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  1. #1

    Would this be worthwhile?

    Howdy people,

    I have been thinking of creating a website that can confirm people's identities. I think this may be a good idea, but I am interested to know if people would use this, and if people think it's a good idea.

    How verifycation would work is, people enter their details and pay a small confirm fee of say, $9.95. Then a call is made to the listed phone number to verify the phone number, a letter is sent to the address to verify it's existance, an E-Mail is sent to verify the E-Mail ( no free E-Mail accounts, only ISP and work E-Mails ) and if all those fields check out, the account is verified, and the user gets a little link to place on Auctions, websites etc. to say their details are verified. Other verifycation would include matching the user's IP address to the country they list as residence, so there isn't anyone who is pretending to be in the US when they are in China etc.

    Then every 3 months the details are re-confirmed and a quaterly fee of $9.95 applies for the reverifycation proceedure.

    I think, if properly planned and executed this would be a fantastic idea and would sellers and buyers help people feal a little more secure.

    What do other people think, what do YOU think of this idea?

  2. #2
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    On the surface it sounds promising, however one or two things trouble me a little.

    1. How could you be sure they haven't just got friends to cover for them, or even pay to have people collect mail or answer phones.
    2. How could you guarantee they hadn't up and moved the day after getting verification.
    3. What about the legal hastles you could find yourself in if people ended up loosing money because they had acted on your verification and something went wrong.

    I would also suggest there should be some inbuilt insurance to protect you and injured parties.

    Doc
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  3. #3
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    Sounds like you could be in for some serious liability issues if a "confirmed" person starts scamming people.

    Also, who verifies the verifier?

    How do we know that certificates are not being sold to anyone who applies and the proper background checks are being carried out?

  4. #4
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    This sounds pretty interesting. I think fraud screens kind of do this, but not to such an extent to verify every piece of information. Sounds like a good idea, and $9.95 is a decent price pay to pay. Sellers can give confidence to buyers this way and vice-versa. I personally would sign up for such a service.

  5. #5
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    Apart from possible problems as listed above, you would need the support of places like E-bay, Paypal (yes I realise there one and the same, some major banks, some major software and hardware vendors. Once you had those sort of people saying they trust and accept your verification service then it should be possible to build safe guards against most of the other likely problems.

    Doc
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  6. #6
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    Originally posted by blue27
    Sounds like you could be in for some serious liability issues if a "confirmed" person starts scamming people.

    Also, who verifies the verifier?

    How do we know that certificates are not being sold to anyone who applies and the proper background checks are being carried out?

    On the note of what has been mentioned above regarding security and authentic verification. It's basically the same as how much you trust VeriSign and Thawte that they have a good verification system in place when confirming certificates such as SSL or email pgp.

    You'll need to back things up with insurance so if using your system someone is scammed due to incorrect verification, you can offer them compensation.

  7. #7
    Yes, I would be doing intensive checks, and would have a no second chances zero-tolerance policy. I am trying to figure out more ways of verifycation, perhaps even verifying to the extent of people applying have to list contact details for friends who can also verify they are who they say they are.

  8. #8
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    Re: Would this be worthwhile?

    Originally posted by WinAxis
    . . . How verifycation would work is . . . Other verifycation . . . reverifycation proceedure.
    If you're going to offer this service, at least spell verification correctly.
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  9. #9
    I'll use spellcheck!

  10. #10
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    No this wouldn't be worthwhile.

  11. #11
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    For me to use your service I would have to be comfortable with your existing business. Now I am not criticizing you in any way or even reviewing your site, however I thought in may be of some help, if I highlighted some of my concerns.

    These are things I feel are important however, other people may not place as much importance as I do.

    I like to know who exactly the company is, and where exactly they are located. I also like to have the name of the owner of the company. On your site you mention you are an Australian business. You have a 1300 phone number however you don't have an address. You have prices for web-hosting however you don't say whether that is in Australian dollars or American Dollars. You have a forum with 25 members and 19 posts, 11 of which you made yourself , you have only had four others post, this is not very inspiring.

