Last week I was a victim of credit (well, debit) card fraud by a company called digismarket.com. They claim to see eBooks on various items… Funny that some include “how to run a business.”
At any rate, I have never been to their site much less purchased something from them…imagine my astonishment when I noticed that I had a $4.95 transaction posted from them. I contacted Wachovia and they started a fraud search immediately. I cancelled both our debit cards and received new ones. I also contacted the better business bureau and filed a formal complaint against the company. Finally, I contacted the “support” at digismarket..here’s our correspondence:
September 6- Me to them
To Whom It May Concern (or Johanna Ray):
I have a charge in the amount of $4.95 (digismarket.com) posting from
my debit card. I have never once bought anything from your website nor
have even planned. I am expecting a full refund or I will be
contacting the State of New York Attorney General’s office about your
operation. It appears that MANY, MANY others have fallen prey to your
practices:http://www.sygyzy.com/2007/02/07/e-books-are-the-new-419/
Please contact me ASAP to resolve this matter.
September 6- Their response
Hello,
Please tell me the name and last name of the cardholder, the last four
digits of the card number and the date of the charge so I will be able
to find the transaction in the database and in case if you didn’t
purchase our goods I will make the refund.Sincerely yours,
Digismarket.com Support Team
September 6- My response
I want my $4.95 refunded immediately. If necessary, I will take legal action.
I have notified my bank and their fraud department is starting an investigation. Also, I have made a formal complaint with the Better Business Bureau and have notified them of the website listing many other people complaining about being charged wrongfully- see below. The local NY office will be contacting you.
Govern yourself accordingly.
Complaint Submitted
Your complaint has been submitted. Your complaint number is: 5477009. The complaint has been transferred to the local BBB to be handled in their system. You may wish to copy or print this information for further reference. Press OK when ready.The complaint is being handled by the BBB listed below. Please contact them with any questions.
Better Business Bureau Serving Metropolitan New York (New York, NY)
257 Park Avenue South
New York , NY 10010-7384
Phone: (212)533-6200
Fax: (212)477-4912
Email: inquiry@newyork.bbb.org
Web: http://www.newyork.bbb.org
September 7- Me following up.
I am still awaiting my refund and your answer. In addition to the BBB, I have contacted my bank’s fraud department and I plan on contacting the Attorney General’s office of New York.
Please respond.
September 7- Their second response
Dear Chris,
We have made the refund for you. It can take up to 7 business days for
money to return depending on the bank. Thank you again for cooperation
and reporting about this situation.
And yes, they finally did refund my $4.95..however, that is not the point! How in the world did they get my card? What thieves! There seems to be a slew of others who have also fallen prey, too.
If you are a victim of digismarket.com I would do the following:
1- Cancel your charged card ASAP
2- Notify your bank and/or credit card company immediately
3- Contact Digismarket.com’s “support” demanding a refund:
Johanna Ray
d/b/a Digismarket.com
johanna.market@gmail.com
16 Hudson Street
Selden, NY 11723
607-821-2630
681-346-6445
4- Contact the New York Attorney General’s office:
Consumer Helpline: 1-800-771-7755
Crime Victims Hotline: 1-800-771-7755
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit: 212-417-5397
Environmental Crimes:1-800-771-7755
For the Hearing Impaired: 1-800-788-9898
5- Contact the New York Better Business Bureau
Better Business Bureau Serving Metropolitan New York (New York, NY)
257 Park Avenue South
New York , NY 10010-7384
Phone: (212)533-6200
Fax: (212)477-4912
Email: inquiry@newyork.bbb.org
Web: http://www.newyork.bbb.org
7- Leave a comment below or at sygyzy.com’s article on the matter
Believe me- this isn’t the end..by a long shot.
Nice job man. Speaking of weird stuff…it’s scary what happens in the credit card industry as well. We were issued a credit card from Citi Bank. We had not applied for one nor had we ever sent ANY information to them. Nonetheless, we received a credit card that was already authorized and ready to be used with the dial of a telephone number. Needless to say, we called them back and wanted to cancel. Before we could cancel, we had to give them MORE of our information. Summarily, we refused and demanded to know how they got a hold of our information in the first place. Turns out, that if you have ever opened a Macy’s, Home Depot or Best Buy credit card, even if you have canceled it, they have the right to purchase your information from them and then open a card in your name. WTF? Am I crazy to think that’s wrong? This officially marks the last time I will EVER open another credit card account with any company. It wrought with fraud and weird shit. No wonder we have so many credit fraud issues in this county.
Thanks for the detailed info!
I’ve just found digismarket.com charge of $4.95 on my credit card as well. Never heard of them before so googled immediately and found your post. Great job!
Called my bank and they reversed the charge on the spot and promised to issue a new card. All in all it cost me only about 15mins time thanks to your info - I just told the bank it’s a scam.
Keep the scammers exposed!
Josh- That’s insane about randomly getting a card…I found out I had a Chase Manhattan card in my name when I pulled my credit last month- I never even applied!
Andy- I’m so glad you stumbled upon my site..and, I’m very glad you followed up with your bank. I would definitely try and file a formal complaint with someone (be it the BBB or the NY Attorney General’s office). So many people are getting hurt by this ridiculous scam (see the other URL I linked to in my post above).
At any rate, I am glad you got your money back!
I’m so glad I was able to find this information. I to am another victim of digismarket.com. I find this practice absolutely ridiculous. I just have to wonder how many people have fallen victim to this scam and have not noticed it on thier statements. I notified my credit card company and they are in the process of investigating this issue.
Thanks again for the info
I got charged by the same people. I did a google search and found your site. I saw the suspicious charge on a card I haven’t used in years, and I got a charge from them. What the hell?! I just sent them an email. Hopefully, this will be resolved soon.
Same here all. Just found a pending transaction from this company on my banking site and while I was on the phone with my bank tryimg to figure out who they were I googled them and found all this info. My card was immediatley cancelled, a fraud investigstion was launced and I have already filled a complaint with the NY BBB. I am planning to call the NY AG’s office in the morning as it may only be $4.95 that has already been refunded by my bank… it is purely the principle… They are thieves and need to be punished!!!
Thanks again for all the quick info…
Digismrket.com of Seldon, NY has mysteriously charged me $6.95 for something I have no idea what it could be. This is horrible that this is happening to so many people that are aware of the fraud. How much money will this scam get to these criminals? How come us poor families cant set up random money pooling sites to help us survive? It seems like it goes on every day, every where…it would be nice to have a bunch of random money all of a sudden! But that would be wrong…
They got my account for $4.95 as well. Would not even thought much of it, which I think they are planning on happening. But, it over drew my account and that really hit me, $30.00 OD on top of it. My bank reversed it all and cancelled my card. I was really wondering where they picked up on it, my numbers etc., hard telling when, and which account was used to by them to steal from, probably never know.
This is very interesting. I was reviewing an earlier credit card bill and found a charge by digismarket.com for $10.00 I searched through my computer and found no record of it. Then I went to their website and found that they sell electronic books for 6.95 or 4.95 - but nothing for 10.00. I tried to call them and got a recording. I just emailed them asking for an explanation. Then I found your blog.
Turns out I had a more recent fraudulent transaction on my CC which is why I was looking more carefully at my account. That card has been cancelled out now, but I will be reporting this as a previously unclaimed fraud charge.
Thanks for your blog - if I hadn’t seen this, I would still be guessing it might be a legitimate charge that I didn’t remember.
10/08/07
I too have been a victim of digis market billing my card for 6.95.I have never been to the site and was wandering where they got my card info. when I contacted them by e-mail I got the same response as the other victims I have been rading about on this site.My credit card company told me they would investigate it,I hope this is the end of this.
Just found your site after noticing a fraudulent $4.95 myself.
The card company has refunded the charge, but didn’t seem very concerned and couldn’t explain how the charge could have been made without my card number. I guess that’s one of the reasons the charges are small amounts.
I was told that canceling my card wouldn’t prevent other transactions anyway, I’d just have to report them.
Thanks for the BBB link.
I had the same thing happen with the Digismarket charge. I am wondering if there is a site we all visited or a store - something in common where they got the card numbers. I hate to see how easy it is for someone to commit fraud.
Well,
Count me into the club. These guys must rely on the fact that lots of people don’t check statements.
Where do they get our numbers????
Thank for taking the time to post this I’ve been pulling my hair out trying to get in touch with these scam artists.
Just found a charge for 4.95 from digismarket.com. I have never been to that site. I am wondering where they are getting our information from. I have allready canceled my card and contacted my banks fraud department. I called digismarket but all you get is a recording.
> am wondering if there is a site we all visited or a store - something in common where they got the card numbers
My card has limited use. It is regularly used for TiVo, AT&T bills, TXU (Texas electricity), Equifax credit monitoring and a local storage company.
That’s mostly it, although I have used it to buy some Palm software (an Australian company, I think), once at a local restaurant, and once at Blockbuster in May.
Does anyone have anything in common with that?
I contacted Digismark asking how that charged my card and get exactly the same reply as shown at the start of this post - they have a form letter for fraud enquiries!
Equifax monitoring.
Good luck if you have Capital One. After 3 phone calls with 3 different reps I finally was transferred to the fraud dept. The person identified himself as “Sam”. When I made a comment about the heavy accent and the inability to understand him clearly, he promptly told me that their computers were down and I would have to call back. You can literally spend hours trying to talk to these people. I am now actively searching for a new card company that has real a customer service department. Any sugestions?
You know- that reminds me- I had purchased an equifax report back in July in preparation for buying our house… I wonder if that’s the common thread??
I see the one common thread with me is the Equifax 3 in one monitoring as well. Sounds very interesting as a basis for an inquiry.
Just seen where equifax might be the common point here.I Also used equifax .
Equifax monitoring
I also have Equifax monitoring and found the charge on my account this morning!!!!
What is up with this!
Same with me! I found digismarket.com charge on my card today - and my Equifax monitoring charge as well. Looks like it is the culprit…
thanks for the info - I just got the $4.95 charge yesterday from them.
Somebody needs to shut them down!
Also found the $4.95 digiwhatever charge this morning and this website - I have Equifax Scorewatch. That normally isn’t billed for another 10 days or so. What do we do?
I made a call to Equifax this weekend and made it known to them of what we are dealing with here. I would advise all of you here to do the same.
Thanks John- let us know if if you hear anything else from Equifax. I agree that we should all give them a call and give notice about this trend.
I just discovered the $4.95 charge on my credit card this morning and I too have equifax credit monitoring. I am on way to the bank to cancel my card and will cancel my equifax monitoring as well. I am thinking of going with the company LifeLock. Anyone familiar with this company and are they the real deal?
Key- I wouln’t bother with Lifelock..did you not read the story about how the CEO of Lifelock had his identity stolen? Long story short, he dared anyone to steal his identity after he posted his social security number on the company website. A couple days later, a mentally disabled (no, really) gentleman was able to obtain a credit card in the CEO’s name. The CEO subsequently left Lifelock…
Read more about it here.
As for the $4.95 charge I would DEFINITELY cancel your card ASAP. And, I would call Equifax to let them know this as well and cancel your monitoring.
I checked my bank account this morning and found the same $4.95 charge. When I didn’t remember making any purchase that day, I googled digismarket.com and was a bit confused by seeing that they sell ebooks.
I then went back to my google search and found this article which really helped me understand things.
I’ve already canceled my card and submitted a transaction dispute.
