop in the mall since we were retailers of health products. I helped managed family business while studying Financial Management and occasionally doing web work. I knew he was right about e-commerce being more sensible than any project but it is very very difficult to carry out even with 20 other hands helping you out.
But I was interested. Eventually I have focused into e-commerce application development sometime in 2007. I explored the Paypal API in particular. What I have realized over time is that e-commerce is more than just having a payment system. Nearly anyone with a bank account can have a Paypal account. That doesn't assure you that the deal isn't a scam. There are many e-commerce applications but none of them assure you about the most basic things:
1) Human identity. I am aware of identity theft that is why only a few really know my full (long) name. Probably some of my previous employers still don't know it. But it is important for ebay or some other sites to keep record of "First Name and Last Name."
2) Transaction history. Recording is an issue. There are some websites who just delete information about transactions to protect their company. It's like saying "hey, we need to clear this out before they contact us." This is what the screenshot function is for. Screenshot details and everything. Keep your emails. Just be careful. You'll never know.
WeWatch is also a venue for users who want to report fraud. It'll take a while to review whether the poster is telling the truth but the whole effort should not be useless.
I will also be posting what governments are doing to help prevent fraud and of course, what actions do they take against scammers.
