Sunday, December 24, 2006

Don't Listen to the Convenience Store Guy

What turned out as an inventory addition expedition for Phone Card Depot ended up as a "Don't Listen to the Convenience Store Guy" lesson.

The moral of this story: There are more resources available for calling card purchases on-line than in-store. More resources lead to more informed buying decisions and a better calling card purchase.

Today we sent one of our purchasing reps out to look for some of the most popular prepaid phone cards on the market being used to call China from Canada. Phone Card Depot selected two of Toronto's largest Asian malls to conduct our study: Pacific Mall and First Markham Place.

First Markham Place
Posing as a customer, our rep asked the variety stand operator at First Markham Place, "which is your best calling card to from Toronto to China", to which he responded "they are all the best". Confused, we then asked which of the calling card has no hidden fees? The stand owner told our rep that all of the cards had no hidden fees. Yet, they carried 20/20 calling card (see "is your vision 20/20" to see the large amount of hidden fees on this card).

Rep: "What about this one?"


Store Clerk: "See, it says here...no connection fee"
Rep: "This card has many other hidden fees"
Store Clerk: "no...no hidden fees"
Rep: "Okay, Great!"


Pacific Mall
Our Phone Card Depot rep then moved on to the Great Mall of China: Pacific Mall in Markham, Ontario. Of the calling cards offered by this store, our rep knew that CiCi offered the best rates and no-fee pricing structure to China of all calling cards at this booth. The store rep was very anti-CiCi trying to push us towards the 20/20 card again. The push to this card is because the profit margin on 20/20 is double that of the CiCi card.

In summary, don't listen to the convenience store guy. Do your research online, before you purchase a calling card. If you are reluctant to purchase online, perhaps our Safe Holiday Shopping Guide will help.


Regards,

Phone Card Depot
"Your Path of Least Resistance to Long Distance"

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Monday, December 18, 2006

Tips for Safe Online Holiday Shopping

Tips for safe online holiday shopping from Phone Card Depot
  1. Anti-virus / Spyware
  2. Avoid internet cafes/kiosks
  3. Look for seals of approval
  4. Look for the https symbol
  5. Never provide sensitive information in an e-mail
  6. Avoid using wireless networks
  7. Beware of Pop-ups

1. Anti-virus / Spyware:
Get a good anti-virus or spyware program for your computer. Phone Card Depot recommends NOD (personal) or Sophos (business) Antivirus. NOD is great because it constantly scans your incoming e-mails and does not take up as much resources as a program like Norton Anti-virus. Phone Card Depot highly recommends to great "clean-up" programs: Ad-aware SE Personal and Spybot - Search and Destroy, you will be amazed at how many threats these programs find.

2. Internet Cafes / Kiosks:
Internet Cafe's and kiosks may be run on unsecure wireless networks (see #6) or more unscrupulous cafe's may have keystroke recorders installed on machines to record your actions online. Phone Card Depot recommends 3rd party reviewers when seeking out an internet cafe such as YYZtech.ca.


3. Seals of Approval:
You must find a site security seal on any e-commerce site which guarantee's 128-bit encryption. Some of the best encryption providers include: GeoTrust, Verisgn, Thawte. How do you know that these seals are authentic? Click the seal, a certificate will load: check the name of the domain on the certificate, if it matches the domain that you are purchasing from, the domain currently uses 128-bit encryption.

128-bit Encryption:
This creates a safe tunnel through which your private information can go. Internet traffic is similar to sending all of your info in a postcard, 128-bit encryption puts a shield around this postcard so that it can only be opened by who it is intended to be sent to.


4. Look for "https://" in the address bar at checkout
The "s" in https, shows that the SSL encryption is being used properly and that the site is secure. The "s" only needs to be present at checkout.

Good: https://www.thecooleststore.com/checkout Bad: http://www.thecooleststore.com/checkout


5. Never Provide Sensitive Information in an Email
Most e-mail correspondence is not encrypted and can be intercepted by a 3rd party. Do not send credit card numbers, SIN numbers etc. via e-mail.