I haven’t had anything done with Equifax, so I wouldn’t say that it’s them. This just seems to be happening everywhere.
Thanks so much for posting this. Without it, I still would’ve been just as clueless to the charge.
These people really should be stopped.
Oct 31, 2007
Just checked my checking account and saw the following debit card charge:
10/29/2007 Debit
DIGISMARKET.COM LLC 607-821-2630 NY
$ 4.95
Of course Digismarket.com isn’t answering their “support” line. I’m cancelling my card immediately and will be contacting the BBB and above links to make sure these clowns get noticed.
Yeah, $4.95 doesn’t mean anything individually but at the scale they are doing this to people they must be making quite a profit. Let’s find out where they live.
Thanks for posting this info. I found you by googling “digismarket scam” and you pulled up through Digg’s website. The more people that share their stories the quicker this e-book scam will get noticed and dealt with. I imagine that they will pop up all over the place so the more this message is broadcast the easier it will be to get these guys taken care of.
Unbelievable.
Equifax Monitoring.
I read through the various posts and wanted to let others know that I also used this account for Equifax Monitoring.
How ironic would that be if that is the source of all this.
I just found a similar charge on my visa and will be contacting them to reverse the charge. Of course, I never heard of this company. Thank you for posting this information!
Well, there is another site doing the same thing and they just hit me. Mfbpsite.com out of CA. I had a charge for $4.95 on my debit account, the same account that I use for Equifax, when I went to the site, they sell ebooks, and I have never purchased from them. I do have equifax credit monitoring. I am about to call them and cancel that.
I have a new one for you…
MYLIBERIA.COM
Another e-book web site. They charged my BoA VISA (pending transaction) for $6.95
Seems like similar on-line fraud.
WTF… How many of us have to post here and deal with cancelled credit cards before the BBB puts an end to digismarket.com
Hey all I just happened across this discussion area after discovering a charge on my credit card that I didn’t put on there. It was for
MYLIBERIA.COM
same as reported by TeeCee but for $4.95.
I cancelled the card, and yes it is also the one I used a while back for Equifax monitoring. Has anyone gotten any information back from Equifax regarding a possible link?
looks like they changed there name from digismarket to myliberia i also found a false transactoin for 4.95 on my account from myliberia
I have a 4.95 from mfbpsite.com, and I also have Equifax Monitoring… I’m calling them now!
We should perhaps start some sort of issue site where we can list these fraudulent charges…
Looking back at my records, I purchased reports from Equifax back in June 22, 2007.
I get hit by MYLIBRERIA.COM on November 2, 2007.
Not sure there’s connection, but certainly very concerned.
I have found a few coworkers who also were hit (mostly by bestdigimart.com), but none had Equifax dealings at all. Other things some had in common were NetFlix accounts and Amazon accounts.
Just found a fradulant charge for $4.95 from Digismarket.com on my debit card on-line statement. Called the credit union and cancelled the card, had to go in at lunch and fill out a fraud report, etc. I found this site when I Googled the name. I, too, pay Equifax monthly on this debit card for credit monitoring! When I called them to tell them about all of this (and to cancel the service) they expressed disbelief that anyone could hack into THEIR site.
I was slammed w/ the $4.95 charge from digismarket.com as well. Contacted the credit card company, cancelled my account, had the charge removed, they are investigating the company, and I submitted a complaint to the New York BBB:
Complaint Submitted
Your complaint has been submitted. Your complaint number is: 5693782. The complaint has been transferred to the local BBB to be handled in their system.
Hopefully these crooks get what’s coming to them. How do they sleep at night knowing they’re screwing people left and right??? I know where I’m going when I die, but I hope Digi and all its friends like the temperature at boiling if you know what I mean…
Hang in there everyone…
Update
All: I received notice back from the better business bureau- they WON’T be investigating because (after a failed mail delivery attempt on their part) it is not “a real business.”
They instructed me to contact the attorney general’s office of New York. I’ll probably do that after we close on our house. Until then, if anyone wants to carry the torch for a while and contact them the information is listed in my post above.
I was hit by myliberia.com last week myself. i cancelled my debit card, and called them. They refunded the amount, but the issue is how did they get my card details as I have NEVER dealt with their website or bought anything from them
I too have been charged the 4.95 from this site. I also use EQUIFAX credit report monitoring. Canceled my card and now I will cancel EQUISUX
I am a previous victim…. I just sent this link and all info to our local television station in Philadelphia. They have a knack for getting to the bottom of things.
If anyone here is from the Philadelphia NBC10 viewing area send and email to wcauinvestigators@nbcuni.com for their assistance…
I too was hit for 4.95 cents from Mfbpsite.com and I ALSO have EQUIFAX monitoring. This can’t be a coincidence with EQUIFAX.
I also get hit by myliberia.com for $4.95. That was over almost 2 weeks ago, but I just noticed the charge. So far nothing more, but I’m cancelling the card anyway.
What a coincidence. I used to have Equifax credit monitoring too. The annoying part of this was that this was a bank account I rarely used so when they charged the $4.95 to the account, I had no funds in it hereby incurring an NSF fee, so this whole issue actually caused me more than $4.95
Today I found the $4.95 charge on my debit card for this DIGISMARKET.COM (a company I had never heard of). I immediately went to google to research this company and found your link. As soon as I read your story I called my bank. They refunded the money and started an investigation. Thanks for the help!
I also use Equifax credit monitoring. That is until now…calling now to cancel.
I too have a fraudulent charge from myliberia.com for $6.95. I too ordered a free credit report from equifax. BEWARE of this scam. It appears these people are changing the name of their “business” to avoid being caught. I will never order through equifax again, that’s for sure. You think you are protecting yourself by checking your credit only to have someone hack their website and steal your account information. To the Philadelphia poster, I reported this to our local news stations also. Thanks for the suggestion.
.
I also have the credit report monitoring from Equifax. I canceled my debit card and will cancel the Equifax as well. I will post anything new I find out. Glad I found these post. I thought it was just something we bought and forgot about. I bet thats what they hope the majority of us do.
I spoke with Equifax and they stated that their site is probably one of the most secure sites out on the net. I told them that I was pleased with their services but found it ironic that many people that have been scamed through Digismarket also had Scorewatch. Equifax stated that they would turn the information into the fraud department for investigation. I’m not blaming Equifax but since so many use their services and have the same problems I would like to see the matter looked into.
I just found a debit in the amount of $4.95 from Digismarket.comLLC on my bankstatement too. I also have equifax monitoring system(credit score)
crap!! I’ve already called my bank to cancel my cards and now i’m on my way to cancel with Equifax too..
Thanks for posting all this information, I probably would have just looked at the $4.95 charge as a fluke or maybe I forgot to add it to the checking book if it wasnt for these postings..
Thanks everyone
I was charged 6.95 by digismarket too! My card was issued in another country and I rarely use it. I did use it for equifax though!! There must be a connection!!
I just checked the Better Business site and they say this company is out of business even though their website is still up and running!
I was hit by digismarket.com llc for $4.95 November 10th, and e-mailed my Wells Fargo bank to remove this charge, as I have never heard of them. I haven’t used Equifax in over a year, so I don’t think that is the link. I do use Amazon, but have never had a problem with them. This has to be stopped.
It is Veteran’s Day, so all I was able to do was e-mail my complaints against digismarket.com. I hate that so many people are being scammed and might not notice the charges.
I had the same problem and I really think it is Equifax…I used it before buying a new SUV this summer(end of July) and they (myliberia.com) also scammed me on Nov. 2nd for $4.95. SCUM BAGS! I just want to continue to leave nasty messages on their answering machine. It is so sad that while some people work hard for their money, others sit on their asses and steal it.
Back in July, I purchased a credit report from Equifax before applying for a home loan. A couple weeks ago I was charged on the same credit card $4.95 for myliberia.com.
Hi — I’m looking into this. Could ya’ll e-mail me with some contact information so I can figure out what’s going on? Thanks.
Bob
Well…I cancelled my Equifax credit monitoring along with that card that I used for it after it got it……..I tell ya!!!!!!!!
Re: Bob Sullivan comment:
Mr. Sullivan is a famous journalist and the author of Red Tapes Chronicles blog on MSNBC. I took a liberty to write him in regard of this ongoing scam. Here is an excerpt from his blog page at MSNBC:
Bob Sullivan covers Internet scams and consumer fraud for MSNBC.com. He is the winner of multiple journalism awards for his coverage of online crime and is the author of the book Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic.
I think he is just the right person to draw the attention of credit card owners and, hopefully, of proper authorities to this outrageous scam.
Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.
Bob- I sent you an email with a summary of what’s been going on. If there’s anything else I can provide please let me know. Thanks for taking an interest in this scam.
The ole 4.95 showed up here as well. Equifax was the one of three places I used it. (debit card) Has anyone found bogus reports (write offs)on your credit?
I submitted a complaint also. Digismarket debited 6.95 from my checking account. As with others I used Equifax; Paypal; ebay; amazon all with my debit card.
Not sure what is going on but this is rediculous and nothing is being done. I was unsuccessful in getting a refund from Disgismarket. I am afraid to give them more information.
Complaint Submitted
Your complaint has been submitted. Your complaint number is: 5718076. The complaint has been transferred to the local BBB to be handled in their system. You may wish to copy or print this information for further reference. Press OK when ready.
The complaint is being handled by the BBB listed below. Please contact them with any questions.
Better Business Bureau Serving Metropolitan New York (New York, NY)
257 Park Avenue South
New York , NY 10010-7384
Phone: (212)533-6200
Fax: (212)477-4912
Email: inquiry@newyork.bbb.org
Web: http://www.newyork.bbb.org
Thanks so much Linda. I am going to file a complaint as well. Hopefully they can do something.
I just took a look at my bank account online and saw a debit charge for $4.95 from mylibreria.com.
I never heard of them either, and called the bank.
They gave me a phone number that was linked to the debit charge and told me it was an internet transaction on my debit card on November 10, 2007. Bank said if it was not mine to come in and fill out papers and I did and they will take it off. I also googled the libreria.com and they have a website that is obviouly a fraud. Have a customer service number that does not answer. I left a message that I was turning them in for fraudulently debiting my card. I live in Independence, MO.
I don’t have Equifax monitoring but I have used my debit card a few months back on Equifax to get my credit score. I don’t know if this is linked or not. I am going to call my local TV stations to alert them.
I am going to notify my attorney generals office in Missouri.
I will
Thank you all for the information posted on this site as it helped explain a $6.95 charge on my bank card from Myliberia.com. I too have used this card to order a credit report from Equifax and have asked them to research if their systems have been compromised. Until this scam is more widely reported, I fear that these companies will profit greatly before they are stopped as most people won’t realize the charge since they are relatively small.
Got hit with the $4.95 charge from MFBPSITE.COM on my Visa debit card today. I also use this card for equifax credit monitoring. I’m calling my bank and equifax now. Also will send an email to Bob Sullivan. Thank you for tracking this valuable information. STOP the thieves!!
I have tried to talk to Equifax once more to alert them about the situation. I told them that many people are having the same problem and the greater majority used Equifax services. They simply tried to sell me one of their fraud alert products and stated once again that their system is one of the most secure. I have contacted the State of Tennesee’s Attorney General. They are sending me the documents in the mail to file a complaint. I think the complaints have to go higher than the BBB because unfortunatly according to their website the company digismarket.com is no longer in business. You would think that the banks can track where the money is being routed to and put a freeze on those accounts. In the mean time I also checked out ripoffreport.com. It is a site for complaints such as this and has come in very handy. Surprisingly Digismarket.com is not on their yet but I will make sure it is ASAP.
