An expose of bad businesses and their unethical practices

According to Fox News, Aberdeen (a Harte-Hanks company) recently released a report on its study to increasing the confidence of users shopping online and cutting down on on-line fraud. The report details the strategies used by those companies that it sees as being most effective in boosting user confidence and stopping fraud.

The report indicates that even though online marketing organizations are very concerned about fraud itself, they are even more concerned about gaining the confidence of their account holders. This seems a case where image is deemed more important than reality.

From the report: "Everyone we spoke to -- at banks, service providers, e-tailers and consultancies -- was very, very apprehensive about the increase in the volume of and sophistication of fraud attacks," said Carol Baroudi, research director in the IT Security practice at Aberdeen. "Yet nearly all were even more concerned about account holder and potential account holder reticence. Survey respondents said that confidence has been steadily declining over the last seven years, and as a result, the cost of doing business online is climbing."