Kids Using Pre-Paid Cards To Buy Online Porn
Children are using new pre-paid 'credit cards' to buy alcohol and pornography and gamble online, The Observer has learnt. Children's charities and politicians claim that the cash cards are being used by under-18s to buy age-restricted goods and services over the web.
They warn that the cards are ripe for exploitation and that they may be attractive to paedophiles buying pornography online because they are practically untraceable.
An investigation by the children's charity NCH found that it was easy for children to obtain pre-paid cards from corner shops without having to prove their age - breaching card issuers' guidelines. Companies that sold 'adult' products and services to the children included Virgin Wines, Foxy Bingo, online casino 888.com, Amazon and Play.
Pre-paid cards, new to the UK, were originally aimed at people such as migrant workers who don't have bank accounts, but they are now being offered to children.
'Children can now access and buy the most disturbing things, from explicit DVDs to entry to gambling sites,' said Labour MP Margaret Moran.
IDT Finance, the US company which issued the pre-paid Mastercards to the children in the investigation, did not return calls last week. But a spokesman for Visa said: 'They introduce children to the financial world, start to teach them about financial discipline.'
But the Children's Charities' Coalition for Internet Safety - which includes the NSPCC, Barnardo's and NCH - has written to Apacs, the trade association for payments, warning that the cards 'provide a new vehicle for the trade in child pornography over the internet ... in a way that essentially eliminates the possibility of the purchaser being caught'.
http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/st...151915,00.html
Haha ive often wondered if these types of pre-paid cards could be used to buy porn memberships, now i guess we know :)
Regards,
Lee
