Here's a new one.

So you know those sites you can sign up for "trials" and they forever keep charging you?

Know how some Amazon.com book merchants are less-than-desirable?

Put 1+1 and you get id theft. This is a twist you probably haven't heard of.

So Sarah bought some books off Amazon.com

Now we have bills from:

emusic.com 9.99 a month for the last 3 months
napster.com 14.99 a month for the last 2 months
blockbuster.com 21.59 for the last 2 months
real arcade game pass 9.99 for the last 2 months
superpass 9.99 for the last 2 months
motors bargain and trial motors BNI - 19.99 for the last 2 months each

and more..........
And it's 3am. So I can't cancel our card, can't get answers, can't get my money back (what's the total? Oh, right around $300 so far....)

Apparently these guys kick their games up as they go. One guy had the same problem and then boom, $1200 charged to his card. Another had a $350 charge. F that BS!

Go search your bank records for all of the above. emusic, napster, superpass, bargain network, etc.

You know who else they get you through? Vistaprints. Yep. You can hit the wrong vistaprint store and be scammed. NICE huh? Try figuring that out on your next shopping trip to vista.

http://www.cjupin.com/2007/09/13/credit-ca...digismarketcom/

it shouldnt matter waht time it is, if this is a credit card charge you should be able to cll the theft line at any time.

i had this sorta thing happen with vista print - unbeknownst to me, i signed myself up for $40 a month for some stupid membership - apparently they hit a lot of people and everyone was pissed - my credit card company directed everyone who got hit to their special department to deal with this - it was a mess.

Damn, that sucks Matt Hope you get it worked out soon!

Someone took mine and racked up over $4000 on coach bags and other crazy large purchases from bestbuy.com luckily the bank covered it all... but it was scary they did all that in only a couple of days. I felt so violated afterward...

ummmmm its usually in hours. cc thieves dont wait for you to call it in as suspicious activity or lost card, etc.

That really sucks. I hope you get it sorted out and I hope your credit card company can cover the costs incurred. Thanks for the heads up Matt.

Woah! Sucks, sorry Matt. Won't be buying from Amazon- shouldn't they be responsible for their sellers?

Some CC companies are friendlier about dealing with possible fraud than others. We had a card which was used a few years ago for some online gambling in the UK--the company flagged it and called us before we even knew about it, sent out a new card right away, great about the whole thing. Another company we deal with, not so much. I caught a charge at some motorcycle sounding place in Austin (never been there, don't do motorcycles) and had the hardest time convincing the company to deny the charge, first of all, and then it took some fast talking on my part to convince them to send us new cards. Wouldn't that have been obvious?

Hope you get it worked out quickly, Matt!

ps. always be careful when you are finishing up online transactions that you don't hit the "free item" links... those are almost always subscriptions that you're signing up for in order to get the "free" thing. I think buy.com is one that tries that every time.

Something similar like this happened to my husband. He noticed napster charges on his bank account in a couple of online statements and got in touch with napster and the bank to cancel whatever was going on...apparently it had been going on for two years! So yep, we gave $12 a month. We got three months back from our bank. Lesson he/we learned the hard way: pay attention to your financial paperwork!

good luck matt.

dealing with this since june 16th, when i had to cancel a biz card.

i now have a NIGHTMARE of accounting to resolve and STILL trying to get a business card that my vendors can run. i'm basically shut down - using personal credit and have been ready to kill someone for the last month.

the kicker - the scam artists has spent time in jail and makes 29$ million a year from this crap. it's documented everywhere. when i consulted a lawyer - it will cost me a fortune to do anything about it. just trying to recover my losses.

nice, huh?

CHECK ALL YOUR STATEMENTS - mine showed up first as a $1 charge to some weird company that i didn't know. they sell the info to others, and the hits keep on comin'.

Wow, that sucks! And best of luck getting it all straightened out, Matt!

I have a Capital One card and they are so tough against fraud that they sometimes keep me from making purchases! It is a little annoying sometimes, but I am thankful that they are looking out for me!

+1 I bought a new camera body on-line late last night, and at 7 am they called to verify it was me. That's great service!

Someone stole my husbands mastercard number and purchased a $300 item on Amazon.com and another item at Canadiantire.com
Then they returned the card, before we even noticed it had be missing.
The only way we realized it had happened was because we hadn't used that card in about 3 years!

