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Using credit cards on the Internet is at least as safe as using them in the real world, but it is not bulletproof. A Buffalo, New York-based Internet service is the latest victim of hackers seeking to steal credit card numbers. Internet Management Services confirmed last week that approximately 2,000 consumer records, which contained personal information and credit card numbers, were lifted from their Web site called SalesGate.com. The company says the stolen card numbers were posted on the Internet. The firm says it has notified its customers of the security breach and directly notified the card issuers affected. The SaleGate.com Web site guarantees it will fully cover any losses from credit card numbers stolen from its site. The SalesGate.com attack follows a similar incident in January, whereby CT-based eUniverse, Inc. reported the theft of more than 300,000 credit card numbers from its CD Universe Web site. Meanwhile surfers using stolen cards to make purchases on the Internet has become a real menace for some e-tailers. Internet travel agency, Expedia, announced last week it is setting aside $4 to $6 million to cover fraudulent transactions. The company says the fraud was committed by professional criminals who illegally obtained credit cards from non-Expedia.com sources and used those stolen cards to purchase travel online. The charge represents the company's estimate of unreserved fraudulent activity to date and is less than one half of one percent of tickets sold. The gross bookings to date on the Expedia.com site total over $1 billion, and the company's net revenues total over $85 million. Consumers can protect themselves from becoming victims by making sure they know who they are dealing with when making online transactions. The same applies in the real world.