I purchased a credit report from Equifax over 6 months ago. I noted the 4.95 charge today from a new”company” - Electronic Business Resources, or “http://ebsebooks.com/”. Some research into the charge - it was made on my supposedly “cancelled” old debit card, which should have been cancelled after my marriage and name change (two months ago), which is cut up and sitting in a drawer at my house. Needless to say, I had words with the bank and had that card cancelled (I already have a new one) and started a charge dispute with my bank. It will likely be refunded (in 8-10 business days at least, way to move, NBT Bank), but I am incredibly irritated! So watch for this “new player” to the game!
Well, I just got a call from an ‘unknown’ number on my cell phone from someone who said she was ‘amber’ from libreria.com and I told her she was probably in trouble, possibly jail time, and that her company had used my debit card number fraudulently, and I had reported such to authorities. And I hung up the phone.
Then, a minute later my home phone rang with ‘private number’ showing up on the caller i.d. so I just let it ring and it went to voicemail. Amber left a message saying she was from libreria.com and that they had mistakenly charged my card, and would I please call her back at 503-616-3843 and she would take care of it. Her accent sounded British. I don’t think I will be calling it back but I will keep the voicemail message.
Just a follow-up to my previous post. I received a very quick email reply back from Bob Sullivan at MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles. He’s definitely following up on emails he’s getting about these ebook fraud companies. So, if you haven’t yet, please do take him up on his offer to contact him if you’ve been hit by this scam. Just click on his name on his post above to go to his website and get the email contact form.
BTW, I did call equifax about this. The lady I spoke with didn’t seem at all interested or concerned. After prompting from me, she said she’d take down my info and have someone at equifax follow up with me. Haven’t heard anything back from them yet.
I also used my debit card for eBay, and Paypal transactions.. This could also be a link.
I bought books from amazon in Sept. On 11/5/07 myliberia.com took $4.95 out of my checking account. I have canceled my card, contacted NBC10, attorney general and BBB.
I also bought books from Amazon in October, 2007.
Found another site where victims have been relating their experience with debit and credit card ebook scams. It’s been going on a lot longer
the link ishttp://www.sygyzy.com/2007/02/07/e-books-are-the-new-419/
This is all just unbelievable that the government is not doing anything about this since it has been going on and reported for several months now.
I truly believe that it is EQUIFAX. Reason being, the only thing I used that particular card for was recurring billing on my credit monitoring. I just feel like, EQUIFAX would do this do make a person purchase identitiy theft products, that is what they pitched to me when I called to cancel the service after finding this out.
I too just got off the phone with my bank due to a mysterious $4.95 charge to my account from MFBPSITE.COM another ebook entity, to which I have never ordered or subscribe to. I have also left this company a message requesting refund. I am also turing this information over to my news dept at the tv station where I work…Thanks for your info I found in my google search..
I too have fallen victim to the MyLiberia scam–4.95–my bank is investigating and I too got a Equifax credit score in June!!! I don’t live in NY but will call our AG! This is unbelievable!!!!
Just talked to Digismarket.com
Milla Keirala (last name may not be spelled correctly)
She gave me this address
1530 Main Street
Selden, NY 11723
She also said that the email address of the person
who used my card and recieved the product was Jidard@gmail.com
Do you guys beleive this. If so email this Jidard and see what happens. I sent a email but didn’t get a reply yet.
I just noticed a charge of $9.85 from Home Port on Oct 24th. When I call number provided it rings twice and goes dead. Now that is $14.80 stolen from my account in one month. Frustrating!!
Don’t believe anything those scalagwags tell you. Theives, all of them.
You need to dump your debit cards and get new ones.
Then watch everyday for any signs of scamming.
They are nothing but scam artists.
THE SAGA CONTINUES:
Digitmarket.com got me too. 11/07 However, it seems as if they are upping the ante, as they hit me with a $6.95 charge rather than the $4.95 or $2.95 charge that every one else seems to suffer. I guess with the price of gas going up they needed a little more money, or perhaps they gave all of their employees a well deserved merit raise for doing such a SUPERB job.
A NEW FOCUS:
In any event, perhaps the focus of these post should now be on commonality and national attention rather than the “I am a victim too” type of post Let me explain.
Many on this site have dismissed Amazon, ebay, Paypal and Half.com and other major sites as potentially involved with this credit card scam. However, all of these sites “store” your credit card data. The one question that has been asked over and over again is “how did they get my credit card number.” One of these major companies could very well be the answer. Now the obvious response is likely to be that these companies are legitmate companies and would not engage in such activities. However, consider this both paypal & half.com are wholly owned by ebay. Paypal, which through a great marketing scheme is hailed as the best thing since slice bread, has been accused numerous times of scams. However, the great marketing allows them to not only continue but to prosper. To read on some of the paypal scams used by paypal Simply google “paypal froze my account” or take a look at this link http://www.paypalsucks.com/PayPalFormerEmployee1.shtml , which gives you some reasons why but not the full impact of paypal’s abilitiy to nickel and dime people for HUGE profits–ie digitmarket and other e-books fraudlent sites.
HOW I THINK THE SCAM WORKS
So, this is how I think the digitmarket scam works. An ebay, paypal, half.com or Amazon employee has access to credit card data. Either because of their own financial struggles, because they are disgruntled or because it’s easy money (it only takes one bad employee) our credit card information is given to a partner/friend at digitmarket.com and other similiar companies who pocket and split the profits with the paypal, ebay or amazon employee. If no dispute is made then eureka and effortless bonaza. If a dispute is made then they refund the money immediately to stem your rage and your desire to follow up or spread the information about this scam. One paypal, ebay or amazon employee tells another one how they have enough money to retire after 6 months and “bam” another bad apple and another 10,000 unsuspecting customers have a fraudlent charge on their account. If you read the link above by the former paypal manager, you will see that this company does not go above and beyond to hire the best and most trustworthy employees. The sad part is even if they are caught, because of the third and forth parties involved (digitmarket and your bank) it’s would be nearly impossible to determine what employee at ebay, paypal or amazon is responsible for what fraudlent charges, making it nearly impossible to fully prosecute. For their part Digitmarket.com claims that they were merely filling orders for their GREAT (ie bogus but legitmate) product that they sell. If investigators get too close they shut down operations and reopen with a brand new company name and the same great product, but more importantly the same great scam and the same great profits.
TESTING THE THEORY:
If one of these companies are involved we can expose it right here. All everyone has to do is to state if they have ever done business with ebay, paypal, amazon or half.com or a similiar company. If we find that there is a reoccuring theme we can then take the data from this site and forwarded it to investigating companies such as Bob Sullivan from MSNBC and Dateline. Who if nothing else could embarass these companies into doing a better job to protect their customers and their financial information.
So I will start. The companies I know that have my credit card data stored are
1) Amazon.com
2) Half.com. and by affiliation Paypal and ebay.
Amazon
eBay
Paypal
Amazon
eBay
Paypal
Equifax
Of course, none of them have my new debit card number - I cancelled the old one after I got hit with the digismarket.com charge. I’d sure hate to give up shopping at Amazon or bidding on Ebay, but I have cancelled Equifax and will no longer use PayPal.
> DLM:
> So I will start. The companies I know that have my credit card data stored are
We were doing this early on in these postings, where Equifax seemed to be the one common organization.
I like your disgruntled employee theory, it could well happen at more than one organization, and it circumvents the responses from Equifax about them being very secure from hacking (unless they can also ensure none of their employees can access the CC data internally).
Hello Everyone,
I have contacted Equifax in regards to the situation. Below is their response as well as my response back. They are aware of the situation and they are conducting an investigation.
Dear Ms. King,
I have received your concern regarding the unauthorized use of your credit card and your credit watch account with Equifax. I want to make sure you know that Equifax takes these matters very seriously and that this matter is currently under investigation. I have reviewed your file and I can verify that there have been no unauthorized or suspicious attempts to access your file. If you can provide further details as to why you believe your credit card was accessed from Equifax, please provide as much information as possible. Also, if you are aware of other potential victims, please have them contact Equifax security so that we can investigate immediately. The security of your account is Equifax’s primary concern. Please do not hesitate to contact me for further assistance.
Thanks
Nicole Smith
EQUIFAX
Senior Director
Global Threat & Intelligence
Security hotline: (866) 493-5983
Security email: Security.DataAdminstration@equifax.com
Hi Nicole,
Thanks so much for getting back to me. I was starting to think that nobody cared. I do have confidence in Equifax but I am scared that someway somehow there is some connection. I do not want to make any false accusations but maybe an employee or employees have access to the information. I have personally given my billing information on the phone. Maybe that’s not a good idea. I am not concerned about my credit report at this time. I checked it and everything looks OK. My concern was the fact that someone had access to my debit card. It is not only me but the numbers are rapidly increasing. When I first noticed the charge I thought it was just something we forgot about. Being that it is just $6.95 many people are probably not paying much attention. I did a little research and found a website cjupin.com. Much to my surprise many people stated that they used Equifax to either order a credit report or that they used Equifax services such as Score Watch. I have done both. I have since then canceled my debit card. I am going to file a fraud report at my bank. I also contacted the State of Tennessee’s Attorney General’s office to report digismarket.com. Apparently the fake company keeps changing names. I looked up the business at BBB, it doesn’t even exist anymore. I still have Equifax Score Watch Services however they no longer have my correct billing information since I had to cancel my debit card. I do not want to cancel however I am scared to give another method of payment to them until this matter is resolved. Please note that I am in no way blaming Equifax. My reason for contacting you is so that the problem can be investigated and resolved. It may turn out that Equifax may not even be the source. When you go to cjupin.com do a search for Digismarket.com. The blog will come up in regards to the situation. There you will find many of the victims. I will make sure to comment tonight that Equifax is investigating and give them the information that you provided. Please feel free to contact me at any time. If I find out anything new I will contact you. I truly appreciate your help and I’m sure all the other victims do as well!!!
*PayPal
*Amazon
*Equifax
* Equifax
* Amazon
Equifax Monitoring
Amazon
Small local companies (doctors, insurance, etc…)
Wow!!! I have to update my list:
Guys thank you for keeping the list of companies that have your credit card data stored going and for the way you are posting it. It makes it very easy to follow. Paul, I did not know that this had already been started, thank you and I sure hope we keep it going!!!
My updated list
* Amazon
* Half.com, ebay, paypal
* Equifax (order a copy of my report online)
Dolores Brehm:
Does Equifax have your data? If not, so far it looks like Amazon is running as the common theme.
A charge for 4.95 just appeared on my credit card. I had 3-in-1 monitoring with Equifax until a few months ago.
Personally, I think Equifax is the culprit due to the quality of their customer service and how many times they are listed on here.
I know the following vendors have my CC on file:
Amazon
Equifax
Paypal
Target
Best Buy
TicketMaster
Transunion
AT&T wireless
I was here early on with this problem which has reached higher proportions then I would have thought and have been watching the comments pour in on this situation. I have called my financial institution and am going to have them submit the paper work for noticication of fraud. I have only used Equifax among the lists being drawn here. The paypals and amazon sites among the others posted have never seen my card.
