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Old 06-02-2019, 01:12 PM
 
Location: Redwood City, CA
15,246 posts, read 12,882,909 times
Reputation: 54028

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In January, cyber thieves ran roughly 100,000 stolen card numbers through the payment system of Innovative Higher Ed Consulting Inc., a two-person startup in New York. Soon after, Bank of America Merchant Services, the startup’s payment processor, sent a $27,000 bill for reversing the charges.

“We had alerted the bank that there was fraudulent activity," said IHEC co-founder Jessie Daniels, a sociology professor who started the company as a sideline. “Instead of saying, ‘Thank you,’ they came after us.” The fledgling company had just $1,200 in revenue when it closed in May because of the cyberattack, she said."

https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-small...ck-11559490543

BAMS alerted the novices from the start that they should enable fraud protection, but they didn't. Now they are "victims."

In case it isn't absolutely, positively clear: When you start a small business online and set up payment processing, YOU are responsible for catching fraudulent transactions. Not the payment processor.

I went through this with my own website. It's not that hard to spot fake transactions but it can be time-consuming. It's one of the reasons I moved to Amazon, where I never have to wonder if a transaction is real or not.
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Old 06-02-2019, 01:49 PM
 
Location: Aurora Denveralis
8,712 posts, read 6,710,817 times
Reputation: 13502
I've known too many academics that dabbled in this business thing, usually with hilarious results. But a hundred thousand transactions? And they didn't clue around #500, on a slow day with a hangover? When they likely did not expect more than 10 to 50 a week, depending?

That's a new standard.
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Old 06-02-2019, 05:43 PM
 
Location: Redwood City, CA
15,246 posts, read 12,882,909 times
Reputation: 54028
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quietude View Post
I've known too many academics that dabbled in this business thing, usually with hilarious results. But a hundred thousand transactions? And they didn't clue around #500, on a slow day with a hangover? When they likely did not expect more than 10 to 50 a week, depending?
The article makes it sound like they thought BAMS would handle it all for them.

I'm sure they didn't know what to expect, not having run an online store before. But hey, it must be easy, right?
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Old 06-06-2019, 06:28 AM
 
10,500 posts, read 6,979,631 times
Reputation: 32327
Quote:
Originally Posted by Quietude View Post
I've known too many academics that dabbled in this business thing, usually with hilarious results. But a hundred thousand transactions? And they didn't clue around #500, on a slow day with a hangover? When they likely did not expect more than 10 to 50 a week, depending?

That's a new standard.

Academics, for all their brains and education, typically have an enormous blind spot when it comes to business. The few academics who have come to me for advice have, to a person, exhibited almost a weird arrogance. As if they are thinking, "Well, that might be your experience, but I have a Ph.D., so I'll naturally avoid those pitfalls." It's almost as if they willfully ignore the dictum that expertise in one area does not mean expertise in another.



The inevitable then occurs.



One guy in particular came to me about fifteen years ago. He had a great idea for a product, one that he wanted to get off the ground. I read his business plan which, like all business plans, was hopelessly optimistic. He projected positive cash flow by Month Six with zero expenditures on marketing because, well, people would simply run to his door screaming, "Take my money. Every single dime!"



After blowing off my advice that ranged from having intellectual property protection to decent financing through some venture capital to an aggressive marketing plan and independent sales reps, he started with a two-page website that looked as if it were produced by a precocious sixth grader. He mortgaged his house, produced a prototype, and then waited.



Six months later, he called me out of sheer desperation, but it was too late. He folded the company, essentially blaming the market for being too stupid to recognize the brilliance of his product. Last I heard, I think he sold his idea for a song to another company in order to pay off his debt.

Last edited by MinivanDriver; 06-06-2019 at 06:39 AM..
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Old 06-12-2019, 03:46 PM
 
Location: NMB, SC
42,575 posts, read 17,811,521 times
Reputation: 34645
But they are "academics". In theory and on paper everything just "works".
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Old 06-17-2019, 03:08 PM
 
Location: In a city within a state where politicians come to get their PHDs in Corruption
2,907 posts, read 2,060,245 times
Reputation: 4478
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMSRetired View Post
But they are "academics". In theory and on paper everything just "works".
That's why it's hilarious to think entrepreneurship can be taught in school.....

The only thing academics can teach anyone is how to be an academic.
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Old 06-27-2019, 01:13 AM
 
725 posts, read 802,352 times
Reputation: 1697
Quote:
Originally Posted by tolovefromANFIELD View Post
That's why it's hilarious to think entrepreneurship can be taught in school.....

The only thing academics can teach anyone is how to be an academic.
Which is why I don’t value when someone says they are proud to be “educated”. It just proves one’s ignorance although given how society is and how they are brainwashed from an early age to worship programming (aka education) I understand where they are coming from.
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