by Glenn Taylor
Northern News Services

NNSL (Oct 06/97) - Chris Hopkins was a victim of high-tech theft early this summer, when Internet thieves ran up nearly $4,000 on his Visa card.

Internet theft is a new type of crime sweeping the World Wide Web. Hopkins is just one of thousands of victims of this new breed of high-tech criminal, who lurks in the shadows of virtual stores and then breaks into its computer codes, downloading secret information like credit card numbers.

It's enough to drive millions of potential customers away from this new marketing medium. But not Hopkins. Despite this painful lesson, Hopkins says the Internet is the best place to shop. And he encourages more Northern businesses to take advantage of the medium.

Hopkins was greeted by a three-page Visa bill when he returned from vacation in August, two months after purchasing a single CD from a New York record company. Hopkins also found an e-mail message on his computer from the company, warning that thieves had "hacked" the company's top-secret codes, and had potentially robbed him and other customers.

The Sound Wire company of New York specializes in hard to find music, said Hopkins. "They had a secure page, or at least I thought they did," he said. The thieves then hacked his Visa number and racked up nearly $4,000 in bills, including Internet pornography charges, jean purchases from Germany, and computer hardware from Florida, to name a few.

The Canada Vise Centre has assured Hopkins he will get his money back, while they investigate who made the thefts.

"The Net is a great place to shop, but check with the retailer to make sure hackers haven't broken into the pages," said Hopkins. Will he stop shopping over the Net? No way. "I just won't shop at Sound Wire. Research the retailer and find out what kind of digital encryption system they use," he advises. "Some are good, some are not so good."

"There's an amazing amount of music listed on the Web. You can find anything," said Hopkins. "It's a great place to shop, even with the (American) duty and exchange."

Hopkins said Northern retailers need to get more aggressive on the Net. Hopkins recently bought a piece of Northern Art over the Web, and he says there's great potential for more customers. "It's just going to get bigger and better," he said.