Australian Auction Site Stepped up Security to Protect Members

Oztion has introduced new security measures to help prevent fraud and protect their members.

(PRWEB) October 23, 2005 -- Oztion, the second largest consumer-to-consumer online auction house in Australia has stepped up security in order to protect their members from online fraud. Oztion aims to eliminate possible fraud by implementing a series of security measures.

Managing Director Philip Druce stated, “We have been putting a lot of effort into making sure Oztion is a safer place to buy and sell. Prevention is highly important and helps ensure a safer place to trade. Some auction sites provide compensation for buyers after a fraudulent transaction has occurred. If we can protect our members BEFORE a fraudulent transaction, we can allow them to trade with more confidence. It also saves us considerable cost and time required to investigate frauds and track down the culprits.”

Oztion designed and implemented the security system based on their staff’s own online trading experience, members’ suggestions and experience gained from 10 months of operations.

Oztion members are required to become verified before they can bid, buy or even ask sellers a question. Users can become verified by registering with an approved email address such as an Australian ISP email, providing their credit card details or crediting their prepaid account. Oztion also keeps track of messages sent between members and can detect and stop suspicious messages from reaching other members.

Members wishing to sell are required to set up a sellers account and provide further verification. They can start selling after successfully becoming credit card or address verified. Currently Oztion only accepts Australian residents to become sellers and only Australian credit cards and addresses can be used for verification.

Technical director, Kelvin Yip stated: “Our system has stopped suspicious people that used stolen credit card details to try and setup seller accounts. By doing so, we have stopped overseas sellers from using our service; however, we have also managed to stop fraudsters from selling on our site which is far more important to our members.”

Oztion has a monitoring system in place that can detect suspicious items which they call “Items Quarantine”. The system sends an alert to the Administration staff to assess suspicious items. If found to be suspicious buyers are alerted. In some cases the seller is suspended immediately.

Oztion has also worked closely with the Australian Police and the Computer/High Tech Crime Squad has provided information and assistance to help Oztion face the problem of online fraud.

About OZtion

OZtion is a new Australian consumer-to-consumer online auction site which started in January this year and currently has over 10,000 members and approximately 30,000 items listed for sale. Oztion does not charge listing fees. Sellers pay a sales fee ranging from 1.5% to 3% after an item sells.

For further information contact Philip Druce by email or visit www.oztion.com.au.

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