miiCard is urging UK shoppers to stay safe this Christmas and prevent online fraud by protecting their online identity. As more and more of us avoid the Christmas crowds by shopping online, so cyber crime levels continue to spike around the season with one in every hundred people affected by fraud and almost £70 million of ecommerce fraud predicted for Christmas 2011 (Source: IMRG).

Christmas is a key target for fraudsters, and shoppers are more than three times likely to experience fraud during the holiday period than any other time of year. James Varga, miiCard’s CEO explains: “Fraud is changing – as we start to reduce security and transactional fraud we are now seeing huge increases in fraud relating to identity theft, impersonation and false documentation. And almost 72% of fraud this Christmas will relate to identity related issues (Source: CIFAS).

Digital passport service miiCard believe it is imperative that UK consumers are aware of the risks and take measures to protect themselves. The company has published a guide identifying the ten tips for safe and secure online shopping which it will publish across the internet and tweet daily in the run up to Christmas. These tips aim to educate the consumer, and will include advice such as: only buy from well known websites, read customer reviews and be careful with the information you share.

As the number of online shoppers grow so we are seeing a corresponding increase in the incidence of internet fraud explains James Varga, founder of miiCard: “Shopping online is fast and convenient and for many of us is a far more attractive option than battling through the crowds on the high street. But, with the increased risk of fraud over the festive period, we are advising consumers to take control and actively protect their digital identity.”

Today in the UK there is no way of proving online ‘I am who I say I am’ in real time. And it is that loophole that fraudsters are leveraging to wage war on the internet shopper: the impact of e-commerce fraud on the UK economy is expected to rise by 18% from £165 million in 2011 to £195 million in 2015 (Source: PayPoint.net).

Varga continues: “We’re encouraging consumers to sign up for a miiCard digital passport and join our fast growing user group who want to create a system of trust online.” Varga wants to encourage banks and retailers to adopt an independent proof of identity that meets anti-money laundering standards. Currently there is no way to prove your identity online to the same level of authority of a passport or driver’s licence.

miiCard is a digital passport (or virtual driver’s licence) that allows consumers to prove they are who they say they are online in real time, validated to anti-money laundering standards. Owned and managed by the individual, miiCard allows the consumer to track, monitor and so take control of their online identity. It creates trust between parties when conducting business, fights fraud and protects consumers without the need for physical identity validation.

Ten Tips for Safe Online Shopping this Holiday Season

1. Buy from well-known websites

Use credible sites like Amazon and eBay that have seller feedback, product reviews and buyer protection procedures in place.

2. Read the reviews

Take the time to read buyer feedback and reviews. Make sure the product is exactly what you want and the seller has a reliable and trusted selling history.

3. Research the business

If you are looking for that extra special something on a smaller, lesser known website, a quick Internet background search should provide you with peace of mind. Check for blog, forum and social media posts by and about the business. Ask your friends if they’ve bought from them before and what their experience was like.

4. Don’t be fooled

If an offer looks too good to be true it probably is. Research the items you’re looking to buy on a few different sites to get an idea of the true value of the goods.

5. Contact the seller

If you have any doubts about a suspicious seller or fake website, contact them to try and verify their details. Poor spelling and grammar in emails from a business can be a warning sign the business is not legitimate.

6. Do a little detective work

Add the words “fraud” and “scam” to the business or product. If someone has been scammed it’s very likely the victims will be making lots of noise in forums and posts online.

7. Read the small print

Read and understand privacy and returns policies. Print a copy of your order and check your bank statement carefully against anything you buy online. Alert your financial provider immediately if you notice anything suspicious.

8. Safety first

Only buy from secure sites that use security encryption in the URL “https://”. Log out accounts after completing a purchase and guard your passwords closely.

9. Don’t give too much away

Be careful with the information you share online. During the buying process all that should be required is: name, email, address, telephone number, payment information and shipping arrangements. Use a landline telephone number and a business address for delivery if possible. Never give out passport, driving licence or social security numbers to anyone online.

10. Payment protection

Using your regular bank account can make you vulnerable so pay by credit card for an added layer of fraud protection.

