Sogeti-Transiciel developes a fraud study of means of payment in electronic commercial platforms in Spain

Barcelona, December 10th 2004

Now finding a receipt in the street could be enough to buy illegally in the 80 per cent of the e-commerce sites

According to a study done by the Sogety-Transiciel company, it is possible to buy in eight out of ten electronic commercial sites just by providing the number and the expiry date of a credit card. This data can be taken out, for instance, from any receipt or any proof of payment that has been thrown out into a litter basket after using a cash dispenser or buying in a establishment. The impossibility of identifying if the person who facilitates the card dates is the real holder, has done that the webs devoted to the online sell have attracted the attention of delinquents. In fact, several developeds studies show that in 2005 the electronic fraud will probably get to more than 15.500 millions of dollars in the world.

In just the 30 per cent of the analysed webs, out of an amount of 100 taking into account the main e-commerce sites in Spain, the holder name is also required. This information appears in receipts and bank statements too and, therefore, it is not trouble at all for the delinquent. An element that is really detrimental to the criminal activity is the necessity of facilitating the security code in the moment of the purchase. Depending on the mode of the card, this code corresponds to the last three or four digits of the number sequence that appear in the back of the card. Although the advantages of including the establishment of this date in the online purchase form in order to avoid the fraud, in just the 14 per cent of these webs the security code is obligatory.

In 2006 the electronic commerce will generate profits of more than 2,2 billions of euros in the European continent. This information offered by the European Union shows that it is one of the most economical sectors that has increased over the last years, thanks to the development of new technologies. This fact, along with the fact that there are more than 50 millions of credit cards in circulation, as well as ten millions of cards edited by big stores in Spain, will make necessary to raise again the question of the current electronic commercial model. In this model, the facilities with which the delinquency operate could bring to a sector stagnation caused by the most understandable concern that generates in their users.

The solution passes through the establishment of the electronic signature in cards with chip and in other technologies that offer a better security to the electronic commerce; especially for those products that do not require a physic sending, such as certain computer programmes, music contents or access to concrete sites, that are acquired directly by the network after their bought, and making almost impossible to detect the purchaser. The current answer to the problem, while waiting to the technological and legal advances in this field, seems to be the renunciation of accepting the credit card payment in Internet. In fact, more than the 20 per cent of the studied sites do not consider this mode of payment, but they offer the cash on delivery or the bank transfer as the only way of purchase. These are methods far away from the philosophy of immediacy that the network offers, but, at this moment in time, it is much more liable. The decision of not to include the card payment service in the 20 per cent of the sites, shows the insecurity that this mode of payment inspires. This insecurity, by extension, affects to all the electronic commercial sector and undoubtedly slow down the expansion of this world commercial model.

Le pôle Local Professional Services SOGETI-TRANSICIEL (filiales de Capgemini) propose une offre de services informatiques de proximité pour les grandes entreprises autour de trois métiers complémentaires

Le conseil et l’intégration de solutions applicative de gestion (Application Services),
L’infrastructure technique et l’exploitation de la production informatique (Infrastructure Services),
L’ingénierie scientifique, l’informatique technique et industrielle, la mécanique et l’électronique dans les grands projets de R&D industriels (High Tech Consulting).