Electronic Auction is a procurement tool which utilizes web-based technology to enable bidders to participate in dynamic and transparent pricing events. It has various forms such as English Auction, Reverse Auction, and Dutch Auction.
Although online auctions constitute one of the most successful Internet business models, auction fraud has become the largest component of all Internet fraud which are: 1) Failure to deliver, 2) Misrepresentation, 3) Shill bidding, 4) Selling black-market goods. 
Here things to be take note to avoid online auction scams and related fraud:
1) Develop a familiarity with the product you want to buy. Search for the product online and verify that the specifications and seller photos are accurate, noting the photo caveats below. Compare the information to the original merchant site if possible.
2) Put the sellers' feedback in perspective and instead look at the big picture. How long has the party had an auction account? Are past purchases of similar value or is this a sudden high-ticket item? Is it a business and where is the seller located? These are some of the questions relevant to avoiding online auction scams and affects how readily you are protected.
3) Many sellers and auction enthusiasts will alert the public on how to avoid online auction scams for a particular product. To minimize the risk of landing a fake, look for an established dealer and/or a certificate of authenticity from a third-party.
4) Deal with sellers that are covered by a Buyer Protection plan such as Square Trade and PayPal, but note the monetary limits and the fine print. These are not failing proof coverages and recovering your money may take weeks to months. For lower cost items it is likely sufficient. For higher ticket items consider an escrow arrangement if you have any doubts.
5) Keep your transaction information. Keep your own record of the transaction when you're buying. You want a record of the seller's identification, the item description, emails sent and received, plus the time, date and price of your bid.
6) Passwords. Never have the same password on your eBay and PayPal accounts or i
ndeed on any other financial or personal site. Change your passwords every 30-60 days on both eBay and PayPal.
To report Internet fraud, you can contact the Federal Trade Commission: (877) FTC-HELP (877-382-4357 or www.ftc.gov). You can also contact Internet Fraud Watch(www.fraud.org).
Wednesday 2 July 2008
Things to note to prevent E-Auction fraud
Corporate Blogging
As similar meaning to Weblog, the corporate blogging is a corporate online journal which published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals. Mostly it has categorized into 2 major types which are internal and external. The corporate blog always assists an organization become expert in it own field and provides important information about their industry and product or service that their readers and customers will find useful. 
Form different than other corporate online journal; Kodak is more concentrate on sharing view, opinion, feels from it employees and customers. Kodak blog is always full of colorful picture, letting people to upload the pictures from their journey and sharing their own experience, mind, and feeling on particular journey. This enables the consumer to know the quality of photos of Kodak. Therefore, they will have more confidence on Kodak.
Pros of corporate blog:
-> Leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy.
-> People are far more likely to give great feedback if they know someone specific is listening. The power of these feedback loops can generate big benefits.
Cons of corporate blog:
-> It can be tricky to drag public comment out of a company without first routing through the sanitizing filter of a press office.
-> There is a risk that an ill-judged comment could be seized upon by the media or disgruntled investors.for additional information:
Review a local e-commerce site:
Blooming Florist began operations in 1981. Through the years, it has grown from a small retail shop to its present set-up of six retail outlets in Petaling Jaya, Kuala Lumpur and a head office in Kelana Jaya. Today, besides being linked with most reliable florist throughout Malaysia, Blooming is also networked with 75,000 florists worldwide through its membership in Interflora Pacific Unit Limited. Customer around the world can visit to this website http://www.blooming.com.my/ to order and buy their products.
Currently, the website offer products such as flowers (hand bouquet, potted flowers, basket arrangement, artificial flowers arrangement, and dried flowers), gifts, hampers, fruit basket, chocolates, wine, cakes and cookies.
E-Government in Malaysia: Its implementation so far and citizen’s adoption strategies
E-government in Malaysia:
E-government describes the use of information and information and communication technology (ICT) to support the operations of government. Egovernment
most often is associated with computer applications and the Internet and the World Wide Web, but also encompasses other ICT applications, such as cellular
telephone, satellite communication and geographical information systems.
E-filling:
According to relevant source, printed tax return forms will not be issued to taxpayers who used the e-Filing system in 2007. LHDN encourages taxpayers to continue using thee-Filling system in 2008 with the ownership of a digital certificate.
Problems encountered:
Low intention to use this e-system among tax payers: There are some of the problems that encountered by consumers. Some tax payers, especially those elderly employees, they might be computer literacy and thus do not know how to use this system.
Little knowledge: Since the implementaion of e-Filling system so far was just few years, therefore it is undeniable that consumers might have little knowledge about it.
Do not have proper guidance: When they encounter problem, usually they do not have a correct guidance from those who are in-charged of it. When this occurs, usually consumers will lose their confidence in submitting tax return via e-Filling system.
Ways to improve:
Privacy and security: To encourage more citizens to use the e-government applications and hence adapted to them, Government should concern about the privacy and security issue involved. Usually, e-government appliction such as e-Filling system will require users to fill in their personal details, financial backgrounds and so on. The system should make sure that all the key in information would not be leaked out.
Creating the infrastructure to support e-government: There should be a good infrastructure to support the e-government application. As a conceptual foundation, policy architecture must be developed and set in place, including sets of goals, objectives, guiding principles, models and standards. By then, users would be have more understanding the intention behind each application.