    On WHT I see you have put your ABN, but you have listed what I assume is an overseas number, which makes me wonder if your just an agent for somebody else. I also see you are a "Sole Trader" I would think to get this new project going, you would need to be a Company. It would appear you have only had the business name Callan Milne since August of last year and only had winaxis registered for less than two weeks.

    I also see you are 20 years old, and whilst there is nothing wrong with that, when people and companies are looking to buy a service that has high risks associated with it, they probably would prefer somebody that had had several years experience in the business world.

    Lastly I see you live in Knoxfield which of course is a suburb of Melbourne. I use to live in Upwey, which is not that far from Knoxfeild. I can only locate one Milne family in Knoxfield, they have listings for three different phone numbers but all at the same address. As it is an I. Milne I assume that must be your parent.

    Once again I am not being nasty or harsh or critical but this is the sort of question people will start asking once you launch this venture.

    Doc
    Last edited by TheDoctor; 04-26-2005 at 09:31 AM.
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  12. #12
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    I love the idea, but like many others. I see a few possible problems down the road. How do you know the person who is confirming everything, really is who he or she says they are?

    The problem about online is it's faceless. I could use the name "Bugs Bunny" and you really wouldn't know if I was a man, women, white, black, asian, short, tall, thin, thick, fat, rich, or poor. I've never scammed or con anyone, but if I was going to. I'd tell you I was Marie Sue from San Francisco, California. Full time house wife and mother of two. And with your service, all I would need is some way to forward phone, mail, and an e-mail account.

    Although this service sounds like a good idea. You're going to need something else to give it credit. Maybe if you could add a photo with it or something else that could not be stolen or faked, then you would differently have something.
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  13. #13
    Maybe if you could add a photo with it or something else that could not be stolen or faked
    I could get someone's photo from google image search and show it to you and claim I was that person, photo's don't help at all.

    The idea of also requiring say, 3 other people to verify your identity is probably a better idea.

    I like to know who exactly the company is, and where exactly they are located. I also like to have the name of the owner of the company. On your site you mention you are an Australian business. You have a 1300 phone number however you don't have an address. You have a forum with 25 members and 19 posts, 11 of which you made yourself , you have only had four others post, this is not very inspiring.
    Address is listed in invoices, if you need our address, E-Mail me, admin@winaxis.com . Also, where did you study maths? Since when does 19 Posts Total - 11 Posts by me = 3 Posts by people other than me? , perhaps proof read before you hit 'submit reply'. In addition, it's not about inspiration, people don't really use the forums, and if they do, thats fine, but having started many forums previously, I know it takes quite a kick start to get forums going, and I don't really think thats worth while at the moment, perhaps when I get a larger client base.

    You have prices for web-hosting however you don't say whether that is in Australian dollars or American Dollars.
    Prices on WinAxis.com are USD, it's quite clear on the order form, Prices on WinAxis.com.au are in AUD, and clearly noted at that. To make sure people assume the correct currency, we have an IP2Country database that redirects people to the website that corresponds with their country, unless a cookie is set to state otherwise.

    I also see you are 20 years old, and whilst there is nothing wrong with that, when people and companies are looking to buy a service that has high risks associated with it, they probably would prefer somebody that had had several years experience in the business world.
    Now, I very much dislike you for saying that. It wouldn't matter if I was 5, or 50. However, I can tell by that statement you wouldn't be touching something i'm involved in with a 50-foot pole. It's really sad, because I have heard of people who are 16 and are partially successful, and the only reason they arent very successful is because people have a serious issue with age. Let me tell you, it's not about age, it's about comittment and maturity.

    Lastly I see you live in Knoxfield which of course is a suburb of Melbourne. I use to live in Upwey, which is not that far from Knoxfeild. I can only locate one Milne family in Knoxfield, they have listings for three different phone numbers but all at the same address. As it is an I. Milne I assume that must be your parent.
    Looking in the phone book? Telstra has this great feature, where you can actually pay a little extra and get a Private phone number. I do live with my parents, but their initals are P. and A.

