[Luca]

This is a new one. Apparently some company has decided to charge me about $9 for absolutely no reason at all. How they got my credit card number, I don't know.

Here's the email I got:

Transaction Confirmation Please retain for your records Thank you Your transaction has been processed on behalf of you-saver.com. Transaction details: Transaction for the value of: USD 9.15 Description: Euphoria Screensaver From: you-saver.com Merchant's cart ID: Screensaver Authorisation Date/Time: 15/Jul/2005 00:07:31 Transaction ID: 124702637 This is not a tax receipt. If you have a query about your order This confirmation only indicates that your transaction has been processed successfully. It does not indicate that your order has been accepted. It is the responsibility of you-saver.com to confirm that your order has been accepted, and to deliver any goods or services you have ordered. If you have any questions about your order (including refunds, delivery status, wanting to cancel your order), please email you-saver.com at: webmaster@you-saver.com, with the transaction details listed above. Thank you for shopping with you-saver.com Your transaction has been processed by WorldPay on behalf of you-saver.com. Other queries about your transaction? Visit: http://support.worldpay.com/shopper/

What the hell? Anyone have suggestions as to what I should do? I think the first thing I'll do is contact my bank and have them contest the charge.

[FFL]

I've seen fake transaction emails like this one before - I believe what they want you to do is to create an account on their service as you try to uncover info about this alleged "transaction."

[ghoti]

Are you sure that they really have your credit card number? Is there any indication in that email that they do (like the last four digits or something)? If not, simply delete it. I get this stuff all the time, and nobody ever charged anything on my credit card. Plus, if somebody stole your credit card number and went wild with it, they wouldn't send you a receipt (and the damage would be higher than nine bucks ).

[Gargoyle]

Call worldpay NOT the you-saver company. (Do not use the worldpay link in the email, type www.worldpay.com direct into your browser)

Give worldpay the transaction ID and see if its a real transaction. They will probably be unwilling to GIVE you any information about the transaction, but you might get away with asking them if its in your name. Also, call your bank / login to internet banking and see if there is actually a charge on your account.

DO NOT contact you-saver.com, and do not give them any information.

[Franz Josef]

Wouldn't have thought they have your details - just phishing for the details you would give them if you queried. Best to inform your bank / credit card company to query the transaction if it has occurred. They should also be able to put your card on credit watch to look for future rogue transactions (though the benefit may be small, this wouldn't necessarily look rogue to a third party).

[torifile]

Look at your statement carefully and make sure you remember all the charges on it. If there's nothing unusual, don't worry about it. If you don't have immediate access to a statement online, I'd suggest getting a credit card that has a good online presence. If you have any concerns about any charges, dispute them. Make the credit card company and merchant do the work.

[alcimedes]

They didn't charge you. They just want you to click on their link (which could actually take you to worldpay, and open a discreet invisible java window which is copying down your data).

Ignore it.

[Batman]

Like the others have said - a Phishing message

[pscates2.0]

I support the death penalty for companies/individuals engaging in this type of crap.

They exist ONLY to scam people.

Just sad that so many people take the hook (which, I suppose, is why these outfits keep doing it...enough naive, gullible types will always be around to make the risks worth it).



Gonna toughen up my e-mail junk filter/rules and see if I can start bypassing some of these turdheads.

[torifile]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 I support the death penalty for companies/individuals engaging in this type of crap. They exist ONLY to scam people. Just sad that so many people take the hook (which, I suppose, is why these outfits keep doing it...enough naive, gullible types will always be around to make the risks worth it). Gonna toughen up my e-mail junk filter/rules and see if I can start bypassing some of these turdheads.

But if you do that how are you going to hear about all the cheap mort gage rates and the via4ra and c!alis deals?!?!? I would be lost without spammers! Where would I get my ED drugs and my home refin^a¢ning?

[alcimedes]

I think the best one was the one where they sent out an e-mail saying you'd bought kiddie porn, and that they would be mailing it to your house unless you had another address you wanted it shipped to.

Most people flipped out, and you could cancel your order for $19.95 or something. I'd have to look it up, but apparently it was very successful.

[pscates2.0]

Originally Posted by torifile But if you do that how are you going to hear about all the cheap mort gage rates and the via4ra and c!alis deals?!?!? I would be lost without spammers! Where would I get my ED drugs and my home refin^a¢ning?

Somehow I'll manage...

I went nearly 30 years WITHOUT it, just fine.

[hflomberg]

I don't care about this - I have just goptten an invitation from a person in Nigeria - and he's going to give me a gazillion dollars - Just becuase Im a nice person!

I'll sell a portion of this money for 10.00 / person. Email me at

imamoron.com

to participate

[Luca]

The reason I'm concerned is that I did a Google search for "you-saver.com" and found a link to some guy's blog where he said that there are companies that somehow obtain your CC information and give thousands of people ~$10 charges, hoping they don't notice it, then close up shop. It had absolutely no revealing information about my credit card, so I'm not too worried, but I'm still going to check with my bank to make sure I wasn't charged. And yes, I realize "some guy's blog" is not an extremely reliable source of information

Thanks for the responses everyone!

