Selecting a Long Distance Calling Card Retailer

    /24-7PressRelease/ - TORONTO, CANADA, August 25, 2006 - The ability to purchase calling cards on-line has made long distance calling much easier, but be careful when selecting an on-line retailer. To ensure that your on-line experience is successful, look for the following items.

1. Appropriate security measures (SSL and Hacker Safe)
2. Buy brand name calling cards
3. Privacy Policy

Most on-line calling card vendors do not employ appropriate security measures. These are important because calling card sites have been prone to hacking, because most of the inventory is stored as pin numbers in on-line databases. Albeit, thieves stealing these pin numbers should think twice, because all calls made using pins can be tracked by the calling card companies. Protected inventory is important to the consumer for two reasons: If your pin has been recorded by someone hacking calling card sites, it may deplete or erase your pre-paid calling card balance; if the calling card provider supports call details, a hacker can quickly use your secret pin number to look into your call details. These details may include the numbers you have been calling and the times of day that you place calls.

Security measures to look for in an on-line calling card retailer: To be sure that your purchase is safe, it is important to look for the "Hacker Safe" logo by ScanAlert when purchasing calling cards. Also look for an up-to-date SSL certificate on the site you are purchasing from: GeoTrust, Verisign, Thawte and Entrust are names to look for. Remember to click both the "Hacker Safe" and SSL certificate to ensure that they are current. When clicked, you will see a date and/or time-stamp validating the site seal.

Calling card sites have found it very profitable to carry private label phone cards that they produce themselves, rather than brand name calling cards. Brand name calling cards are cards carried by a variety of on-line merchants, whereas private label cards are cards carried and sold almost exclusively by the manufacturer. As a rule of thumb, if you have seen the calling card in a local variety store and then again on-line, it is probably brand name. Private label calling cards may be a more risky purchase because they may have less of a track record than their brand name counterparts. Private label calling cards also do not have clear privacy policies, making it possible for all of your valuable calling data can be sold to 3rd parties. It is difficult to tell if a calling card is brand name or private. Brand name calling cards include: Bita calling card, CiCi calling card, Jia Calling Card and Gold calling card which are all produced by Group of Goldline.

When buying calling cards, you will also want to review the company's privacy policy to ensure that your personal information will not be shared with third parties. A calling card company can tell a lot about you based on you dialling habits: where you call and when you call.

Reputable and consistent sources for on-line calling cards include callingcards.com, and phonecarddepot.com. Callingcards.com actually verifies your credit card information by phone, which is a very valuable service. They also provide rechargeable phone cards, which can make repeat purchases easy. Phone Card Depot carries only brand name calling cards, and although the site design is not as flashy as others, Phone Card Depot meets all of the security requirements needed for a safe transaction. All calling card sites feature "instant pins" which means that your calling card pins and calling card local access numbers are e-mailed to you immediately.

Once a calling card site is found that services the consumers calling area and calling destination, while providing appropriate security measures, brand name phone cards and a satisfactory privacy policy the consumer can feel confident making repeat purchases when overseas calling cards are required.

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