I was particularly interested in Linda Bell’s contact and able to speak with a person at digismarket. I am bit suspect with what she was told. If they are as slimey as we are seeing here, they sure would not tell the truth about who placed the order, to move the blame. And, your telling me all of these orders were placed by the same person, I don’t think so.
Carry on all.
I have never purchased from Equifax but have made purchases with Amazon and Paypal.
Yes, Equifax had my data as I purchased my credit score from them a few months ago.
Just forgot to put it there.
Equifax
Amazon
PayPal
eBay
Has everyone been to this site to add your comments about your experience in being scammed.
They have 221 responses as of this afternoon
http://www.sygyzy.com/2007/02/07/e-books-are-the-new-419/
This is just getting enormous.
Dolores
Holly Ann,
Thank you for your post; it is good to see we finally have the attention of someone over at Equifax.
Since Holly Ann already has the ball rolling, why don’t we all email the Senior Director of Equifax, Nicole Smith and let her know that we have also done business with equifax and we are also “coincidentally” a victim of the SAME scam. Although Holly Ann mentioned this site in her email, there is a better than 50/50 chance that one complaint may not be enough to get Ms Smith to visit here, or to do any real time consuming investigation to find the culprit(s); however, there is undeniable strength in numbers. Here is the email as provided by Holly Ann:
Security.DataAdminstration@equifax.com
Also, consider mentioning that you will be sending an email to date line, MSNBC or your local news channel’s investigative reporter or cc these indiviudals, as there is no motivation for “big business” to act as the possibility of negative national publicity.
* Amazon
* Half.com, ebay, paypal
* Equifax (ordered a copy of my report online)
It sounds like early postings identified Equifax, and the later ones point to Amazon or ebay/paypal.
Well I tried writing to the email address given above, but just got this Delivery Failure message:
User Security.DataAdminstration
(Security.DataAdminstration@equifax.com) not listed in Domino Directory
The only thing online that I used this card for was Equifax Credit Monitoring. I used it around at local businesses but that was it. I usually only use my AmEx online since they are so good about disputing charges.
$4.95 charge from digismarket.com. Charge made Sunday, canceled my debit card Monday.
Equifax monitoring
PayPal
I’ve gotten in the habbit of using cash whenever possible. Or a temp credit card provided by Bank of America (’Shop Safe’) for online purchases.
I just found a pending charge on my debit card of 4.95 right with my Equifax monitoring. I called my bank and they are going to open an investigation as soon as the amount post. I also called the digismarket number several times, but it’s a recording. i already filed a complaint with the bbb in NY. It looks like the most common denominator here is people who have used the Equifax product.
I was hit by myliberia.com 2 days ago, for $4.95. I bought my credit score from Equifax a few weeks ago. I also have accounts with Ebay, PayPal and Amazon, all of whom have this CC number on file!
Just wanted to leave a quick “Thanks” to the original poster and others who have had to deal with this fraud. I saw a $4.95 charge from MYLIBERIA.COM, called my bank, and then Google’d the web site. Wachovia wasn’t much help, but at least they reversed the charge and I was able to report them to the BBB using the info from here.
Hey guys- I’ve also contacted Equifax (Nicole Smith) to let her know of the situation. Thank you all for leaving comments on my site about your own story on this fraudlent company.
Also, this story has attracted some attention so please leave as much detailed information here as possible (or email me- cjupin[at]gmail.com)
Well, I received an email this morning from mylibreria.com support
Which I am posting a copy of here below.
They have got to be kidding.
I wrote my response which I also copied below.
It’s never going to end.
From: support@mylibreria.com [mailto:support@mylibreria.com]
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 9:40 AM
To: Dolores Brehm
Subject: Re: debit card transaction
Hello Dolores,
Per your request there is information regarding the product below:
E-Guide to Being a Great Driver
Format: PDF
Price: 4.95 USD
Please let us know if you do not recall this purchase and the price of the product will be refunded to you. Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
Support Team
http://www.mylibreria.com
My Response:
From: Dolores Brehm
Sent: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 12:59 PM
To: ’support@mylibreria.com’
Subject: RE: debit card transaction
I did not purchase anything from your site.
I turned in your fraudulent charge to my bank.
Never heard of you until I checked my account.
Please remove the charge.
Dolores Brehm
I too have the Equifax Monitoring…
Just happend today… 4.95 Charge from MYLIBERIA.COM
Called my bank and canceled my Debit card. The bank is going to refund my money.
They are hacking Equifax. That means they have access to more than just my credit card number. You would think someone as HUGE as Equifax would be safe to do business with.
I’m still getting the Delivery Failure when attempting to mail Security.DataAdminstration@equifax.com
Has anyone succeeded?
It’s probably Security.DataAdministration@equifax.com (you were missing an ‘i’).
Hey everone- I received a response from Nicole from Equifax. They are taking this very seriously and are asking everyone to please contact Equifax ASAP: Security.DataAdministration@equifax.com
> It’s probably Security.DataAdministration@equifax.com (you were missing an ‘i’).
Thanks. I cut and pasted the address from this page, to avoid errors!
Thanks Paul- you’re correct.
Question to the group: did anyone purchase either a credit report/credit monitoring through an affiliate or third party to Equifax- or, were all purchases made directly through them (equifax.com)?
I too have fell victim to these scams. MFBPSITE.COM put a fraudulent $4.95 on my checkcard acct. And guess what …….I too have Equifax score watch.
On the light side(if any) the fraud dept. over at Equifax seems to take this seriously and has open an investigation of it and the other cases she said ppl have called in about. Or am I too trusting that they care?
I purchased monitoring directly from Equifax.
I got hit by #MYLIBERIA.COM with a charge of $6.97, disputed the transction with BoA and they promptly credited the amount back.
Looks like its trouble ?
The phone number on record with BoA for that site is 503-616-3843.
And, whats the link with Equifax ? i do have monitoring from them
I purchase my credit report every 6 to 8 mos from Equifax directly…
I received a credit from mylibreria.com on my bank card on Wednesday.
They are scammers, but if you dispute it with your bank or cc holder they apparently refund. Don’t let this fool you, they fraudulently charge your accounts.
I never heard of them, nor purchased any so=called eBook from them.
Scalawags all of them
I just received my cc bill and there is a $5 charge from bestdigimart.com. I called my card issuing bank (Bank of America) and while they removed the charge, they did not seem the least bit interested in the information about this fraudulent company.
What I have in common with others is:
Equifax report
Amazon
PayPal
eBay
Thanks to all who have posted on line about this.
I too received a fraudulent charge for $2.95 from digismarket.com on my Visa card on 11-22. I contacted the CC company today and they will credit back the amount. They did not seem too interested in knowing any info I dug up about the company who made the charge, nor did they suggest that I cancel the card. I filed a complaint with the NY BBB also, but it appears that that is a dead end. I use my CC at many places on the web as well as at many B&M locations, so my credit info could have been stolen from any number of places. But, I coincidentally also have credit monitoring from Equifax, which I paid for with this CC. There seems to be a strong anecdotal connection to Equifax based on all of the comments on thread. I may try contacting Equifax’s fraud department next week for what it’s worth.
Got hit 11/15 with a $4.95 charge from myliberia.com. Just noticed the charge yesterday as it was an account that I haven’t used in awhile. I got a free credit report from Equifax in June.
Thanks for putting this info out there!!
Contacting the fraudster directly just confirms your information as valid and then they have your email to boot. Not smart. Disputing the charge and contacting organizations that combat fraud online and off is more than enough.
Digiwhomever will only be allowed a certain number/percentage of chargebacks before they get bounced by their merchant account processor and then they will have a difficult time rationalizing that level of fraud to any other merchant account processor they seek to do business with. If your cc co won’t do anything besides credit your funds back, contact the FTC, the SEC and so on.
Hey guys- we’ve been published on msnbc! Head on over and check out the article: http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/11/chris-jupin-nev.html#posts
Wow. I purchased a credit score via Equifax earlier this month and two days later a charge from Digismarket.com for $6.95 shows up. This was on my PayPal debit card, which I RARELY use. I’ve sent in the paperwork to file a claim against them through PayPal, but I haven’t heard anything from them yet. I also canceled the card, and I may be filing with the Internet Crime Complaint Center.
Just found this site… I had a charge for 11.95 from Book Space (Moto) in Sacramento, CA hit my AmEx account on 8/5. Strangely enough, I had just purchased a credit report from Equifax on 7/17. I will be checking my credit report again soon. I will be sure to watch and see if this occurs again. I used my AmEx card for the purchase and they were happy to refund my money. I sure am glad I decided not to use my debit card this time.
It doesn’t even seem rational that for how old this original posting is … people are still getting hit by this fraud. I just got mine this morning.
Also a Paypal, Amazon, and Equifax Credit Score Watch user. It’s hard to draw an exact cause-and-effect line between any one of these when so many of us use all of them. So far, nothing anyone has said above has suggested a common denominator between one of them.
MSNBC did a nice job of reporting what has happened to date. But the story offers nothing as to what to do next besides what CJupin has already suggested: Kill the card and report. But of course this remedy is doing nothing to stop this person/people associated with whichever company is the leak for our credit card info.
Here’s what steams me. I’m on vacation and emptied out all of the cash so I would have it here incase something posted while I was gone. I’d rather pay the bounced check fees when I get home then be stuck out of town with no money. So this charge appears, there are no funds to cover it. It’s just kind of hanging there in pre-process mode. I call my bank thinking, “No problem, they’ll just cancel it and no one gets hurt.” Guess what Veronica at Comerica Bank says!
“What we’ll have to do is wait until the transaction clears and then I can take a look at getting you a refund.”
Catch that? No one has actually gotten my money yet. We have to wait until they DO … before I can stop them from getting it!!!!
“Pissed” isn’t the word. And if the MSNBC article above is the most that’s going to happen after all of the letters to the BBB, all of the complaints to Equifax and Amazon, and all of the commonalities at this website … then we’re screwed.
Maybe it’s time to go back to cash. Heck, that would make it harder for George Bush to follow me around anyway. Seriously. I’m considering it.
[...] a company named Digismarket.com charged his debit card $4.95. His investigation and comments on his personal blog uncovered hundreds of people with similar charges. Many claim they received unauthorized charges [...]
Got hit this weekend and happened to notice the story today. My $4.95 charge came from Electronic Business Resources, which I am guessing is an e-book retailer. The customer service number gives an email address, which I couldn’t understand, to address customer service issues. Also, like the others, I used Equifax within the past few months.
Mark,
I am with you. Great, you tell the bank its a fraud and they wait until it is finished processing. Did that to me took, although they put the money back in my account.
Cash looks better every day.
Since I had no debit card last week for Black Friday sales, I just took a lot of cash. Worked great for me.
Don’t like to do it, but I did that time. Writing a check is good, but it only held up the line for people behind me on Black Friday.
I can’t believe that these scammers still have working websites. mylibreria.com is still out there working their scam.
Bring cash back for everything
FWIW, one of my family members got a fraudulent charge from “Electronic Business Resources Inc” (or “Electronic Business Resources LLC” — their website is inconsistent). ebsebooks.com. The name on their credit card statement read “Electronic Business Reso.” Same as Kyra.