[drewprops]

How vulnerable to javascript are folks running OS X?
Fo' real.... what's the deal?

[Luca]

I just checked my online banking today and sure enough, there's a $9.15 charge to WP-YOU-SAVER.COM. I called my bank and disputed the charge, so they're going to have to send me a new card.

I also filed a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.

[Franz Josef]

Disappointing. Have you any idea how they got your details?

[Luca]

No clue. My only guess is that some other company sold my credit card information to them. The good thing is with my new card number, I'll know exactly who I have and haven't given my card number to.

[scratt]

Originally Posted by Luca No clue. My only guess is that some other company sold my credit card information to them. The good thing is with my new card number, I'll know exactly who I have and haven't given my card number to.

Wow! That is spooky.

I never would imagine a legitimate internet dealer would sell credit card numbers..

Would you mind letting us know where you have used your (old) card online?

Not necesarily publically, but maybe some other way...

It would be cool to try and pool information about everyone who has had this happen to them adn try to spot a common link...

What does everyone else think?

Could be a good project..

EDIT: Recently I had to involve the FBI to get an online trader to send goods out to me.. Basically they ignored my poor wifes protestations that they were now many many weeks late delivering her goods, and she could still see the 'goods' in their 'packing center' on the tracking page they supply. They had been there for about 2 months!! Luckily they were a US based company so I emailed the FBI through a contact form on the internet fraud site, and the two 'secure site you can trust these people' type companies they plastered on their web site, and lo and behold the goods were shipped within 8 hours and we got all kinds of lovelly emails from their customer service dept. !!! I felt pretty good being British, and in Thialand and the FBI seeming to help out, even if indirectly!!!

It got me thinking about how people get screwed like this sometimes and don't have the knowledge to know how to get some results and I thought about a domain I bought ages ago, called www.theirturn.com.

I have never done anything with it, and am now thinking of making it into a sort of peoples court... If someone has an issue like yours Luca, or my wifes, they can email in and we can pool info and weed out the rougue traders, and perhaps even do something about them. I am not talking about vigilanty-ism.. Just putting pressure on, through legal means, and making a bit of noise, and spotting patterns of behaviour before these scum get away with too much...

If anyone wants to help me put this site together I would love to have them on board, 'cos I think it would be a worthwhile and fun project..

PM me if anyone is interested....

[Brad]

Was your card one of the X-million that were leaked a few weeks ago? That could be the source of the fraudulent transaction.

[Windswept]

Originally Posted by Luca I just checked my online banking today and sure enough, there's a $9.15 charge to WP-YOU-SAVER.COM. I called my bank and disputed the charge, so they're going to have to send me a new card. I also filed a complaint with the Internet Fraud Complaint Center.

Wow. This incident makes me very uncomfortable, Luca.

I have had two companies calling lately offering identity-theft protection for $9.95 per month. One company says they were referred to me by my Visa credit card company (MBNA Bank), and the other says it was referred to me by my credit union (with which I have a Visa debit card).

Does anyone think this identity-theft protection is worthwhile for $9.95 per month?

Also - and this I thought was cool - my Visa debit card fraud-prevention division called me a few months ago to check whether certain charges made all in one day were legitimate. When he read me the list of charges, I have to admit that not 'all' of them *sounded* legitimate; but when we went through them one by one, they all turned out to be purchases I actually had made. I guess the computer generated that day's worth of charges for a "fraud check" for various logical reasons.

I wonder if that little fraud-check episode put my name on a list that triggered these recent contacts by ID-theft prevention companies? Does anyone here have service from such a company?

[Luca]

I wouldn't pay anyone $10/month for "identity theft protection." First of all, how do you know you can trust those companies? Have you looked them up?

But more importantly, they're just playing off the insecurities of paranoid people. Sorry babe, but you are a prime target for these companies. They probably aren't going to be stealing your identity, but they'll certainly be happy to take a steady $120 from you every year.

My advice is to just watch your bank statements closely and stop worrying about all this crap. It's not worth the stress and expense you incur from getting all worried about these things.

[Windswept]

So, Luca, how do you suppose they got your credit card number? From online purchases you had made, or what?

And yeah, the last time one of those id-theft protection companies called I asked the guy how could I be sure *they* were, in fact, legitimate. I said I wanted to check with my Visa card company first.

I also said I had been getting constant calls from his company (listed on my caller ID), and wanted to be removed from their calling list. He said they had to have my name and phone number. I said they already had my phone number, and 'that' should be enough. He said, no, we need your name and phone number. God, I hate phone solicitation. They're just relentless.

[Koodari]

If the phone terrorists interrupt you, at least harm them a little bit in return. Tell them you're in a middle of something but you'll talk with them real soon, ask them to wait on the line, put the phone on the table and continue doing whatever you were doing. Check if they're still there in a couple minutes, pick up phone, say something about food burning on the stove and put the phone back on the desk. Repeat.

[Luca]

Or you could just say this.

Gawd I love that comic