The size of the internet in 1995 was such that typical path for a web based credit card purchases used a toll-free call with a landline phone over POTS. Long distance was still charged per minute and so was cell service. So was most internet access. If people were online, it was probably through AOL or Compuserve.
There weren't older people experienced with internet sales. It was all brand new.
Looking back, unencrypted credit card information was probably less risky than it sounds twenty five years later. The technical risks are the same for sure, but in 1995 the vast majority of credit card transactions used carbon paper, the physical card, and an imprinter. To be really useful, a stolen credit card number would need to be made into a physical card. There weren't a lot of places to use a credit card online...that's why Viaweb grew. And there wasn't widespread internet access in the places where credit card fraud at scale became a black market industry.
There weren't older people experienced with internet sales. It was all brand new.
Looking back, unencrypted credit card information was probably less risky than it sounds twenty five years later. The technical risks are the same for sure, but in 1995 the vast majority of credit card transactions used carbon paper, the physical card, and an imprinter. To be really useful, a stolen credit card number would need to be made into a physical card. There weren't a lot of places to use a credit card online...that's why Viaweb grew. And there wasn't widespread internet access in the places where credit card fraud at scale became a black market industry.