Domain name: ebsebooks.com
Administrative Contact:
-
Richard Stewart (ebsebooks@yahoo.com)
+1.3094077237
Fax: -
910 Freeport Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
US
Technical Contact:
-
Richard Stewart (ebsebooks@yahoo.com)
+1.3094077237
Fax: -
910 Freeport Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
US
Registrant Contact:
-
Richard Stewart (ebsebooks@yahoo.com)
+1.3094077237
Fax: -
910 Freeport Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
US
Status: Locked
Name Servers:
ns3.jaguarpc.net
ns4.jaguarpc.net
Great work in exposing these sticky-fingered losers. Just want to add a couple of points, though–
1. Info can be stolen (and resold) from multiple points, not just one; i.e., Equifax monitoring, PayPal, and Amazon by different disgruntled employees or whatever. Craigslist is a notorious site for reselling of stolen ID info. Just means the scammer bought from multiple sources.
2. Never make the mistake of thinking checks are secure. They have everything a scammer needs to rob you blind– your name, address, phone number, bank routing number, account number, AND your signature. (The local Denver NBC affiliate 9news recently did a story on it.) Cash is safer– unless you get mugged or it falls out of your pocket. OK, so nothing is totally safe.
3. You all found the scams because you actually look at your bank statements. Think how many folks out there never do that.
4. Light a fire under your US Congressional and Senate representatives! It’s the only way anything will ever change. Our society will not survive a collapse in confidence in its financial systems– and since most of us don’t use cash anymore, that means the credit/debit systems. It’s much easier to do credit fraud than to counterfeit cash, yet the gov’t has the entire US Treasury Department to pursue counterfeiters! Why no attention to the credit card problem???
Bob Sullivan mentions that it is not clear are these scam sites linked. However, this is absolutely clear: just read their front pages! Digismarket and Mylibreria are twins, and all of them, including Mfbpsite and Electronic Business Resources (that’s the new one!) use the same sentence at one or the other place on their site: “Information is money, let’s make money together!” Definitely, the same people.
[...] grateful for how fast information is spread about said scams. A quick Google search turned up a blog entry by someone who’d been hit, which prompted dozens of ‘me toos’ and an official [...]
I was also hit by myliberia.com.
A 4.95 charge cleared on my Visa debit card 11/13/07.
My wife and I use our debit card for everything - both local and online.
To share in case there are other commonalities overlooked, here are the payee names as shown on our account where we would have used our cc # over the Internet since Jan 1, 2007: See below.
http://WWW.1AND1.COM
1 & 1 INTERNET, INC.
1 AND 1 INTERNET, INC
1&1 INTERNET, INC.
19ENTERTAINMENT AM IDOL
…OHINCOMETX <– Income Tax Auto-Deposit
ALLSTATE INS CO INS PREM - (Recurring auto payment)
ALLSTATE LIFE INS.PREM. - (Recurring auto payment)CAPITAL ONE ONLINE PMT - (Recurring
CAPITAL ONE AUTO DIRECTPAY
CHECK CARD WALGREENS #3864 Q03
CIN BELL ELEC PAY
CINGWS*******944 GLR
CINTI BELL TELE INTBILLPMT
CITIFINANCIAL LOAN PAYMT
CLICKNPRINT TICKETS
DTV*DIRECTV SERVICE
DUKE ENERGY OH ONLINE PMT
ED MAP
EMUSIC.COM
EQUIFAX CONSUMER
GE MONEY PAYMENT
HOME DEPOT ONLINE PMT
HSBC RS
MYLIBERIA.COM
NAPSTER*ID…
NFI*WWW.NETFLIX.COM/CC
NUVOX COMMUNICATIONS
PAYPAL INST XFER
THE HOME DEPOT 3812
UOP CINCINNATI - PN
UOP-INTERNET
US TREASURY 220 TAX REFUND <– Income Taxes
WALGREEN 00038646
WALGREENS #3864 Q03
WAYPORT INTERNET SVCS <– (McDonald’s Internet)
Aaron, Thanks for that info. I am convinced that it is Equifax, I know in my case, it was the only thing that I used the card for….ever! Another thing to consider is that, MYLIBERIA.COM is what they have on our statements, but the site is http://www.Mylibreria.com. They try to throw you off with this unknowing “typo”, but I believe that it is intentional.
Here is the info on MY LIBERIA
——————————–
Registrant:
myPublishing
One Leicester Place
Leicester Square
London, London WC2H 7BP
uk
Registrar: DOTREGISTRAR
Domain Name: MYLIBERIA.COM
Created on: 25-OCT-03
Expires on: 25-OCT-08
Last Updated on: 22-OCT-07
Administrative, Technical Contact:
, myPublishing ar@brandcasting.com
One Leicester Place
Leicester Square
London, London WC2H 7BP
uk
+44 207 494 2020
+44 207 494 4040
Domain servers in listed order:
NS0.SERVE.CO.UK
NS0.SERVE.NET.UK
Here is the info on DIGISMARKET
———————————-
Domain name: DIGISMARKET.COM
Registrant Contact:
digismarket.com
JOHANNA RAY (johanna.market@gmail.com)
+1.6813466445
Fax: +1.5555555555
16 Hudson ST
Selden, NY 11723
US
Administrative Contact:
digismarket.com
JOHANNA RAY (johanna.market@gmail.com)
+1.6813466445
Fax: +1.5555555555
16 Hudson ST
Selden, NY 11723
US
Technical Contact:
digismarket.com
JOHANNA RAY (johanna.market@gmail.com)
+1.6813466445
Fax: +1.5555555555
16 Hudson ST
Selden, NY 11723
US
Status: Locked
Name Servers:
ns5.secureserver.net
ns6.secureserver.net
Creation date: 04 Apr 2007 21:17:03
Expiration date: 04 Apr 2008 21:17:03
I had a credit monitoring subscription several years ago, and then I decided to cancel it. This became very, very difficult; all of my requests were rebuffed one way or another so that the company could continue to charge me for their services. Based on this experience, I wouldn’t be horribly shocked if Equifax itself is selling your information and/or participating indirectly in these charges.
I had the same 4.95 charge but from a company called eIntelligent.com. Researched it, yep, ebooks. Disputed it through Chase and they credited back to me. Got a new card. Funny thing, I called the number on the website first to dispute it, got a voice mail and left a message. Then tried later that same day. No return called. Thats when I decided to let my bank handle it. THEN, on Thanksgiving I get a call from this thickly accented woman. I tell her I disputed it through my bank, she hung up on me.
I got hit by a company called embintelligence.com for $6.95. I called the company and got an answering machine and left two messages. Finally a woman with a thick accent called back and told me that it was a mistake and I would get a refund. I told her that I needed more info about the transaction because their website requires a name, address, credit card number, expiration date, and CVV code to make a purchase. That is way too much info to be just a mistake! She repeated my name, but said the ebook was sent to an email address that was not mine. I asked for the address that was given and she refused, saying her supervisor was not there to speak with me. Her name was Rita Huff and she told me her supervisor was Mila Mette. I was told that I would get a call back but haven’t since. I’m not sure about the Equifax connection, since it’s been awhile since I had ordered a report, but someone leaked my credit card number to this fake company, and I would like to know who it was. I’m grateful for this website for getting the word out!
Hey everyone- this story is continuing to attract a lot of attention..someone recently contacted me about a charge with the description of “DESIGN VIN-DESIGN PLUMAS LAKE” < -- has anyone seen this before?
Also, I am going to file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint center in hopes to attract a law enforcement agency..it would help if others do the same. Here's the url: http://www.ic3.gov/
Just Found 6.95 charge on my card statement from myliberia.com cancelled card, reported fraud to bank.
this is in louisiana now. my bank told me there are so many ways for them to get your number they cant tell you all of them. e-mailing bbb louisiana today and trying to get my money back
Just a follow up with my COMERICA BANK account. If any of you are in an area where COMERICA is prevalent, DO NOT USE COMERICA!! Their answer to this problem is to make it my problem. First, as I said above they allow the charge to clear before they do anything. And then? They do nothing. The woman practically admonished me for waiting until the charge cleared as though they could have done somethign if I’d only called sooner. As you know … I did … and they said I had to wait.
Now they say I have to wait three to ten business days for a complaint packet to arrive … fill it out … take it in person to a bank branch … start an investigation … then sit back and wait for more nothing to happen.
I told her to forget it. I’m not shutting down my whole bank account over a 4 dollar charge and throwing up a credit alert which is a pain in the ass to undo.
I said, “why is it that if American Express has a fraudulant charge they just cancel it? But you (Comerica) tell me Visa has to do it, and Visa says I have to contact my bank?!”
You know what it smells like to me? Complicity.
.
Roy,
I am also in Louisiana (hit on Sunday by Electronic Business Resources).
Unlike some others, I was lucky that my credit union immediately put the money back in my account with no hassle once I notified them. Of course, this doesn’t address the fact that the company still made $4.95. Many thanks to Chris because I initially thought it was just a computer glitch. I had no idea the extent of the problem until I happened upon the MSNBC story.
Wow this is so crazy how easy it is for people to do this sort of thing. I ordered something from amazon.com last week and then today had a $6.95 charge from digismarket.com posted to my bank account. My bank is refunding my money- they gave me no problems and were very responsive, but I had to cancel that card and now have no debit card for the next week or so. I have put a complaint in to the bbb. It’s amazing this “company” is still in business!!
I, too, have gotten a charge from myliberia.com for $2.95. I called my bank (USAA) and they called the phone number associated with the account. My customer service rep gave me the phone number which I prompltly called and talked to a person - could hardly understand her for the accent. All she asked for was my zip code and said that she would refund my account. USAA reps told me that if I don’t see the money back in my account within a week, they will take care of it from their end. I told the myliberia lady that if there was EVER another charge from their company that I would be pressing charges. I see now that this is a HUGE issue, and I will definitely be sharing information with my co-workers and making sure they check their credit card and bank statements freqently as well. I check mine everyday online so I was able to notice this immediately.
I do business with e-bay, paypal, half.com, amazon, but not equifax.
I was charged by Digismarket back in September for $4.95. Kits for setting up these fraudulent businesses can be found on eBay. I ordered a credit report from Equifax a month before I was hit.
12-1-07
I just checked one of my cards on line, and found a charge for $14.99, paid to TURBINE ENTERTAINMENT,
http://WWW.TURBINE.CMA.
Likewise, it was on the card used by Equifax to charge me for credit watch!
Billed by Equifax on 11-1 and by Turbine on 11-29.
I dont know who Turbine Entertainment is. Never have done business of any sort with them. The charge was unauthorized. I’ve called my credit union.
Charles
.CMA, hmm…
I can’t get the .cma website to work. I don’t think the .cma is even an allowed domain.
Either that’s a typo of http://www.turbine.com or someone trying to disguise themself as it. http://www.turbine.com is a mmorpg maker. I believe the monthly charge for playing a few of their games is $14.99us.
I was charged 6.95 on 11/26/2007 it said digis market com in my bank statement. Thanks to Chris I’m gonna make an early morning trip to the bank tomorrow !
I was just charged by three different companies. One was this http://www.digismarket.com/ for $4.95 amount. I called my bank and had the fraud team dispute it. BOFA said they know about this “company” and they start out charging small amounts, then grow larger and larger so no one notices this. MOTHER FOCKERS!
Hi everyone—yes i was hit on my cc bill $4.95 for MYLIBERIA.COM-i too cancl’d my cc & of course i too have equifax. I called them & theyknew nothing about this-”tara” @ customer care was helpful & took lots of info re:this scam & will give to her supervisor–where does it go from there no one knows! Definately ANGRY about this & boy will i be careful-although perhaps i couldn’t have changed a thing!
