Things to take note to Prevent E-Auction Fraud

Auction is defined as market mechanism by which buyers make bids and sellers place offers. It is characterized by the competitive and dynamic nature by which the final price is reached. Auctions can rapidly disposal of items that needs liquidation or a quick sale, they offer trading opportunities for both buyers and sellers that are not available in conventional channels and they ensure cautious execution of contracts.

Electronic auction (E-Auction) is auctions conducted online. For example: www.lelong.com.my. www.ebay.com.my

There are several types of e-auction fraud as follow:

• Bid shielding
• Shilling
• Fake photos and misleading descriptions
• Improper grading techniques
• Bid siphoning
• Selling reproductions as originals
• Failure to pay
• Failure to ship merchandise
• Loss and damage claims
• Fake escrow services
• Other frauds

Protecting against E-Auction Fraud

• User identify verification

- Verify IC number, driver’s license number, and data of birth.

• Authentication services

- To determine whether an item is genuine and described appropriately.

• Grading services

- To determine the physical condition of an item.

• Feedback forum

- Allows buyers and sellers to build up their online trading reputations. Buyers and sellers provide comments on their experiences with the other parties.

• Insurance policy

- Some sites provide insurance on auction frauds but extra cost is incurred.

• Escrow services

- Both sellers and buyers in a deal are protected with a independent third party. This third party will also hold onto the money form buyer until confirmation is received from buyer to pay seller (after confirmation of goods received).

• Nonpayment punishment

- Friendly warning for first-time offense, sterner warning for second-time offense, a 30 day suspension for a third offense, an indefinite suspension for a fourth offense.

• Appraisal services

- Expert assessment of authenticity and condition and reviewing what comparable items have sold for in the marketplace.

• Physical inspection

- Can eliminate many problems especially for collectors’ items.

• Item verification

- Neutral third parties will evaluate and identify an item through a variety of means.

• Other security services

- Dispute resolution between a buyer and seller.

E-Government in Malaysia: Its Implementation so far and Citizen’s Adoption Strategies

The Electronic Government initiative in Malaysia was launched to lead the country into the Information Age. It has improved both how the government operates internally as well as how it delivers services to the people of Malaysia. It seeks to improve the convenience, accessibility and quality of interactions with citizens and businesses; simultaneously, it will improve information lows and processes within government to improve the speed and quality of policy development, coordination and enforcement.

The vision of Electronic Government is a vision for government, businesses and citizenry working together for the benefit of Malaysia and all of its citizens. The vision focuses on effectively and efficiently delivering services from the government to the people of Malaysia, enabling the government to become more responsive to the needs of its citizens.

The 7 pilot projects of the Electronic Government Flagship Application are as follows:
1. Project Monitoring System (SPP II)
2. Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS)
3. Generic Office Environment (GOE)
4. Electronic Procurement (EP)
5. Electronic Services (E-Services)
6. Electronic Labour Exchange (ELX)
7. E-Syariah



The myGovernment Portal (www.gov.my) acts as the one-stop source of Malaysian government information and services for the citizens.

CITIZEN’S ADOPTION STRATEGIES
E-Government, better to known as E-Services had successfully form an emerging field, which is rapidly gaining attention and importance in Malaysia. Citizens expect and demand governmental services with a high degree of quality, quantity, and availability in a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week, and year-round fashion. Governments all over the world are developing information systems and electronic services that have the capacity to meet these emerging service needs and demands of citizens and other clients. The ease of use, compatibility, and trustworthiness are significant predictors of citizens’ intention to use e-Services and that perceived reactive advantage, perceived image, perceived compatibility, perceived usefulness, and relative advantage are significant elements of e-Government adoption. Success in delivering e-services too depends on the capability and self-confidence of citizens when performing e-transactions, in which the situation always require citizens and users to have trust on security of the services provided regarding certain matters such as confidential and private data.

Review a local e-commerce site

The local e-commerce website which I visited is Lelong.com.my. (http://www.lelong.com.my). Lelong.com.my is a pioneer auction website which bringing high standard of quality into homes and business by providing an avenue for on-line trading at a low cost. It starting based on Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C) transactions and now is moving to becoming a Business-to-consumer(B2C) relationship.

You may choose to buy the thing you like by the way complete bid with other, or may directly contact with auctioneer and negotiate the price with him/her, purchase directly. There have a lot of functions to make you use their website more convenient, like Categories Search Engine- which provides you searching by category like Beauty and health, book and comic, phone and communication, it is an easy search engine and the searching speed is quite fast, very useful.

The features of product selling at Lelong.com.my included:-
1) computer
2) handphone
3) watch
4) camera
5) categories which included :
a) feng shui
b) clothing and accessories
c) personal care
d) pets and
e) etc

The speed of downloading is depend on the internet speed subscribed by user. The website has presents the layout of the products, price/shipping, state, bids/views and the time left of bidding products. There have different language to choose according to consumers' preferences. In addition, Lelong safetrade provided to manage every aspects of the settlement process and remove risk from online transaction. Therefore, is giving a safenesses to buyer and seller.

Other than that if you find that this auctioneer is very trustful and you hope to have more trade with him/her, you also can visit his/her store and check other item. The design of the website take easy and comfort way, do not have too much complex background.

Most of consumer prefer to use Lelong.com.my as a trade of products and services because it is easy to use and convenient compare to buy things at the shopping mall whereby approximately 70% of all items posted for auction on the site are sold.

Corporate Blogging: A new marketing communication tool for companies.

A corporate weblog is published and used by an organization to reach its organizational goals.Although there are many different types of corporate blogs, most can be categorized as either external or internal.

An internal blog, generally accessed through the corporation's Intranet, is a weblog that any employee can view. Many blogs are also communal, allowing anyone to post to them.

An external blog is a publicly available weblog where company employees, teams, or spokespersons share their views. It is often used to announce new products and services, to explain and clarify policies, or to react on public criticism on certain issues. It also allows a window to the company culture and is often treated more informally than traditional press releases, though a corporate blog often tries to accomplish similar goals as press releases do. In some corporate blogs, all posts go through a review before they're posted.

One of the corporate blog with recently added listing is Coca-Cola Conversations http://www.coca-colaconversations.com/, authored by Phil Mooney, the historian/archivist for The Coca-Cola Company for the last 30 years.

Corporate blogs are not only interesting and useful, they are also helping the companies that author them develop a totally new relationship with their customers. In some cases, the blogs have helped the company move the needle in reputation, likability and thus purchase consideration.

The ADVANTAGES of the corporate blog:

1. Leaders can communicate directly with customers, suppliers and investors, as well as employees, helping disseminate and explain strategy.
2. Blogs give the writer an opportunity to answer critics in a controlled forum.
3. Compared with conference or printed memos to all staff, blogs are highly cost effective.
4. A well written blog can give a human face to an otherwise anonymous corporation.

The DISADVANTAGES of the corporate blog:

1. The best non-corporate blogs are spontaneous and genuine. Poorly written corporate blogs can look fake -- or perhaps worse, they reveal incompetence on he part of the writer.
2. It is difficult for executives to write freely, particularly at listed companies where they are legally required to publish significant information to all investors at the same time.
3. There is a risk that an ill-judged comment could be seized upon by the media or disgruntled investors.

External Link:

http://www.corporateleadersblogs.com/

http://mariosundar.wordpress.com/2008/05/05/top-15-corporate-blogs-ranked-may-2008/