E-Books, the new slamming scam
Make sure you are vigilant with your banking information. A recent trend in scamming is to charge your credit card for an 'e-book' which conveniently doesn't come with any proof of delivery. Check your statements for charges similar to the following:
04/23/08 CHECK CRD PURCHASE 04/22
CLEAR RIVER LLC 309-740-1651 OR XXXXXXXXXXXX1233
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX ?MCC=XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX $4.95
They like this method because if you don't watch your bank account you'll never notice it and if you do complain they can credit it back and claim 'no harm no foul'. Their website is a weak attempt to look like they actually provide a product: http://www.clearriv.com and if you call their 'support' number you always get a garbled recording of a foreigner trying to speak english.
When I asked my bank if they had matched the validation code on the back or validated my address or billing phone number, she said no. This makes me think that even though they will issue me a new card and cancel the old one, this is pointless. Someone is obviously just running through random credit numbers that are valid by a mod10 check and seeing if they can make a small charge to them or something similar. I could just as well have a new card tomorrow and have the same problem.
I think it's hilarious how banks have built in all these safety features and then rarely use them. The last 2 major online credit card processor API's I have used but collect gobs and gobs of input but both only checked that the zip code matches when all is said and done.
04/23/08 CHECK CRD PURCHASE 04/22
CLEAR RIVER LLC 309-740-1651 OR XXXXXXXXXXXX1233
XXXXXXXXXXXXXX ?MCC=XXXX XXXXXXXXXXX $4.95
They like this method because if you don't watch your bank account you'll never notice it and if you do complain they can credit it back and claim 'no harm no foul'. Their website is a weak attempt to look like they actually provide a product: http://www.clearriv.com and if you call their 'support' number you always get a garbled recording of a foreigner trying to speak english.
When I asked my bank if they had matched the validation code on the back or validated my address or billing phone number, she said no. This makes me think that even though they will issue me a new card and cancel the old one, this is pointless. Someone is obviously just running through random credit numbers that are valid by a mod10 check and seeing if they can make a small charge to them or something similar. I could just as well have a new card tomorrow and have the same problem.
I think it's hilarious how banks have built in all these safety features and then rarely use them. The last 2 major online credit card processor API's I have used but collect gobs and gobs of input but both only checked that the zip code matches when all is said and done.