I just got hit for $4.95 today. I will notify by bank tomorrow. And yes I have Equifax monitoring serive too!!
I got hit by embintelligence.com yesterday for $4.95. My bank says I have to wait till it actually posts before I can fill out fraud paperwork but I have canceled the card. I spoke with Nicole at equifax b/c I ordered a credit score last month. (Thanks for the link whoever posted that) She said they are looking into it and will check my and my husbands reports and to let her know if my bank gives me a problem giving me my money back.
Also hit with myliberia.com scam. Thanks for the info here. I too have (had) Equifax 3-in-1 Monitoring billed to card scammed. Cancelled Equifax, disputed charge and reported card as stolen. Getting another issued. On a side note, customer service around this country sucks. It took me three hours to get all of this done!
Add me to the list. Today had charge from MFBPsite.com for $4.95. Checked online and found numerous posts like this. Contact my bank and cancelled the card, contact company, fraud service, etc… Common thread, I also have Equifax credit monitoring and this is my Amazon.com card as well.
Thanks for putting this info up here. I was hit with a $9.59 charge from VIN Designs so I just called my credit card company disputed the charge, and cancelled the card. I almost paid the bill in full, but I didn’t recognize the charge and easily found these postings. Thanks again.
I got hit by EMBINTELLIGENCE for 4.95..I also have 3 in one…This bites!
I found an $11.87 charge from VIN Designs on my AMEX bill. The disturbing part is that when I called AMEX to dispute the charge, they told me that they have a “standing agreement” with VIN Designs. If any customer calls to dispute a charge, their agreement is to just cancel the charge immediately. Apparently, they say, they have this agreement with many e-commerce companies.
I find this disturbing because it means that if you call to report an unknown charge, they won’t investigate it unless you specifically ask for it. The “standing agreement” means they ask the company no questions unless you force them to.
This is amazing to me; apparently it doesn’t occur to AMEX that an unscrupulous e-commerce outfit can set themselves up to accept AMEX, and tell them, “oh by the way, if anyone reports a charge from us they don’t recognize, just cancel it. You don’t have to bother calling us.” DUH! If I were going to fleece customers, what better way to assure that I won’t get investigated? I bet VIN Designs is banking on a percentage of people who won’t even notice the extra charge on their bill.
I told AMEX that I wanted to open an investigation and I wanted VIN Designs to account for *exactly* what they say I ordered from them. I’m just astounded that *I* had to push AMEX for an investigation because VIN Designs is a merchant they have an “agreement” with. Whose side are they on anyway?!?
American Express is not the police. The only reason they *ever* do an “investigation” in a case like this is to give the merchant a chance to prove that the charge is legitimate, and they do only enough work to determine that. They do that much only because they generally must (imagine if you were a merchant and the issuer just did chargebacks without providing you a chance to prove that the charge was authorized). In almost all ways, it would be better to them if they could just skip that step — they don’t lose any money anyway. The merchant that did the charge is the one who is out money (and they end up paying extra, so Amex actually makes money on chargebacks).
When they *do* investigate, it’s not going to do you as the consumer any good. They will contact the merchant, say “provide the information you have to prove that this charge is authorized, and if you can’t, we’ll issue a chargeback.” That’s it. If the merchant is going to just say “we have no proof” every time, Amex has no reason to keep asking them. And since the entire investigation amounts to asking for proof, the consumer is not losing anything by them not investigating — the investigations they do are worthless to you.
If you want an investigation that will actually help you, you need to get law enforcement involved.
Sorry, I’m not following. AMEX has already refunded my money (their agreement with this merchant IS to do automatic chargebacks).
What I’m asking them to do is contact this merchant and ask them “what did Maria order? where is the electronic invoice showing this transaction and what did she get in return for this charge?” A legitimate merchant SHOULD be able to provide proof. It would seem to me that if VIN Designs can’t come up with this information, or if they come up with something I’ve never seen before, they are clearly committing fraud with my card number. My assumption was that AMEX would automatically do this whenever a customer reports unknown charges. Apparently, they don’t. And if a merchant continually says they have no proof for charges, I’d think AMEX would eventually drop them as a client.
What I’m saying is that the only reason AMEX will ever do anything remotely like that is to give the merchant the chance to defend themselves. If the merchant has already said they aren’t going to defend themselves, AMEX has no reason to look into it further. They have no incentive whatsoever to investigate as a matter of routine. They just want to come to an “authorized/not authorized” decision as quickly and easily as possible, and once that’s done, they don’t care about the rest.
Generally, even when they do investigate, they don’t ask for a list of what was ordered. They ask for things like proof of signature, a card imprint, billing address provided, etc. — in other words, proof that the purchase was really made by the cardholder. They don’t particularly care what was ordered, and their purpose in the investigation is not to gather information that would be useful or helpful to you. And even if they do have that information, they aren’t likely to pass it on to you. Their purpose is simply to make the merchant prove that the charge was authorized, and that doesn’t usually take the form of a list of items ordered.
There are legitimate reasons that some merchants may choose not to try to prove their case — it can be quite labor intensive to represent a chargeback, and if their profit margin is slim (and their chargeback rate low), it may make more sense for them to simply accept the chargeback and move on. So it’s not at all unusual for even a completely legitimate merchant to effectively say “fine, take the money back” when a chargeback occurs. Obviously in this case, it’s *not* legitimate, but in many cases it is. This is not a big red flag to the credit card companies.
Card issuers will jack up the rates for merchants who get too many chargebacks, and they may eventually drop them. But it’s solely a function of how many chargebacks they get — not whether they’re bad people or scammers or anything (though obviously scammers are more likely to get a lot of chargebacks than legitimate businesses are). And it takes time to build up enough chargebacks to get canned. I suspect that in these cases, one of the reasons the company names keep changing is that they’re needing to open new merchant accounts after they get too many chargebacks. But they can keep operating under one plenty long to make a lot of money before they have to move on.
Has anyone contacted the FBI or Secret Service about this? It’s hard to get them interested unless the case is huge, and it would probably be difficult to convince them that there’s a big case here based on a single individual’s $5 charge, but it seems pretty clear to me that this is big, and I think federal law enforcement are really the ones who are in a position to get the subpoenas and such to figure out what’s going on…
Maria, What you need to do is report the charge as “fraud” vs. a regular unknown charge. This will prompt AMEX’s fraud team to get involved. You cant do this via the website like you do regular disputes, you have to call. HTH.
Got banged again! This time for $10.95 to Crystal Clear Designs an alleged software company. Different MasterCard. Called, cancelled and got money refunded. This is totally unbelieveable!!
Looks like there’s a discussion of something similar on slashdot today
http://it.slashdot.org/it/07/12/12/011212.shtml
I also got this charge and use Equifax monitoring. Can we do some kind of class action suit to teach this people a lesson?
Incase anyone wants some real info about the slashdot post.
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0523122/index.shtm
If you post about a new fraudulent charge that has not been listed before, please include all the data that is listed in the line item. Post the name exactly as it appears and include any phone number including partial digits.
I have been following the activities of the crime syndicate that I believe is responsible for operating most of these sites.
Contrary to the consenus on here, I do not believe it is related to a specific transaction at Equifax. The long term data indicates that your recent card activity is not related to the fraudulent charge/s.
I authored a recent post that describes in some detail how this fraud operates.:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19620593-Ebook-websites-fraud-charges-DevbillDigitalAgePluto
MGD
hey guys- I urge you to check out MGD’s article- it has a wealth of important information that is worth reading.
I was hit for $4.95 on 12/13/07 from Embitelligence. After finding this website I cancelled my debit card and had a small hissy fit. Thank you for publishing this information for the poor consumer who are getting taken by these online scams.
MGD: Great work! Thanks. Everyone should read this. One question though, why isn’t the FBI investigating this and/or shutting down this operation? As you requested here is the info:
GM Mastercard (HSBC Bank), MYLIBERIA.COM 5036163843 for $2.95; and FIA Card Services Mastercard, Crystal Clear Designs 120-63198144 for $10.65. Both cards have been cancelled, charges refunded and disputed and new cards to be issued.
Today I discovered I was charged $4.95 by MFBPSITE.COM, tele 310-237-6452, on 12/13/07. A reverse lookup on the phone number gave Culver City, CA.
Though I do not have Equifax monitoring or any other kind of monitoring, I did request and did receive my free Equifax report in June of this year. I don’t see how they could have gotten the debit card number unless it was when I tried to purchase a single score report. But then I had to enter the whole request for a credit report a second time and didn’t again order the score report. So I was never was charged for a score and never received one. They should not have kept the debit card number.
This was a charge to a debit card which I have used for some purchases over the internet. My Norton security has been turned on but is not up to date. A freshly updated Spybot found my computer clean today.
Thank you Chris,
I am hoping due to all the recent publicity that the FBI and the Secret Service will take another look. They should now see that this is not a low level fraud of small amounts from a few random business names. Rather a large organized criminal enterprise operating a multi million dollar card laundering scheme. Most importantly is the fact that they have penetrated databases where consumer account data is stored, and have had acess to this data for a considerable oeriod of time.
Your fraud charge that accompanied the MYLIBERIA.COM charge on the second unrelated card account:
“Crystal Clear Designs 120-63198144 for $10.65″
is tied to ccdtemplates.com http://www.ccdtemplates.com/help.php
Crystal charges are sometimes billed as “Interactive Designs” using the same phone number 206-319-8144
Fitting the typical modus operandi, interactive designs is a state of Washington registered company: INTERACTIVE DESIGNS LLC
MGD
Just got off the phone with my Macy’s Visa rep.
On Dec 2 2007 my account was charged $4.95 by “MYNETCONNEX 732-9935297 NJ 4.95 “.
Googled and came up with ebooks,
On top of that, to dispute this charge I have to write to Visa. Of course most will people will just forget it and pay the fraudulent charge. What’s 5 buck, right?
Macy’s was not even interested that neither they not I could determine where this charge came from.
Closed the account.
Here’s the website I found - ebooks stuff.
http://www.mynetconnex.com/
I’m writing Visa, NY BBB - Attorney general?
And I think I’m paying cash from now on.
Anybody else totally peeved at the Visa commercials showing people who use cash and checks screw up the works?
Jeeze, I am so disgusted.
I’ll keep watching here, hope everything works out for
everyone.
I wonder what the jerks running these frauds think of this website and the other info out there like this - they must read it. Is that how they know to keep changing the name?
I’m so mad - I gotta go duck-tape my head before it explodes.
As far as I am concerned, there will not be a third chance. If my newly issued cards get hacked I will close my accounts. Maybe if the credit card companies start losing customers action will be taken by somebody! Lisa, when your done with that duck-tape pass it over here!!
Very interesting reading. I just noticed a charge of 9.45 on my AMEX from VIN Design. I did the research and ended up here. Strange thing about this- 2 months ago, I disputed a charge of 9.59 from an obscure mobile game developer in Sacramento (which is near Plumas Lake, CA). I did a lookup of the address and found the site vr-s.com. I don’t download games from 3rd party sites so I disputed the charge. When I looked at the most recent charge, and did an address lookup, I ran into an e-book site, ibookstfs.com. Lo and behold, the website copy of both ibookstfs.com and vr-s.com is identical. Compare the privacy policy- it’s boilerplate, as is the site design, logo placment, etc. The domain owner is someone named Vladimir for both domains, and all addresses for these are in or around Sacramento, California. Going to check out that linked article above now.