    Once again I am not being nasty or harsh or critical but this is the sort of question people will start asking once you launch this venture.
    Businesses wont care if they have proof of it's security and proper functionality, this trust can be built up over a period of 6 - 12 months. Also, I've found only people looking to destroy reputations actually dig through to find ages, addresses, names, etc. And those people dig through backgrounds for some reason or another to do with some issue they have with them selves, I'd explain more, but i'm not qualified to do so.

  14. #14
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    Address is listed in invoices, if you need our address, E-Mail me, admin@winaxis.com . Also, where did you study maths? Since when does 19 Posts Total - 11 Posts by me = 3 Posts by people other than me? , perhaps proof read before you hit 'submit reply'. In addition, it's not about inspiration, people don't really use the forums, and if they do, thats fine, but having started many forums previously, I know it takes quite a kick start to get forums going, and I don't really think thats worth while at the moment,
    Address may be listed on invoices but that is of no value to people that are still trying to decide whether or not to use your service. reputable companies put their address on their website for everybody to see. Now I suggest instead of worrying about my maths which by the way was correct, I think it would be of more value if you learnt to read properly. I said "You have a forum with 25 members and 19 posts, 11 of which you made yourself , you have only had four others posting," Again I repeat you made 19 posts. I didn't say how many post were made by other members what I said was you have 4 other mebers that posted, and at the time that was correct however since I checked your forum yesterday another member has made a post namely indiglo. Now
    17 posts plus 5 members can't be added to give you a total number of posts.

    Now prices may be noted on the form and it may tell you what currency they are in however that doesn't help people that are looking at your website and wondering whether or not to sign up. Why can't it be put on the homepage for everybody to see.

    Finally you may think age has nothing to do with it but in a lot of countries you have to be 21 before you can legally be held responsible and at 19 most kids are still at school getting a decent education. Yes I said 20 before I just rounded it up but it is actually 19. Also you can't possibly tell me at 19 you have had 10 to 15 years experience running business's and despite what you may think there is still a very large amount of companies that expect owners of companies to have at least that much experince.

    Doc
    Last edited by TheDoctor; 04-26-2005 at 12:30 PM.
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  15. #15
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    Yep , as others have said, a nice idea but too many legal and moral implications.
    Personally, I would stick to whatever you do best.
    Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius

  16. #16
    Also you can't possibly tell me at 19 you have had 10 to 15 years experience running business's and despite what you may think there is still a very large amount of companies that expect owners of companies to have at least that much experince.
    ... ? Where does it say that?

  17. #17
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    Originally posted by WinAxis
    ... ? Where does it say that?
    In your profile.

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  18. #18
    No, i mean, where does it say I have 10 - 15 years business experience?

  19. #19
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    Originally posted by WinAxis
    No, i mean, where does it say I have 10 - 15 years business experience?
    yeah, thats fair enough - I can't see where Axis said anything like that ...
    Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. - Confucius

  20. #20
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    Originally posted by WinAxis
    No, i mean, where does it say I have 10 - 15 years business experience?
    You said you were offended because I mentioned age, you went on to said that young people were very capable. I am simply pointing out that many people value experience and whilst you may feel you have ability, you definately DON"T have experience. I can have an opinion that somebody does or doesn't have ability however at the end of the day it still is only our individual opinions. However in the case of experince this is NOT an opinion it is FACT, you can't argue with that. A 19 year old can't claim to have experience ... no you didn't claim that .. you did claim there was no reason why young people can't run a business and I have given you several. One other thing I would suggest is that a good business person wouldn't attack a person for having a different opinion they would attempt to highlight other points and guide the debate away from points they should realise they can't win.. but they would never confront/attack.

    In another ten or 12 years then age won't be an issue.

    Doc
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