Over the weekend I had to deal with a problem with one of our web sites that affected the completion of payments. It's all fixed now, account actions resolved and all the users notified, but it most of the time needed to fix the problem was having to go through and refund all the multiple payments that people had made! The users' where trying to get credit onto the web site to watch a live Christmas performance from a venue in Cambridge, and the money was leaving their PayPal or Credit Card account but not appearing as credit on the site.
What had been happening is that because people where in a rush to ensure they could watch this Live stream, they kept pumping money into the site, despite it not appearing on the web site! Only a very very small percentage of users went into PayPal and raised a dispute, while a handful of others emailed our support desk. However the worrying trend was that for a webcast costing £5, in the end some people deposited in excess of £50 or £60.
What has lead normal people to become so content with throwing money into a system that appears not to work while not raising the alarm? The users where 95% new to the site, so it wasn't brand loyalty or previous experience that allowed them to continue in confidence, maybe it was the knowedge that their Credit Card payments are insured and PayPal will look into disputes, but I think I've had a glimpse of the blind faith people put into services that have a web site and a PayPal account that it must be legitimate and all will be well. I can start to see how those scammers and phishers earn their keep.
Maybe we should start thinking about ramping down the 'Secure Online' rhetoric, at least to add an amount of caution to those who are using a service for the first time.
As for me, I'm testing the newly implemented balance checks and payment confirmation systems.