Ok, read the article from mgd, and also re-read what I wrote about transaction #1: “so I disputed the charge”. With transaction #2 from VIN Designs, I definitely reported that as fraud.
There are numerous complaints throughout internet from individuals who were charged on their credit/debit cards small amounts from various web sites. Most of them share one thing in common – all of them used Equifax credit report monitoring service paid by the same credit card recently.
Statistically speaking, from the same public common denominator, personal use –there is only one conclusion - Equifax is a culprit in providing or disseminating Credit Card numbers that are being used in fraudulent authorizations and charges.
I caught the charge of $2.95 from EMBINTELLIGENCE.COM MARIETTA GA. This charge appeared not too long after paying for Credit Monitoring service from Equifax.
Their explanation that this correlation / coincidence is simply due to overwhelming use of their services is not logical in light of this peculiarity.
I will be contacting an attorney to instigate a Class Action Suite review.
Equifax is a culprit… maybe not.
A lot people have received charges even though they did not use Equifax. Does Equifax do it’s own billing? They probably use a third party to actually charge the credit cards, and the link may be there.
We’ve been hit for the first time … ‘Just found this site. We ordered Equifax 6 months ago … still trying to get the billing to stop. Had a charge show up as NFIWWW.NETFLIX.COM/CC on a card we cut up 6 months ago becuase we never used it (unfortunately we forgot to call the bank and cancell it - just got busy). Bank cancelled the card & we wont order a new one - got hit on checks a few years back, ‘don’t use them anymore now, cards are 1 step away from CASH ONLY.
Are you sure that’s not really Netflix? That’s what real Netflix charges look like, and I don’t think anyone here has seen these fraudsters using that name. It just doesn’t match the M.O. of this particular scam. It is, of course, entirely possible that an unauthorized person used your card on Netflix (though that’s an unusual use of a stolen card), but I don’t think it’s directly related to the scam being discussed here, unless I’m missing something…
Here is more information on this scam:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-206-319-8144
I am absolutely amazed at the responses and even more amazed at the ability for individuals to get away with petty nickel and dime theft that adds up to millions of dollars all in the namesake of fraud. As we are by in large forced into using technology for more of our purchases and daily living, it makes me wonder if the safety nets are truly in place to protect the savvy consumers. Seems not. Regardless of the M.O., be it dumpster divers, computer hackers or the guy in the neighboring cubicle who can access your personal information at work, consumers pay a hefty price for safety and privacy but those claims of privacy safety nets are more lip service that anything else. It is shameful and completely disheartening to think that individuals who go to the extreme to protect their identity and private information are the very ones who are penalized by having to pay the penalty to restore their credit or damage done to their bank account. Whether it is $4.95 or $495.000, fraud is fraud. No one deserves the right to take unauthorized funds. These peons who have learned how to skim dollars (a few at a time) from countless individuals, bank (no pun intended) on the fact that the ensuing fight will not be worth the original unauthorized debit, therefore they continue their technology theft.
Several months ago I went into a local shoe store to purchase a pair of shoes for $74.95. I handed over my credit card and was given my receipt. As I started to pocket the receipt, I noticed they had charged me $7495.00. I immediately brought this to attention and the sales clerk had no idea how to reverse the charge. I asked for the manager. There was no manager. I asked for someone in charge. Another clerk came to the rescue or so I thought and she told me not to worry that she would issue me a corrected receipt. In reality, the corrected receipt still showed a charge of $7495.00 to my account. At that point I demanded to speak with the store owner or manager. They finally got someone on the phone who actually told me “Don’t worry, we’ll fix it. Your account won’t be charged.” When I told her that wasn’t sufficient, she got angry and yelled at me. Well, that did it. I was not about to walk out with a pair of shoes overpriced at $74.95 and a credit card receipt that showed a charged amount of $7495.00. When I refused, the clerks grew insane. Lesson to all, technology is only as good as the people who design it and only as good as the people who use it. Be aware. Fight for your rights. Protect your money at all costs. Final note, no, I don’t have that $74.95 dollar pair of shoes. I’m comfortable walking in my older well worn version of Anne Klein’s. Chris, you did well! I’m proud of your fight and integrity! You have saved many unsuspecting individuals and enlightened others.
Thanks for these postings.
Got hit on 12/18 with a $10.65 charge on my CC from INTERACTIVE DESIGNS 206-3198144, which I see was mentioned earlier. Not sure if Equifax is the culprit (I use card for Amazon, eBay, and Half.com), but I ordered a credit score through Equifax last month. This is the first time that I used Equifax for this service and the first time I’ve ever had a fraudlent charge on my credit card account. Coincidence?
Will be contacting my bank and Equifax today.
Oh, a follow-on to my posts at #180 & #181 above- I too used Equifax to purchase a credit product in the last year.
embintelligence.com was on my CC bill from BOA. $4.95. I never used it for Equifax. I have done internet purchases for years w/o a problem. I called and told them it was fraud and they said it would be removed and I also changed my CC number.
Was charged $10.65 from Interactive Designs 206-319-8144. Cancelled card. Reported to bank. Never even heard of Equifax but I do use PayPal and Ebay. Both deny that it was them.
I just got hit with a charge for $10.65 from Crystal Clear Designs from Blaine WA - 1-206-319-8144. I have read many of the above postings and this particular one is NOT from Equifax, as I have never been on there. This was from a debit card that I specifically ONLY used with paypal because they offered a 1% cashback on purchases. I only have used this to pay for Ebay fees and would have never, ever saw it, unless I didn’t notice that this particular card was used. No one has ever even seen this card but me, and that is the frightening thing. I still haven’t seen how and why these thieves got this info, but I highly suspect it is paypal/Ebay related. There is a major security breach that might be so much bigger than we all think, as they might have taken info from Equifax, Ebay, Paypal, Amazon, etc. They almost have an unlimited supply. It is brilliant on their part as they only take a little bit from you, but if you turn that into hundreds of thousands of people, it is a huge amount of money they are stealing. There have to be a lot of people involved in this as well….I just don’t get how they keep popping up over and over again?!?
I now have to jump through hoops to get this unauthorized charge disputed because the lady I talked with at Paypal (which took forever to even get a person) couldn’t do anything with it until I fill out some huge form that I have to then fax in, etc. For $10 it is almost not worth my time. I did cancel the card, but what good is that if they might do this crap again? It certainly seems that a good amount of people know about these scam artists and have for a few years now, and yet they are still getting away with it, coming up as new names every few months? How do I know it won’t happen with another card of mine that I barely use? The ONLY place I have anything stored is paypal and they are known for not being the most secure with employees and scams, etc. My guard has always been up, but this makes it even even more so. The problem seems to be for me, since it was an actual paypal Mastercard debit card, I am almost SOL because trying to get money back from paypal is almost impossible as it is. It isn’t Mastercard that oversees the debit cards either I don’t think, it is paypal’s customer service number on the back of the card. Expect to see more from this Crystal Clear Designs in the next few days/weeks…as mine just happened early this week.
pretty sure this has to do with ebay and paypal as I was hit with a $11.85 charge on my account from interactive designs.
I just got charged $4.95 by EMBINTELLIGENCE.com as well.
I used to use Equifax’s credit monitoring service that I paid for with the card that was fraudulently charged.
What a pain in the butt.
I have just fallen prey to this, the company is Digismarket. Also I had the Equifax monitoring, if I’m not mistaken a credit agency had a security issue not to long ago. I read the article somewhere, might have been CNN. This Johann better get back to me about putting the money back in my account, or Iwill be sending the complaint I filled out to the New York Attorney Generals Office.
Hello,
I too am a victim of the small charge credit card scam. The amount is only $4.95 appeared on my Wells Fargo card from digismarket.com. I called Wells Fargo, they cancelled the card and are issuing a new one.
Very important also fill a complain with the law and businesses agencies:
~ New York Attorney Generals Office
~ Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
It is hard to have any agency to do anything for only $4.95 but I’m frustrated that this is happen to soo many people.
I received my bank account and notice this charge on it from Embintelligence.com for $4.95. I did not sign up for this and don’t know where it came from. I also do not want it.
I just found a charge on my statement for $4.95 from some smartemarket inc. I googled it and it is an ebook site. I bought a credit report from equifax last week.
I had the same thing happen to me. Crystal Clear Design charged $10.56 to my Visa checkcard. I called my bank right away and they cancelled the card and after signing a fraud affidavit, gave me the money back. I have used this card for years without a problem. I’ve used it at ebay, equifax, amazon and plenty of others. Really not sure what to make of the whole thing. Best thing to do in this day and age is to watch your accounts closely. I think this type of thing is just too hard to stop completely so it’s up to the consumer to be vigilant regarding their accounts.
Everyone needs to go to the credit card companies and complain so that they get their service canceled. Being a business owner, I know visa, mastercard, AmEx, has the real owners on file. When you apply to be a merchant you have to use valid information like social security numbers–ein, etc., so this may stop them (digimartdotcom, etc) faster than any agency…just a thought.
Thanks for the site. I just reported a fraudulent charge of $9.59 from Vin Design of Plumas Lake dated 11/25.
PAYPAL
AMAZON.COM
Bank debit card hit on 12/14/2007 by Electronic Business Resources for $4.95.
This happened approximately 4 days after I set up a new PAYPAL account and they “verified” my bank account. I have had an Amazon account [with no issues] for some time with the same debit card information as my new PAYPAL account. The problem seems to have occurred [immediately] after the PAYPAL account was opened!
I reported earlier that I cancelled my amex card and filed a fraud report for a charge of $9.59 from VIN Designs. That charge was successfully removed, but on my final amex bill on that card I found another charge for $9.59 from VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX of West Sacramento, Ca - also listed, like VIN Designs, as direct mktg internet. I’ve added this charge to my fraud case. I should also mention that I,too, purchased a credit score from Equifax prior to these fraudulent charges appearing on my card.
rbarr- those are exactly the two entities that ripped me off. If you want to compare notes off-forum, you can email me at kevin -at- kcollins - dot- com
I noticed unauthorized charges as recently as December 29 from the same operation out of Plumas Lake CA. The first was under VIN Design in November and then the latest was the same address but now under the name Paradise Web. Another suspicious transaction appeared under VALLJRSX out of Sacramento…disappointed but I too have a tie to Equifax…
Thanks for the warning ….I’ve never been to their site either but was charged 4.95…some nerve .. i wish i didnt have to go through all that to get my 5.00 back..good luck to all..
I was a victim of both ViN Design and VALLJRSX in the past two months. Amex refunded the Transactions.
I just did a search for Paradise Web and found this site - I too have had 3 unauthorized charges lately on my AmEx - VIN DESIGN, VALL-JRSX, and now Paradise Web. I am surprised that AmEx is still authorizing these charges and not rejecting them automatically. Anyway, I guess I have to cancel my card now as I’m not sure what AmEx is doing exactly. Tahnks everyone.