For more information contact: Sarah Lee

Flexiant, a leading cloud software and services company, today announced the successful achievement of the first year milestone in a three year €10.5m pan-European technology project.

Optimis, a high profile project to develop the tools needed to run the next generation of cloud platforms, is being delivered by Europe’s leading cloud experts, a consortium of industrial and academic partners, including Flexiant, ATOS Origin, SAP and British Telecom.

Flexiant’s cloud software Extility is powering a secure test bed environment on which to develop Optimis. A demonstration model, using real life business scenarios, is now live and employs the Extility software platform to show how the end product is likely to work.

Optimis aims to create a toolkit that will break down barriers between cloud platforms and allow infrastructure and service providers to easily move cloud based services between cloud platforms – whether public, private or hybrid.

This facility is critical when providers need extra capacity or have problems with their own services. Additionally, when a single provider has a problem, workloads can be moved elsewhere and users will see no change. New entrants to the market will also have an opportunity to offer extra capacity allowing them to compete with more established providers.

Tony Lucas, Flexiant’s founder explains: “The motivation for Optimis is the vision that hybrid clouds will become commonplace as private clouds interact with a rich ecosystem of public and other cloud providers. Optimis is aimed at enabling companies to automatically move services and applications to trustworthy and auditable cloud providers in the hybrid model. The potential for Optimis is incredible and we are extremely proud to be part of such an exciting project.”

Flexiant launched FlexiScale, Europe’s first cloud computing platform in 2007, and is the longest standing independent cloud provider in the world. Flexiant’s ground breaking software, Extility, allows service providers and data centre operators to deliver cloud computing services to their own customers direct from their own data centre.

Cloud computing allows businesses to lease computing power as and when they need it, rather than having to buy expensive equipment. Businesses use the internet to access computing resource from hosting providers who provide a platform to collect, store and process data. The net effect is to drive down operating and capital expenditure while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of each transaction and providing infinite scalability.

Optimis is conducted under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for research and technological development. FP7 bundles together all research-related EU initiatives and plays a crucial role in achieving the goals of growth, competitiveness and employment.

Atos (Spain) is the coordinator of the project. The Optimis Consortium includes Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain), BT Group (UK), Flexiant (UK), The 451 Group (UK), Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (Germany), NTUA (Greece), SAP (UK), the Universities of Umea (Sweden), Stuttgart and Leibniz University of Hannover (Germany), City University of London and Leeds (UK) and from June 2011, Arsys (Spain).

For more information, visit the Optimis project website http://www.optimis-project.eu/

About Flexiant

Flexiant is a pioneering cloud computing company providing cloud infrastructure software and services to hosting providers, data centre owners, telecommunications operators and enterprises worldwide.

Its flagship product Extility is the world’s most advanced Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Cloud Computing Software and can be licensed allowing users to build their own cloud and sell cloud services under their own brand.

Flexiant launched FlexiScale, Europe’s first cloud computing platform in 2007, and today is the longest standing independent cloud provider in the world. FlexiScale, showcases the Extility software, illustrating how it enables end users to purchase computing services on a flexible, scalable, automated computing and hosting infrastructure.

Customers can flex their requirements up and down on demand and only pay for the service that they actually use.

For more information contact: Sarah Lee

Heehaw breaks new ground again with a series of captivating digital images for the University of Stirling. In possibly the first commercial use of cinemagraphs in Scotland, Stirling also believes it is the first UK university to use them.

Cinemagraphs are a new technique which add motion to still photographs resulting in photographs that move. They were invented by two US photographers to illustrate fashion and news photographs and the first examples appeared early in 2011. They are created by filming short sequences and editing the moving footage into a still image, allowing small portions of movement from the video to loop seamlessly.

Cinemagraphs have an almost mesmeric quality. At first you catch just a slight movement you could easily miss. It causes you to double take and forces you to look closer as Kirsty MacGregor, Director of Marketing and Communications at the University of Stirling explains: “We were looking for something original, innovative and creative to update our website, something that would stand out and ensure people would engage with the content. Heehaw’s answer was something we had not heard of before: cinemagraphs.

