A Glance At E-Commerce

Electronic commerce, commonly known as E-commerce or eCommerce, consists of the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. The amount of trade conducted electronically has grown dramatically since the wide introduction of the Internet. A wide variety of commerce is conducted in this way, including things such as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), automated inventory management systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web, although it can encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail as well.

The  e-commerce refers to the technology/systems refers to traditional business models. E-commerce is the complete set of processes that support commercial business activities on a network. In the 1970s and 1980s, this also involved information analysis. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of e-commerce. However, from the 1990 onwards, this included enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing. Perhaps the earliest example of many-to many electronic commerce in physical goods was the Boston Computer Exchange, a marketplace for used computers, launched in 1982. The first online information marketplace, including online consulting, was likely the American Information Exchange, another pre-Internet online system, introduced in 1991.

Although e-commerce is very attractive not only to the supplier but also to the consumer through its ultimate level of convenience, one’s own home, it is also susceptible to cyber crime. Thus, many people are unwilling to trust an e-commerce business and the electronic payment methods used. The solution to this problem, however, cannot be found in better encryption methods and secure transactions, but in a change in the hearts of human beings such that they no longer live self-centered lives putting the greatest value on material goods but rather recognize that true happiness comes from harmonious relationships with others. In such a society, e-commerce can find its place, supporting prosperity for all.

There are three categories of frauds in an online marketplace, each with distinct and multiple Modus Operandi :

Buyer side frauds: Where buyers file fraudulent claims, chargebacks or compromised payment cards. Fake buyer accounts are created with the intention of utilising a compromised payment card to purchase items. Many buyers also abuse services provided by the marketplace such as their return policies, guarantees etc.

Merchant side frauds: These typically range from non-fulfillment to selling counterfeit and many other complex models. Fraudsters typically create a new account and list popular/fast moving items at extremely low prices to attract the most number of customers in the shortest period of time. As the last date of delivery passes, complaints of not having received the items start to pour in. The fraudster tries to keep the whole scheme going till disbursement day using various tactics. In the case of counterfeit goods, complaints of the item being fake start coming in.

Cyber security  fraud: Customer accounts are not without cyber security challenges. Frequently, accounts are compromised and subject to account takeovers (ATO) and identity theft. Credit card details are sold online by the hundreds. Professional fraudsters have an arsenal of credit card numbers and their details. Sometimes a marketplace account is a by-product of a larger hack. Hackers then proceed to place orders through the account or create a seller
account from which a scheme is run.

LEGAL RECOGNITION OF E-COMMERCE

As commerce on the Internet has grown, the inevitable fallout from failed transactions and business relationships has resulted in a developing body of case law. In some cases, the legal issues that govern the analysis of the electronic commercial transaction are no different from those applied in a more traditional commercial setting.
For example, a fraudulent scheme perpetrated through print media is still the same fraudulent scheme when perpetrated on a web-site. Indeed, in the area of consumer fraud, the emerging issues in e-commerce are less related to substantive legal principles, than they are to procedural issues, such as the courts’ jurisdiction over out-of-state defendants and discovering and stopping fraud from taking place online.

Article By- Harshita Jain

Editing By- Jasleen Kaur