Credit Card Scam

There is a credit card scam going on out of Indonesia right now. I lost $2000 worth of product plus $300 in shipping this week…and the guy is at it again with another shop here in North Carolina (by the way if you’re the guy and you’re reading this, the FBI and Secret Service now know all about you) …luckily I had gotten word back to Hyperlite and they had begun warning dealers. This last order was boxed and ready to ship when it was caught.

All of you out there need to check your credit card statements…these guys are getting legitimate credit card numbers from people (off the net I guess) and running them through secure online servers. Everything checks out and the product is gone. Obviously the money is refunded when it is caught but the retailer is out the money…this is the risk of doing business on the net I guess.

All of you have been so great since I started this venture, and this will not deter me from my goal of being the best board shop out there (I’ll be more careful with overseas I can assure you). I needed a way to reach as many consumers and retailers as possible and WakeWorld is the best way I could think of.

Thank you again to all that have supported Trinity and please be careful when dealing with your credit card on line!

Maeghan

Thanks for the info! Glad you posted....

Would you like my assistance in fitting this guy with a nice pair of concrete shoes? Or I can feed him through a wood chipper. Or feed him to a barn full of starving pigs. Whatever you'd like.

I'm sorry to hear about this. You guys have been great to me since I first heard of you. I hope this problem clears up asap. Good luck.

Thanks Maeghan - That's the biggest reason we use Paypal. (Insured for buyers & seller) Hope you get your stuff back. That sucks hard !

thanks for posting maeghan. it's good to spread the word, but other than "be careful when dealing with your credit card on line," what exactly are we (as both consumers and small business owners), supposed to do to avoid this?

is there any information on what the scam is, how it's being pulled off or what can be done to prevent it?

Chris, there is a similar scam beeing pulled in the western U.S. They are calling your house, after they have your credit card numbers. They say they are from Visa, MC or whatever company you have. They tell you that there has been some unusual activity on your account, specifically a charge for $499.99, they ask you for the security numbers on the back of your card after reading you the full numbers on the front side. The 3 number pin code on back is how merchants on-line verify that you are in possession of this card. They then charge $499.99 to your card. You think this is going to be credited. After you receive the second bill and its still there, most people call the credit card company, they tell you what happend and you are over the 30 day billing dispute time frame that some credit card companies have. This is why I recommend every one uses a paper shredder at their home. Sorry if there is typing mistakes it's late an I'm on overtime

Thanks for the support here is what I know so far and what is happening currently:

Whoever this person is he has a stack of credit card numbers from people all over the US! So far he has given me 10 different numbers that check back to 10 different people all over the country from Utah to Florida. I have contacted the banks in each case and reported the use so at least those people are safe. I have no idea where he is getting these numbers; however, he keeps emailing me to buy more stuff with different numbers saying the cards belong to his “friends”.

I have contacted the FBI and they advised me this was an issue for the Secret Service so I called there. Bottom line, there is NOTHING they can do to this guy. What the agent told me is “stay away from any dealings with Indonesia and Nigeria”, both of these countries are riddled with fraud and banking problems and the US has no jurisdiction to do anything. It is even worse when you call Visa or MasterCard; their international departments acknowledge that there is a problem but say “what can we do about it”.

From what I have learned (the hard way I might add) the best card for consumer protection against this stuff is American Express. Here is why (copied from fraud.org web site): American Express centralizes its transaction verification and Merchant Account tracking, which makes it far more fraud resistant.

This is all that I know right now, but I will keep you guys posted. Thanks again for all the support.

Mark, I couldn't agree more on the paper shredder! I have a cross-cut unit at home and use it like I'm an Enron executive. I never put bill stubs or receipts in the trash always shed them. You can’t be to careful these days…do a Google search on this and the results are amazing and frightening.

Maeghan, do you require customers to give you the three digit number on the back of the card? I don't know much about it, but it seems like that's an extra security step that helps confirm that they have the card in their possession. I know I get asked for it more frequently these days both on and off line.

Dave,
Yes we do use the AVS 3-digit code. After researching on fraud.com I found out that the system has been compromised from day one, it offers little protection.