“Heehaw’s technical and creative knowhow has helped us to achieve our vision and by working closely with our own in-house web team they have created fantastic results. The cinemagraphs are a great achievement for everyone involved and demonstrate our commitment to using visual art to reinforce and express the university’s values.

The series of six images include the pages of a book turning, a bunsen burner burning, a hand moving a computer mouse, wind blowing a woman’s hair, a golf club teeing up and a microscope being focused.

Mally Graveson Heehaw’s Director of Productions comments: “The university provided us with a list of suggestions as to what the pictures were to represent. From there we detailed the concepts and planned each shot. The main thing we had to get right was the movement. It has to be subtle yet in a place people would expect to find motion, and it had to be achieved within the technical constrains of a cinemagraph.

“This is a completely new technique for us and for Scotland and of course we are delighted to be the first to do it!”

Heehaw Digital is a full service digital agency offering web design, video, mobile, social media, e-commerce and online marketing. Working with a broad range of public and private sector brands, from the bluechip multi-national to the SME including RBS, Scottish Natural Heritage, Hopetoun House and the Edinburgh Comedy Festival, this multi-sector experience allows cross fertilisation of ideas.

Heehaw’s strong research and development focus means they work at the cutting edge of digital creativity. They were one of the first agencies in Scotland to start using video and are one of the few to have their own specialist in-house video production team.

For more information please contact: Lauren Cormack.

sportscotland, the national agency for sport in Scotland, has appointed Gravitate HR as an expert resource in a three year contract to provide outsourced HR services and manage a HR help desk available to all 50 Scottish governing bodies of sport (SGBs).

In addition to the online HR helpdesk and telephone helpline, Gravitate has developed the sportscotland HR Zone, available online 24/7 to nominated users with the SGBs. This innovative resource, containing a completely up to date library of HR policies and procedures, and template HR documents for the governing bodies, accessible in real time, anywhere in the country from any device at a time that is convenient for the SGBs.

Margery McBain CEO of Gravitate explains: “I believe firmly that people are the essence of any organisation and the style of approach and management of all at work significantly influences success. When people are drawn together by common aims and goals their energy and involvement can bring positive results.

“This is a critical time for sport in Scotland with the upcoming London 2012 Olympics and the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games. With the eyes of the world on the country, people working with sport, either as athletes or behind the scenes, are likely to be under a great deal of scrutiny. It is critical that we create a robust and responsive HR framework for those involved to allow them to do what they do well and to add value to their endeavours to create world class sport within Scotland.”

Targets and benchmarks have been identified to ensure a standard and quality of service. Both helpline and the online HR Zone will be closely monitored ensuring accountability and visibility for Gravitate’s service delivery. Reports for account management will also allow trends to be identified and strategic decisions made.

Following any changes in legislation, Gravitate can instantly update the relevant documents centrally, ensuring that SGBs always have the most up to date information available. SGB users of the HR Zone can choose how they want to contact Gravitate to ensure absolute privacy and confidentiality within an open plan office. The help line lets people speak direct to a member of the Gravitate team who will be able to offer advice.

Lorna Callan, Partnership Manager at sportscotland said: ‘We are delighted to have this expert resource service up and running for all governing bodies of sport in Scotland to use to support them in the day to day running of their organisations. It is important that we support SGBs to be well managed organisations and this is one of the ways we will do this. We believe that this service will provide the support and guidance that SGBs need and we look forward to working with Gravitate and the other expert resource teams to make the programme a success.’

Gravitate HR is a full service outsourced HR advice and support company specialising in workplace dispute resolution, performance management processes and HR policy. Launched in 2006 by Margery McBain, the company works with a number of high profile companies including Found Ocean and The Kitchin. Gravitate helps a broad range of public and private sector companies to manage employment related issues, in many cases working as part of the management team to help make difficult decisions about their team and the way forward.

sportscotland is made up of a head office in Glasgow, a high performance arm, the sportscotland institute of sport in Stirling and the institute network regionally. The sportscotland Trust Company operates three national training centres, Glenmore Lodge, Inverclyde, and Cumbrae.

For more information please contact: Sarah Lee.

Independent travel company Haggis Adventures is using video to engage with the youth market, as part of a dynamic and interactive online marketing campaign. A new three minute video has been shot and produced by one Scotland’s leading agencies Heehaw Digital and launches next week.

