Online Security

I don’t know about you but the Web has never seemed like a particularly safe place for me. It appears to be a very treacherous scamming jungle out there and one misstep could change my life forever. My heart goes out to those whose personal email accounts have been hacked, whose bank information have been stolen, whose online reputation have been maligned by heartless web users whose amazing ability is to cause harm.

This kind of thinking changed when I discovered years ago that it’s time-saving and hassle-free when I do online booking for my travels. Last year, I made a lot of trips to Palawan, Dumaguete, Cebu and other provinces in the Philippines. More about this later, but I particularly like to travel with Philippine Airlines because their website is easy to use and I love the part where they would provide me the rates for other travel dates. It helps when you want to make the most out of your money. The one thing that kept me coming back—on top of excellent customer service and price—is the fact that there is an authentication system within the site. Think “peace of mind.”

Talking about online security, how safe are we on the Net? How can we detect when criminals are knocking with their “come on pitch” or “scam lines.” With left and right reports of fraudulent activities on the Net, it is such a relief when you stumble upon sites that make it their business to make sure that their web users’ personal details are safe by using the most advanced online security measures. Especially if you’re a Filipino abroad who sends money to the Philippines regularly, this topic is a big deal.

It makes you wonder, with millions of websites out there, how will you know if the one you’re looking at is worth giving your money to and is worth trusting?

Here are some simple things that you’ll find helpful:

• Do your research. Pull up Google, Bing and Yahoo and look up the site where you want to do your online shopping or online money remittance. Expect that there’d be a few negative reviews but try to sift through the thick review cloud what is real and what is not. 

• Ask around. Shoot an email to a relative and solicit advice. Our relatives’ choice of website is normally influenced by firsthand experience, online reputation and proven security.  

• Look for the logos of Better Business Bureau, VeriSign, and TRUSTe. When you see the logos of these companies on a website, it means that it passed the review for legitimacy and has been screened for reliable and secure transactions. 

Strict implementation of fraud protection is a serious concern. It takes one scammer to change the course of your life so better make the aforementioned tips a habit. Not really a difficult process, right? And you too can help make the Net a smaller world for scammers by sharing these handy tips to your relatives.

More than a virtual hangout, the Web is everybody’s community. We should help one another to keep it a safer place.

Remit Pinoy premieres to the world

Inspired by the money flow from outside that helps keep our local economy well-oiled, I put up this blog site to discuss important Philippine events and activities that matter to what can be the most active global money remitters in the world –Filipinos abroad.

Actually, it’s more about the reasons behind these remittance activities. We’ll discover various reasons why Filipinos would want to grab opportunities in the United States or other countries instead of staying here in the Philippines with their loved ones. Why through their remittances, they want to send their love and care for those that they value the most.

We’ll also cover other areas that Filipinos outside find interesting. How technology is reinventing the local gizmo lovers here, how to better communicate with family and friends, and how to pick a good service provider, if relatives overseas need to send money home or forward a balikbayan box.

This blog site is also for the other set of frequent money remitters to the country, these are businesses in the United States who have outsourced personnel here in the Philippines. I’ll include topics on convenient ways of sending business payments online, how to pick a safe and fast online money remittance company and why it’s important that employers pick one that has high credibility.

So keep coming back and I’ll try my hardest to provide articles that Remit Pinoy website’s users will find useful. If you have an idea or a topic that you want  me to feature, just leave your comments and I will see what I can do.

Again,  welcome to Remit Pinoy!