Online payments in India cybercafe's - safe or not?

anubisgrau

I got a bit fed up with travel agents charging whatever they want for flight tickets etc - I unfortunately always buy last minute so I now want a change and I'm keen on booking online.

Anyone heard of frauds like CC details being fished during the proces of online transaction in cyber cafes? I know a bit about this being a big thing in Russia - making fake CCs with details fished all over the world, however I'm wondering if there are any particular experiences with this or not.

cheers Gordan

the opoponax

it's definitely possible.

my strategy, in situations where i've opted to use my credit card on the web from india (emergencies, basically), is to find a web cafe which also does other stuff, for instance booking travel, changing money, giving cash advances, etc. my rationale being that the people running this place are already seeing a lot of sensitive foreign documents every day - thus relatively little rationale to steal financial info via keylogging.

internet kiosks in posh hotels that accept credit cards are a good bet for the same reason. Why do they want some grubby backpacker's info when they probably already have Mr. and Mrs. Bigshot's cards on file?

Prashant.M

I wouldn't, unless I have portable applications i.e. applications (browser) on my own USB flash drive, e-credit cards, hardware token generators. You will have to read up a lot and then implement that to be safe. These are what I could think of right now. There was a thread on this; will post the link if I find it.

Found some links. First one is a good one. On reading these threads and on second thoughts I wouldn't use a public computer. I would lose my peace of mind wondering what if and this is just from IM. If I search the net then I would go paranoid and probably stop using my home PC too .

Using PC's for internet banking in India (or Anywhere!)
Internet banking in cyber café
net cafe security
Portable Apps

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Nick-H

I think that the danger in many internet cafes is not that the proprietors will be the ones steeling your data, but that other users may infect cafe machines with their key-logging, calling-home trojans.

I didn't worry about; I might well now.

Major discussion on this topic already: see Prashant's links in the previous post.

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Aishah

I definitely wouldn't use an internet shop's computer to do any online credit card payments. I've seen many with 'hacked by Godzilla' signs on the blue bar at the very top of your page - title of window. What does this mean? Is there no security setup and some hacker has gone in??

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Prashant.M

It's a virus; a low threat one at that.

edwardseco

There is a nice thread on how to do this properly on this site. Its a little detailed. You don't just walk into a world of cybercrime and say here I go. I suspect that buying last minute is the major source of the high prices of airfare as in most of the world. I get a good fare to Boston and wait a couple of weeks. The fare goes up and Harvard ends up costing me more than expected, you snooze you lose, etc..

Hyderabadi

Just posted about this elsewhere too:

IDVault: http://www.guardid.com/idvault/howdoesitwork.php

I've not tried it.

crvlvr

I hope you realize that your credit card info is already all over the place? Every merchant that you have ever used your credit card at has the info. some stores (atleast here in the US) use wireless transmitters to send the info and that has been tapped into by crooks. Cyber cafe should be the least of your worries. Just make sure that you use a reputed credit company which will absorb the loss if you claim fraud. I realize that laws are different based on the country. But, here in the US, the credit card holder is really not responsible for any charges on the credit card if he/she did not authorize it.

edwardseco

Its not quite that unlimited in liability and they can put you through some hassle as well, been there done that. Also its real inconvenient to be travelling and suddenly lose the use of a card and have to somehow obtain a new one. Even had a keylogger show up on my office cumputer. Took that as a good suggestion to password the thing (finally)..
.

Brisso

Rare in practice - I use my card for everything and have done for 10 months collectivley in India - of course, a reputable location probably helps - for example, family run guest house. You can quickly assess whether your trust is warranted.

Having said that, I wouldn't use a card with a $10,000 limit -but my experience is that banks and other similar institutions will honour a genuinely fraudulent transaction.

Aishah

Anubisgrau - another thought passes my mind. I have, like you tried to online book some aeroplane flights - the prices I came up with were actually more expensive than the full price quoted by a travel agent. I think it's 6 to one half a dozen the other which way to go! Rather than using a cybercafe I would go to the Agent.

brownboy66

Great advice Aishah. If possible, for some transactions a face to face visit might be more preferable.

edwardseco

Amen to that, a good agent is a big value added..

Nick-H

Yes, agents tend to have a bad name, like life-insurance salesmen.

But, apart from the scum who join up here, pretending to be customers, to advertise themselves, the good ones really do a valuable service, and it can be worth paying a few rupees more for their expertise.