[Jewelry making - Article 00901] - [Orchid] [BizTalk] Credit Card Warning

[Richard Hughes]

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Greetings,

    Note: The following was provided to us by our friend, Rob Lavinsky.
    We have also received several of these orders from Indonesia, the
    Philippines and Romania and so caution all who are doing business
    via mail order to beware. 

    EXPANDED NOTE TO ALL DEALERS: In the past several days since I
    posted a warning note, I have heard from over a dozen people hit by
    this crime and I almost lost 12K myself, and so I am expanding my
    message here in the hopes that word will spread. 

    A ring of credit card thieves from Indonesia has been trying to
    purchase gold and gem crystals, gem collectibles, etc., using stolen
    card numbers. Beware of large orders of such items! These are
    convertible goods and they will then pawn these items for cash,
    leaving you to eat the monetary damages! Once the legitimate
    cardholder reports the fraudulent use of the card, they will get a
    refund and 60-90 days later the credit card company will withdraw
    the funds from your account. YOU are liable for the money if you did
    not verify the cardholder's identity first by confirming the billing
    address, as per the most recent VISA/MC regulations and
    recommendations. They have computer-predicted numbers only, and do
    not have the billing address info needed to assure that the numbers
    are legitimate. If you have any doubts, ask the customer to confirm
    billing addresses and then call the cardholder's bank to confirm
    that the card really belongs to that owner, particularly when the
    order is from Indonesia, Singapore, the UK, and Romania (this info
    according to MBNA Bank's loss prevention department, whom I called
    recently). Several of us have been hit by a "gentleman" named Ikwan
    using aliases such as "johnny panther" and "andy jesus". 

    Apparently, they run small charges of pennies to $1 on thousands of
    predicted numbers til they find a "hit," and then use that valid
    card number for purchases, even while the owner never notices the
    test charge that went through. They will use the cards to order
    $2500-3000 at a time, and spread large orders over 4-5 cards! You
    will get the money because the cards ARE good...they do not come
    back with a fraud rating until reported. However, the money will
    just be taken away later. Better to be careful now. The bank reps
    that I talked to were COMPLETELY resigned to this as a perennial OLD
    problem, that is new only to us. They were totally unsurprised when
    I called. 

    FOR SECURITY, VISA/MC now encourages card acceptors to confirm
    billing address of customers with each transaction, for the best
    discount rates and for maximal protection against card fraud. I
    personally participate in this program, despite the slight extra bit
    of time it takes to run charges. It is obviously worth the slight
    additional time required! 

    To customers, please note that this problem has absolutely nothing to
    do with your personal decision to spend money on the net or use cards
    for online orders! These criminals are not getting their number from
    vendors you have shopped with on the web, but rather by computer
    prediction of valid numbers and trial & error. Any card information
    you provide to me (and to most vendors) is completely secure, and i
    verify all billing addresses precisely for the reason of avoiding
    such fraudulent use of your card numbers. This situation is a problem
    for dealers... While the customer is fully protected by your credit
    card providers, we are not. 

Warmest regards,
Richard Hughes


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