Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 10 July 2008 00:12
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 5
iTWire has received more news from concerned eBay users about eBay’s
portrayal of PayPal as the “safest” way to transact on the auction
site, writing to their banks to see if they believe that Direct Deposit
is no longer a safe way to transact.
As the rebellion continues its battle against the
dark side of the eBay empire, concerned citizens have begun exploring
new avenues to protest against PayPal.
Even though this band of rebels has no droids to help them out, they
have come up with a new attack vector in the analysis of eBay’s plans
to claim that PayPal is the “safest” way to transact online. That said,
a previous response to the recent new allegations against eBay is given
by eBay Australia spokesperson Daniel Feiler and re-printed on page 5.
The information iTWire has received from concerned eBay users is as follows, reprinted in full with permission:
“With all the propaganda about online transaction safety I decided
to write to my bank and ask them to reassure me that Direct Deposit is
still the most safe transaction method in Australia.
“I urge all of you to do the same. If PayPal wishes to portray itself
as the safest online transaction method, then perhaps we need to seek
the comments of our respective banking organisations on their view of
this outrageous assertion.
[What follows is a letter sent by an eBay user to the CBA: the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.]
“Dear Sir/Madam
“I have become quite concerned lately over statements being made
publicly by eBay Australia about the safety of using Direct Deposit vs
PayPal.
“I have been a CBA Account holder for over 40 years, and have never had
occasion to feel that my account information or my use of Direct
Deposit has in any way placed me at risk of fraud or risk in the use of
that service.
“For seven years I have been an eBay hobby member buying and selling
online. I live rurally, so availability of various goods is low in my
area, so I shop online. I often buy in bulk to keep prices low, and
on-sell any surplus I don't need.
“I've always used Direct Deposit, and I have always believed that it is
an extremely safe way to transact via Electronic Funds Transfer.
“eBay however, have been arguing that PayPal is the "safest"
transaction product in the EFT marketplace, implying that all other EFT
transactors are unsafe by comparison, and they continue to do so.
The letter continues on page 2.