Heehaw’s video aims to get people excited about Haggis Adventures and hopefully will act as a catalyst for customers to upload their own videos to YouTube. Haggis Adventures encourage bloggers with large YouTube followings to create their own YouTube travel videos.

Such consumer generated content is valuable marketing for Haggis, with one video posted by a passenger of the Loch Ness Monster trip getting 6,288 views on YouTube.

Haggis is part of the award winning group of independent travel companies including Busabout, Haggis and Shamrocker Adventures – carrying a total of 50,000 passengers a year across Europe, the UK and Ireland.

Heehaw Digital’s film is punchy, fast paced and energetic, quickly catching the essence of the brand for the viewer as Haggis Adventures brand manager, Roger Kerr explains: “ Video is an incredibly powerful way of communicating the experience of a Haggis Adventure and we also use the videos for training purposes with our agents worldwide. But most of all they are massively important for customer engagement and create real interaction between brand and customer.”

Kerr continues: “Heehaw are a great company – young, energetic, youth focused and good fun. They always thinking of new ways to do things – we have worked with them for many years and they always come up with something really fresh and exciting. They really get what we are about and that is important for us.”

As online and YouTube in particular, becomes more and more critical to success in the travel industry, video is now a key part of any marketing campaign. Video is highly measureable from the number of views to the comments left by viewers, allowing the brand to engage one to one with customers.

Mally Graveson, Heehaw’s Director of Productions says: “We shot the video from the passenger’s perspective on a tour of the Highlands so viewers are not listening to a sales guy but listening to other customers and likeminded people. This makes the film far more personal and emotive – customers feel they can connect with the brand and get a taste of what the trip is all about.”

One of the first agencies to start using video, Heehaw Digital has its own specialist inhouse video production team. Over the past decade they have built a powerful reputation in the travel and tourism industry, working with companies like Top Deck Travel, Intrepid Travel, British Waterways, Hopetoun House, Prestonfield House Hotel and Mariott Dalmahoy Golf and Country Club.

Heehaw has worked with Busabout a sister company of Haggis Adventures since 2000. In 2009 they edited a series of two minute taster videos. According to Graeme Ward, the travel group’s Managing Director “since the launch of the Busabout promotional videos sales increased by 79% in Greece, 95% in Croatia and 66% in Italy.”

For more information contact: Lauren Cormack.

Digital passport, miiCard, is launching a survey today aimed at users of dating sites. miiCard want to draw attention to the rapid rise in identity fraud, and are committed to increasing awareness of online safety and preventing fraud. The survey will examine how users build trust and protect themselves when meeting people online.

Online dating has quickly become one of the biggest industries on the internet. Whether you are trying to find an activity partner or someone to share your life with, a multitude of online dating sites can provide listings of people in your area.

However this rise in popularity has come at a cost: online dating sites are now a key target for organised crime, which has led to 200,000 people in the UK reporting financial fraud. A study by the universities of Leicester and Westminster, working with the Serious Organised Crime Agency, discovered that 2% of people surveyed knew of someone who had experienced fraud through an online dating scam.

Details such as surnames, anniversaries, place of work and the names of friends and family can all be used to trace identity and solicit valuable personal information, and so should be guarded at all costs. A similar degree of caution is essential with mobile phone and email account details, which should only be given out once trust has been established.

In order to prevent fraud, details such as passwords, hints and usernames should never be revealed, no matter how close you feel you are getting to someone. Similarly credit card and bank account information should never be released – this opens the door to fraudsters applying for cards and taking out loans in someone else’s name. A degree of caution is also essential when considering giving someone an address. This unlocks the offline world and could increase the possibility of homes being burgled.

As James Varga, miiCard’s CEO comments: “The news that criminals actively target online dating sites is a worrying trend for anyone using these sites on a regular basis. Security is critical, and users should be aware how to protect themselves and avoid being conned. This survey examines how users build trust and protect themselves, and will identify areas that need extra protection.”

To take part in miiCard’s survey on the issue of trust on internet dating sites please click here.

For more information contact: Sarah Lee