BBC News: Tackling under-age online sales

BBC NEWS | Business | Tackling under-age online sales: “Tackling under-age online sales
By Joe Lynam, Business reporter, BBC News”

riday, 9 May 2008

Buying products online couldn’t be easier.

With a few clicks shoppers can browse through dozens of websites and choose size, colour, shape and destination – all from the privacy of the home.

That’s great if it’s a CD, book or generic product being procured but that self-same ease of purchase is increasingly of concern to parents who can no longer control what their children are buying online.

Young people are using the anonymity of the web to buy all types of products suitable only for adults – made easy by purchasing prepaid credit cards which don’t require stringent proof of age.