6. Avoid Using Wireless Networks
Some wireless networks are not encrypted with what is known as a WAP key. You will know if your home network is protected if the technician gave you a WAP key to use if you ever needed to make a new connection to your wireless network. Be especially wary of wireless networks at internet kiosks or cafes.


7. Beware of Pop-ups:
When you see pop-ups always avoid them, avoid temptation to click on unknown e-mails, avoid clicking on websites if they come by email. These websites or e-mails may include an executable file that can install malware on your computer. Firefox provides great pop-up protection, if you're using Internet Explorer, Phone Card Depot highly recommends that you switch to Firefox.

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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Is your vision 20/20?

Is your vision 20/20? ... Maybe not. On September 15, 2006, 20/20 calling card by Group of Goldline was removed from Phone Card Depot's prepaid phone card inventory after it was added only a month earlier (Phone Card Depot adds 20/20 calling card to inventory). This card was removed because of an abundance of hidden fees.





Callingcardreviews.org reviews 20/20 as follows:
"This card is an absolute MESS. It reminds me of a certain cousin who always gets drunk at family reunions. In both cases, I want to scream “TAKE IT EASY”! All cards exist for a purpose, though, so if you can find extremely low rates to your fav. destinations and the fees work out for you, cautiously give this a try…"


So, why do people buy 20/20? I will get to this in the next paragraph, but please see the fees below. Even the most novice phone card user can tell that this card may have some surprises up it's sleeve. You will see that most charges kick in only after the 4th minute, so maybe this card is good for calls less than 4 minutes long like "come and pick me up". Not so fast, after the first minute, the card rounds up 3 minutes and pushes you over the 4th minute threshold.

20/20 Calling Card Fees
  1. Maintenance Fee: 30 cents / day
  2. Service Charge: 39 cents to $1.29 after the fourth minute of each call
  3. Admin Charge: 30% after fourth minute of each call

Why do People buy 20/20?
People buy 20/20 because they think the card is the same as a similarly named card "20/20 Plus" yes, "Plus". 20/20 Plus is a very good card with no hidden fees and great low rates.


Regards,

Tavis McKenzie
Phone Card Depot

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Thursday, December 07, 2006

How to Save a Wet Cell Phone

Last week an article was posted about how to use prepaid phone cards to launder money, following that was an article on programming your calling card into your cellular phone. What if you program your calling card into your cell phone and then throw your cell into the laundry?

I am posting this article because last year I dropped my Motorola i830 into the toilet, it zip-lined down my belt and into the toilet. Good thing the phone was off, however I immediately wanted to see if it was working so I turned it on <>, stupid. Here's an article on how to do it properly.

The article was originally posted on WickiHow, but we have highlighted the finer points below:
See Full-text: http://www.wikihow.com/Save-a-Wet-Cell-Phone

How to Save a Wet Cell Phone

The Drying Method
1. Get it out of the water as soon as possible.
2. Remove the battery.
3. Remove your SIM card.
4. Dry your phone.
5. Allow the phone to dry.
6. Heat your phone. (2-3 days)
7. Test your phone.


Alcohol Soak Method
Apparantly, soaking your phone in 95% alcohol will draw out water from your phone because alcohol is hydrophobic. Use this at your own risk, do it outside and remember to take out the battery.


Air Condition It
Air conditioners also remove moisture, so place your phone in front of an air conditioner to help remove the liquid from it.

Refrigerate It
A fridge will also remove moisture, so take off all of the plastic parts from the phone that you can and put it in the fridge, leave it open to the air. In the fridge the phone will stay dry (unless something is spilled on it), beware of condensation when you take the phone out. The recommended method by which you can prevent this is immediately wrap the phone in paper towel and zip-lock it when you take it out of the fridge.

Regards,

Tavis McKenzie
Phone Card Depot.com
"Your Path of Least Resistance to Long Distance"


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Monday, December 04, 2006

How to Launder Money with Calling Cards

I read an article recently describing how calling cards have recently been used in money laundering schemes, enabling unscrupulous characters to turn 'dirty' money into 'clean' money.

