[IP] credit card rip-off (fwd)
Begin forwarded message:
From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: December 10, 2005 5:37:35 PM EST
To: dave@xxxxxxxxxx, ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [IP] credit card rip-off (fwd)
Thanks for flagging this – discovered my son was being billed for
RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-732-7031 CT
And also
SHOPPERDISCOUNT.COM 800-889-8776 CT
since July.
Good thing I have a database of transactions and was able to quickly
find this. I called Amex about the first and they mentioned the
second one which I then found. I reported it as fraud and asked them
to block the merchant but they have no way. Too bad the one-time use
card numbers didn’t work out – they should be required to manage such
relationships. It’s also too bad that the Amex doesn’t require a
tracking code for each transaction (though some merchants supply one).
I also do my own email and was able to track down the letters they
were sending every month – of course popfile classified it as spam
though I don’t know about the Outlook filter which my son uses.
I then called the first number but gave the membership number from
ShoppersDiscount. Of course they are the same company so he quickly
found the record. The guy was actually friendly. I finally found the
ReservationRewards number by tracking down the email – it was my
son’s credit card but my name! Strange. That’s why he couldn’t find
it from my son’s name.
He said it was not policy to refund but I mentioned the fraud reports
though never made a threat and he cooperated.
He told me that the first sign-up was via eCost and the second via
NextTicketing. I see those popups offering rewards for shopping and
stuff and can see someone unintentionally signing up.
This falls into the class of finagle marketing and is difficult to
ban though you can easily argue that people are not really intending
to sign up. But then some people like signing up for discounts –
that’s often the reason for joining AAA or AARP or WBUR or simply
getting booklets from local merchants.
This also relates to the problems of micro-transactions that I wrote
about thirty years ago – how do you manage all of these little
charges and have a sense of what is going on. It doesn’t help that
email is too polluted to find the letters and then you wouldn’t want
to trust a site that requires say OK to see the images – at very
least they should embed the pictures rather than using URLs. But then
the do the tracking that we want to prevent as in http://
www.shopperdiscountsandrewards.com/enter.asp?c=****** (Number changed
to protect the innocent – me). Here too to be fair – assigning a
unique URL is also a good way to make it easier for those who want
the discounts to take advantage of it. I do get mail from eCost and
other sites and it’s not all that different.
This is the world of salesman – like in “Death of a”. Even if I like
to buy from eCost I’m under no illusion that they could be selling
Rolex watches rather than just computer stuff. In fact they do sell
those watches and anything else they can proffer. Used car, new
supercomputer – no difference.
I don’t have a simple answer other than be aware but I’m mulling.
But better to direct your anger at the cellular carriers and their
hostage fees where you have to pay to escape.
-----Original Message-----
From: David Farber [mailto:dave@xxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 14:02
To: ip@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [IP] credit card rip-off (fwd)
Begin forwarded message:
From:
Date: December 10, 2005 1:29:56 PM EST
To: Dave Farber <dave@xxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: Fwd: credit card rip-off (fwd)
Per our discussion at dinner last night:
This from one of the girls, but I have not yet tried to establish the
accuracy of the information nor have I been the victim of this
particular
scam.
Beware of this scam...
______________________
well, the mystery of some of the odd charges on the credit card is
explained - there is a scam going around through Expedia.com -
details below:
http://adam.rosi-kessel.org/weblog/the_man/
webloyalty_aka_wli_reservations_is_a_scam.html
Bottom line: when using on-line services, be extremely careful and
conservative. Do not click any unknown links if you have just given
credit card info. Minimize use the credit card over the web.
I also recommend against using Expedia.com due to these problems.
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