Let's Talk - "Online Safety & Transactions"

By now most of you should know my stance on hacking. It sucks majorly, and is ruining the quality of online gaming at a rapid pace. In fact it's becoming an increasingly popular trend amongst the younger generation of gamers, and PC users. The evidence of this trend is so in your face that if you dare to play a game such as 'Black Ops 2" you will no doubt happen across loud mouth teenagers bragging about their hacking feats. Where they are learning this is anyone's guess. I figure it's from the internet though as there are many online resources for hacking tools made easily available to anyone who searches for them. The fact that parents are letting children do as the please in the privacy of their own online world only furthers the problems at hand. Unsupervised, and unpunished kids often times result in the many heinous crimes that occur today within the youth populations of the world.

The reason I'm bringing this to your attention is for several reasons. One of the reasons being the risky nature of online credit card usage, and the recent "League of Legends" hacking incident. Last night while doing my routine last minute Youtube browsing I happened upon a heart wrenching video from one of my favorite Youtubers who goes by the username "boogie2988". You'll recognize him as the "Francis" of the videos I often retweet on Twitter. Francis is a man who has struggled throughout his life with many problems. Even with all of his hardships he has found the time to share with us well spoken, and heart felt words of wisdom that have changed the lives of many of his viewers for the better. Being the PC gamer that he is, Francis has not only played "League of Legends" religiously, but has also spent a ridiculous amount of money on in-game items ($1,000+). This spending of course was done using a credit card.

Francis ended up catching on to the "League of Legends" hacking incident too late, and was unfortunately one of the victims that not only lost access to his account, but also found that his credit card, and other personal information had been stolen as well. This definitely comes at a bad time in his life as Francis is not only struggling to pay his bills, and buy his necessities, but was also saving up enough money for his upcoming wedding. This tragic, and disheartening event should serve as a reminder to gamers, and developers alike that the use of credit cards, and any type of monetary transaction services should be avoided in any online scenario whether it's on consoles, or on PCs. In my honest opinion the "League of Legends" website owner/provider should be held accountable for this breach of personal info, and should be made to fully reimburse every single gamer who was affected. If they don't the gamers should take them to court, and sue the hell out of them. That is my opinion.

This of course brings me to the main focal point of my topic. While online credit card transactions seem to be any easy way for consumers to buy the online items that they desire, and while they are definitely a profitable business for the credit card companies, it is a bad practice overall. Nothing is entirely secure in the world of online transactions, and interactions. As safe as you may think your information is, it is not. Hackers can hit you anywhere. In fact the government can too (points finger at you NSA). Whether it's through your PC, your gaming consoles, or even your mobile devices you are always vulnerable to such attacks, or invasions of privacy.

In my most sincere opinion I do not think anyone should do credit card, or banking business of any sort in an online environment. I don't. I've tried many times to tell family, and loved ones the same thing. I myself do not use credit cards, and I definitely do not do my banking online. I keep my online interactions, and info sharing as safe as possible. Each, and every one of my passwords is unique, and I always keep myself from giving away too many personal details in any form, or fashion. This brings me to yet another topic concerning online transactions, and interactions.

If you want to keep your identity, and your various online accounts safe it is best to take the proper precautions. First of all always, "ALWAYS" create unique passwords for each account you create. Also make sure the passwords are so off-the-wall, and so completely unassociated with anything in your life that no hacker should be able to decipher them. Secondly do not give away your billing info to any site. I strongly suggest that you avoid any online credit card transactions, period. I remember seeing prepaid cards specifically made for certain MMOs at the Local Gamestop. If such a card can bypass using billing/credit card info I highly suggest you using such a payment option instead.

Lastly my final advice goes to the developers, and website owners of these online pay-per-play gaming experiences. Ditch the credit card, and billing requirements. In this day, and age online gaming transactions are a hackers dream come true. If you don't want to take may advice then the least you can do is pay back the victims associated with any hacking incidents pertaining to your offered services. It's only fair. There are other ways around using credit cards though. For example you could use the prepaid PSN, Microsoft Points Cards, and even some PC Gaming equivalents for such transactions. Keep in mind that gamers will eventually become afraid to use your pay-per-play services due to widespread hacking incidents, and in turn you will lose profits, and sales. It is inevitable. That is my advice to you. You can take it, or you can leave it. Trust me though when I say to you that what I'm telling you are the cold hard facts.