SMARTSWIPE wants to protect your online shopping

The Internet is a scary place, when you open your browser you can [if you are not careful] expose yourself to numerous viruses and malware applications in a very short span of time. But even if you are careful there are dangers. As we buy more and more items from online retailers we increase our exposure to theft. This is not just identity theft but actual theft. Every time you enter your credit or debit card into an online checkout or bill pay page you are at risk of having those important numbers skimmed right off the top of those pages.  Of course malware protection and other safety applications can limit your exposure as well. One of these is called SMARTSWIPE. This is a device that can read the information off of your credit and debit cards and enter it into an online retailer’s [or bill pay site] securely and without you needing to manually type it in. So let’s take a look at the SMARTSWIPE from NetSecure Technologies and see how it holds up.

Package -
The box the SMARTSWIPE comes in is small. It is not much bigger than the average box for an phone case. It is also interestingly non-descript. I was surprised that they chose to place the words “Safe Online Shopping” in bold letters that even seem to obscure the name of the product.

However, once you do pick the box up [maybe to chuckle at it] you will notice there is a flap on the front. Opening this flap gives you a better idea of the product you are getting.  Unfortunately other than the glimpse of the actual SMARTSWIPE, all you really get is “the HardSell”

The back of the box actually has the most information about the product and explains what you would want to buy the SMARTSWIPE for.

Once you pull the SMARTSWIPE out of the box you will notice that there is no CD-ROM or anything else that would have drivers or software on them. All you get is the SMARTSWIPE and a small booklet.

The SMARTSWIPE  -
The SMARTSWIPE card reader is a small device with a rather long USB cord on it. It looks a little like a flying saucer.

It is actually two parts. The first is the egg shaped reader and the 2nd is a conical stand.

The egg portion contains the magnetic reader and the other hardware that transfers the digital information off of your card and through the software to the web page you are using.

The lights along the opening indicate that the SMARTSWIPE is ready for use and when it is ready for you to swipe your card these will blink in the direction you need to swipe.