Hey Jamie,

The other day I made two online purchases in a row. About 15 minutes later I got a call on my cell phone and it went like this "Yo, this is your credit card company and it looks like you are charging stuff too fast." My response was - who are you and what company do you represent? - The agent replied "The credit card you just used twice in a row. If you want to confirm who i am with who I say I'm with, I can provide you with your home address and zip code. You can also hang up when we are done and call this number back to confirm." I ended that call and then called the number back. The voice prompt wanted me to enter my cell phone number and the 3 digit security number on the back of my cc.

So I fired off an email to the CC company fraud department and they are "looking into it". Of course I am checking my statement a few times a day just to insure.


So my worry is that this was legit. The "agent's" slang, tone of voice and noises in the background totally made it sound like a scam.

-Bill

It's all very scary. Seeing as I have been a victim of fraud, it SUCKS! But, if you have a good credit card company, the moment you notice something wrong, immediately call them to cancel the card and they will send you a new one. The "bad" people can't keep charging away. I also had someone get into my paypal account and try to charge stuff from the middle east. Yikes!

In regards to Vista Print, they are horrible and they are scam artists! I too was signed up for something without my knowing and was charged $19.99 a month for 4 months. They finally refunded my money after I threatened them a few times. I am in the process of designing an anniversary party invite for someone and they wanted to send my design to Vista Prints. I said that I am sorry, but I don't trust this vendor and would prefer to order them through WHCC!

Thanks for heads up Bill. But the cc agent that contacted me called my home #, gave me the exact amount, vendor and time of the charge. She stated it was an internet purchase and wanted to verify it was me that made the purchase... That was it. She said they verify large $$ purchases when they aren't common for the customer. Didn't ask for any additional info. I wasn't worried. But your situation would raise red flags for me too!

My wife and had a similar issue with a small charge on our card from Amazon.com, $294 in books...we never purchased, so I disputed the charge.
2 weeks later, I get a call from the CC company's fraud detection department, saying, Hello John, I an walter from XX Fraud protection department, I will not ask you for your CC #. I answered some questions questions, he offered some other information, so I knew he was legit. He asked if I purchased any airline tix recently, so I asked my wife if she purchased the tickets for the summer vacation, she said no, not yet. So I asked the gentleman on the phone what airline...he said 4 first class tix from Hethrow to Dubai...I said not me, please cancel the cards and I asked for a full review. He did a review of all charges for the last 30 days and we confirmed each one. He was not allowed to give me the names on the tix, but I am betting they were fake. He said the information was going to be passed on to the FBI and probably to Interpol. Who knows...

Find 'em online and make 'em wish they were never born, Matt! If anyone can do it, you can.

I know, too much time and effort, but it felt good sayin' it. So sorry this is happening to y'all!

Here.



You'll get the real thing at OSP South!

what a mess- sorry Matt. Hope your bank/cc is marvelous in helping you recover your money. Good luck!

prob NOT legit



add:
Matt I train fraud investigators in credit card fraud for my day job. PM me if you have any questions.

Been in the ID theft circus before... not on charge card though. Just a jerk of a father-in-law who stole his own son's (my hubby) SSN and made huge purchases but never paid. It took me over a year to clear up all of it. What made it worse is that they have the same name. ANYWHO, you have my sympathy. Maybe it won't be so bad cause it was on a card.

ouch....

Anyone seen the Dateline NBC special "To Catch an ID Theif"?? Look for it on youtube.... not sure if it's on the MSNBC website....

Not quite what matt is describing, but it's an incredible glimpse into what these assholes really get away with.

Hope you got this worked out Matt.... I don't think you have to worry about being held liable for these charges. It still sucks though.

Crap. I just ordered from Vistaprint last week.

god not my week.

I can't imagine how much that must suck. A couple of years ago when we were looking for a new house our bank told us they couldn't give us a mortgage because of my credit report. We had just refinanced both of our houses a year or so before that, so we were like "HUH?"

Turns out my credit report had been merged with another Lisa Walsh who doesn't pay her college loans, car payment or medical bills. It was a real PITA to get to the bottom of it in time to buy our new house. I STILL get letters from creditors occasionally who just google the name and send stuff to me, but I just call and tell them it's not me and it goes away...until the next time.