credit card rip-off (fwd)

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com>
Date: December 10, 2005 5:37:35 PM EST
To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com
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 () farber net]
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2005 14:02
To: ip () v2 listbox com
Subject: [IP] credit card rip-off (fwd)







Begin forwarded message:



From:

Date: December 10, 2005 1:29:56 PM EST

To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>

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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