Here's the article:

Imagine you have 10 millions of bucks in your backpack or something alike. You’ve earned this money… well, let’s say you sold something and never reported this sale to the officials to avoid paying taxes and maybe some other problems.
You take those 10 millions in funds and go buy calling cards. It’s up to you to decide whether you prefer calling cards for local calls or long distance international calling services. Then you set up your own “premium” number, that you need to pay for to access (like sex on the phone, horoscope etc.) And then… yes, you got it right, you start calling this number with the calling cards you bought. It is an almost automated process and may open as many paid-to-access numbers as you like. Soon you have your money (excluding some 20-25% of losses, which is a very good result for dirty cash laundering) absolutely legal on your bank account.

Easy? Yes. Popular? So far, yes. Punished? Yes, if cought and right now it is almost impossible.

I don't get it. Didn't the shady character just loose 25% of his money and turn it into legitimate taxeable income?

Regards,

Tavis McKenzie
Phonecarddepot.com

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What is a Local Access Number?

This is a local telephone number, such as 1-416-244-4444, which is used as an access number for certain prepaid phone cards. Local Access Numbers are used to reduce network costs and provide better pricing for consumers. Many of Phone Card Depot's calling cards have local access numbers.

Regards,

Phonecarddepot.com
"The Path of Least Resistance to Long Distance"

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Friday, December 01, 2006

Programming Calling Cards Into Cellular Phones

Phonecard Depot Tutorial: Programming Calling Cards into Cellular Phones


Result: Have your local access number and PIN entered with the push of a speed-dial button on your cellular phone.

Why: Programming a calling card into your cell phone means that you do not need to fumble around for local access numbers or your PIN, which can be a time-consuming task. In order to do this, you will need to know a little about advanced phone book entries on your cellular phone. The problem with placing a basic phone book entry (i.e. a series of numbers) is that there must be an "inserted pause" between the access number and the PIN.


How it will work:

1. User presses speed dial #
2. Phone dials xxx-xxx-xxxx (access number) [PAUSE] xxxxxxxxxxxxx (PIN number)
3. User hears: "Please dial your destination number"

If you always dial the same long distance number you can append another [PAUSE] after the PIN number is inserted and then store in the long distance number to be called. Advanced phone users can even create multiple phone book entries to enable dialing different long distance numbers with the same stored calling card.


Which calling cards work best:

High dollar value calling cards:
You're taking the time to program the card into your phone and want it to last a long time.

Calling cards with no connection fees:
Assuming you want to make multiple calls

Calling cards with free state-wide or province-wide local access.
No matter where you are in the province, your new speed dial will work and you won't be paying an 800 number premium on the card. Such cards include: CiCi and Gold calling card, which are both available at Phone Card Depot.


How to Create Advanced Phone Book Entries:



Example Phone:
Motorola StarTAC 7868*
*this proceedure is similar for most new cellular phones as well.







Action: Enter the calling card’s local access number
Result: The numbers appear on the display

Action: Press FCN (Menu or Func) then use the directional pad to select “Insert Pause”
Result: The number “0” or the letter “P” is typically inserted into sequence

Action: Enter the PIN number (the sequence of numbers to follow the pause)
Result: The numbers are added to the sequence

Action: Press “STO” or “menu -> store number”
Result: The calling card and PIN will be stored in memory


Using Pause Dialling
Action: Enter the memory location and press send (or select new number from address book)
Result: You will hear: key tones, [PAUSE], key tones, “Enter your destination number”


Troubleshooting
“Incorrect PIN” messages may be caused after you try your speed-dial if the pause is not long enough. In this case, you likely need to put one (or two) more pauses in the sequence. i.e. Local Access [pause] [pause] [pause] PIN because the pause may not be long enough.

Some cellular phones have a limit on how many numbers can be added to the dialling sequence. If you run out of space you will have to “memory link”. This is just a fancy word for “store the rest in another memory slot” so, for example. Enter just the local access number in one speed-dial, then enter the PIN as a completely different speed dial entry. You will need to activate the second speed-dial entry (the one with the PIN) manually once the first speed-dial entry (the one with the local access number) is finished dialling.

Regards,

Phonecarddepot.com
"Your Path of Least Resistance to Long Distance"


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