I am a member of Navy Federal Credit Union. They offer a special price with Equifax for credit report monitoring services. I signed up for this as a one-time thing for all three credit reports and my credit score on October 17th 2007. I used my Visa card for Equifax’s services. My next debit card statement (not the same account) had a mysterious charge for $4.95 to Digismarket.co in NY with a phone number dated October 14th and posted October 15th 2007. Before calling the number, I thought I’d look them up to remind myself what I must’ve charged. That’s when I saw the explosion fo scam warnings and connections to people who also recently used Equifax. I called Equifax to complain and was told “sorry for the inconvenience” and that I’d hear something from the technical department within 48 hours. Equifax made it a point to ask about the dates of the mysterious charge as if the new to ask if it was before my Equifax purchase date. This seemed strange to me. I also notified Navy Federal Credit Union i hopes of preventing this from happening to other active duty or veteran members. I am very concerned that Equifax, a company that profits from helping people to prevent identitiy theft and credit fraud are not doing more to explore and eliminate it when it seems too large of a coincidence that they may be connected to a scam like this. I would think they would do the right thing and lead the charge against this and make us trust them more for thier services. Right now, I think they are profiting from fear and are not doing thier due diligence to justify their existence.
I received my American Express bill today with a $11.95 charge on it from this company. When I googled VALLJRSX, this web-site came up. After reading the comments, I called American Express. They took the charge off my bill and said they would charge the $11.95 back to the merchant. Very easy and simple, but I am still going to file a complant with BBB.
The BBB is a waste of your time. Don’t even bother, it’s not like they can actually do anything.
http://cybercjh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3F5736B7C1474927!199.entry
I have been a victim, too …
10/22/07 $11.87 - E NAT NATALIYA MAKOVCARMICHAEL CA ELECTRONICS STORE
12/05/07 $11.95 - PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
12/26/07 $ 9.45 - VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
All 3 times, I called American Express and they refunded the charges without delay. After the 3rd one, I asked for a new credit card w/ a new number - and they fulfilled that request too - and overnighted me a new card. What is going on?!
And, I am an Equifax customer as well.
Oh, BTW. I called Equifax and changed the card they bill on a monthly basis to a card that has nothing else on it. So, the only thing that will be going on that card will be my monthly Equifax membership charge. If bogus charges start showing up on that card, then I know chances are Equifax is behind it …
I first noticed a 12/11/07 charge on my AmEx card from Paradise Web out of Plumas Lake, CA for $9.59 a few days ago. It was for an internet download. I had not made any internet download purchases, and neither had any one else in the family. I then checked my AmEx account and noticed a 1/1/08 charge by VALLJRSX out of West Sacrmento, CA for $12.24, also for “internet Downloads”. That’s when I Googled VALLJRSX and found this blog post.
I contacted American Express this morning. They are removing the charges, implementing a fraud investigation, and will be processing new card numbers for us. I also told American Express these same two companies appear to be making fraudulent charges to other AmEx cardholders, and gave them this URL.
Like others here, I have PayPal and Amazon accounts, but I do not use my AmEx card for those. The only other company referenced in comments here that uses my AmEx card for recurring monthly charges is Equifax out of Atlanta, GA. However, at the end of November, just prior to the Paradise Web fraudulent charge, our family purchased DirecTV (out of El Segundo, CA) and they began using our AmEx account for recurring monthly charges. If there is a common link for these fraudulent charges to AmEx accounts, I hope AmEx is able to identify it and prosecute.
Same thing happened on my Amex card in November and December. November was $11.87 from VIN DESIGN VIN-DESIGPLUMAS LAKE CA and December was $9.59 from VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA. Amex credited them back to my account immediatley. I also use Equifax monthly service billed to this Amex card. Seems this could be an Equifax issue - I think I may cancel the service as it seems others have a similar issue.
BTW - after reading Sue’s post, I also use my Amex for Direct TV direct billing. I plan to check with both Equifax and DTV. Thanks.
I too was hit with the same 3 charges and AMEX could not give me a phone number for these companies, yet they reversed the charges. Also, I TOO HAVE EQUIFAX SCOREWATCH which recurrs on my AMEX.
What the heck is going on here? Why isn’t Equifax doing something about it, especially when they are suppose to be a Credit Bureau that is suppose to protect the consumer.
Also, I do not think cancelling Equifax would help out much. I do believe we all need to request new cards. If it is an Equifax security issue then it means someone who works there has our card numbers and is basically trying to make money by scamming individuals like ourselves.
I am pretty sure they will get caught but can you imagine, how many others fail to look at their statement and not notice this “minimal” charge? $9.98 x 100 victims is an easy 1k for these SICK A****.
Sorry but I am mad! lol
I too had several bogus charges on my account from the following companies between Nov 07-Jan 08:
$12.38 VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA
$11.95 PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
$12.38 E NAT NATALIYA MAKOVCARMICHAEL CA
I subscribe to Equifax credit monitoring service as well. I find it ironic/disturbing that we all subscribe to Equifax to avoid credit fraud, but we are all victims because of them.
I just find fraudulant activity on my account.
$12.38 VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA - Jan 4.2008
$13.95 E NAT NATALIYA MAKOVCARMICHAEL CA - Nov 18. 2007
$19.95 AP9 Shopping Essential - thru Aug. to Nov. 2007
I think that they are connected…
Yes, I also have been charged by Equifax scorewatch program on AMEX card.
Guys read this article:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19620593-Ebook-websites-fraud-charges-DevbillDigitalAgePluto
It explains the details of this operation.
Maggie, I just finished reading that two page forum thread myself and was going to post the link when I saw you were way ahead of me. Unbelievable work MGD is doing! I was also glad to see I took the right steps reporting the charges as fraudulent rather than contesting them. Everyone should definitely read the entire thread.
Hhhmmm, I also have had DirecTV recurring charges on my Amex card … maybe it’s DTV and not Equifax … ? Or, both? I can’t believe I’ve been part of this red syndicate. I feel so … DIRTY. LOL! Strange, crazy world we live in.
I just found a charge on my VISA credit card in the amount of $11.85 for Crystal Clear Design. I am so glad that I found your site. I have reported this to my credit card company.
I have already given up debit cards after two ID thefts which left me overdrawn in my bank account. However, one of my ID thiefs was caught by the FBI. Finally, after many delays, the man is serving time. He was caught in Oregon and my transactions were in Canada. Keep reporting these crooks!!
Calling Equifax now! Thanks for the info.
Last July I ordered a free credit report from Equifax, and paid a few bucks (with my Amex card!) to see my FICO score. Then I got these charges on my Amex account:
01/02/08, $12.38
PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
12/14/07, $12.38
VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA
11/11/07, $9.59
VIN DESIGN VIN-DESIGPLUMAS LAKE CA
I’ve also been charged by these two companies thru my American Express Card. AMEX is now investigating.
VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA
PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
I’ve also found a $11.95 charge on my credit card from VIN Design, Plumas Lake, CA. Called American Express and opened a fraud investigation. The charges were removed from my bill. Waiting to hear what they send back to me. I feel sorry for anyone who doesn’t check their statements.
I just found a charge on my recent 12/2007 amex statement of $12.38 from VIN DESIGN VIN-DESIGPLUMAS LAKE CA, DIERECT MKTG INTERNET.
Googled it, found this site. Went back and checked past statements, found another bogus charge in OCT 2007 for $12.24 from VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO, COMPUTER NETWORK/INFO.
Thank you so much Christ and MGD.
This is my main purchasing card and it is going to be a royal pain to cancel- many auto payments made with this card too! But, I will claim fraud with AMEX and get a new card issued! I am so pissed off!
I to just received the following charge on my amex and I am also a member of the equifax monitoring service
Transaction Date: 01/05/2008
Transaction Description: PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
P1ED7D77C DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
Charge: $12.38
Merchant Address: PARADISE WEB
1076 LOST TRAIL DR.
PLUMAS LAKE CA 95608
USA
Merchant Type: INTERNET DOWNLOADS
Doing Business As: No Additional Information
Transaction Date: 01/03/2008
Transaction Description: VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA
DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
Charge: $12.38
YES
I have Equifax credit monitoring services.
Just got this on my amx card!!!!
Second time!!!!!
Why are these people still able to do this????
Why hasn’t the police stormed the office and arrest every *X#@#!! in the building !!!!
and hang them all by there toes!!!!!!!
Merchant Address: VALLJRSX
900 SIMON TERRACE
UNIT # 88
WEST SACRAMENTO CA 95605
USA
Merchant Type: INTERNET DOWNLOADS
Doing Business As: VALLJRSX
I just received and reported the same fraudulent transaction as Scott on my AMEX. I also subscribe to Equifax’s credit monitoring service. Unbelievable.
I checked my Amex account online this morning and saw a charge I didn’t recognize from Paradise Web for $9.59 on 01/06/08:
Transaction Date: 01/06/2008
Transaction Description: PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
Charge: $9.59
Merchant Address: PARADISE WEB
1076 LOST TRAIL DR.
PLUMAS LAKE CA 95608
USA
Merchant Type: INTERNET DOWNLOADS
Doing Business As: No Additional Information
Checked on the internet and came upon this site. Saw MGD’s post and link on 12-14-07 and spent my morning reading thru the details of how these fraudulent companies operate and all the people who have been hit.
Amex was very willing to reverse the charge, as they said they had an agreement with the company to automatically reverse disputed charges (!). Another poster mentioned this also. I find it incredible that the credit card companies seem to be facilitating these scams (in the sense that they do not seem to investigate or want to do anything to stop it).
I just wanted to add myself to this ever-growing list of victims. I haven’t cancelled my credit card yet but will keep a close eye. After reading everything, I’m not convinced that my new credit card wouldn’t also be compromised. If there are anymore fraudulent charges, I will cancel it.
I’ll try to report this to the Calif. Attorney General and also email my congressman. Thanks to everyone for all the info! Many thanks to MGD and those who are working to investigate and stop this type of activity.
Same here,
Have disputed 6 charges so far, 2 charges/month, and I’ve finally cancelled my AMEX. Also an Equifax customer!!!!
i too have amex and equifax. wtf?? Equifax must have thief inside. Has anyone called Equifax yet?
I emailed equifax, got the canned response saying that I would hear back within 48 hours, but haven’t heard anything so far. I plan on cancelling my equifax account. Does anyone know of any other similar sercvices, say from Experian or Transunion?
Below is the BS charge found on my amex. This is the second time I have recieved a charge of this nature. Like the first time i called amex and disputed it. i was nieve and did not research the first charge. I just made like an honest consumer and said “I don’t think I made this charge but if is did then I will be happy to pay it.” I called a week or so later and amex said they would just refund my the $6.95. I said great but are you not going to follow up? They said it was not worth it.
So here I am again with a second charge from a different company. Before I even called them I found this great board with others like me. So this called started off with “I am a victime of fraud. Take it off a look into it.”
While they do that I will be happy to swip my card at bus depot here in the east coast (where i live) drive said bus and pick up all that want to come with as I drive out to CA to break down the door of the address below and carve out eyeballs out, with a spoon, of anyone I found on the other side.
Transaction Date: 01/06/2008
Transaction Description: VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA
S1E34A6C4 DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
Charge: $9.59
Merchant Address: VALLJRSX
900 SIMON TERRACE
UNIT # 88
WEST SACRAMENTO CA 95605
USA
Merchant Type: INTERNET DOWNLOADS
Doing Business As: VALLJRSX
I too received a charge from Paradise Web from Plumas Lake, CA. It was for $12.38 and when I called my credit card company, they said it was for a software download. I disputed the charge and AMEX immediately reversed the charge.
IMPORTANT! PLEASE VISIT http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/319960 to answer a few questions so we can identify the source of this leak!
http://digg.com/business_finance/Creditcard_Fraud_Ring_Discovered_Likely_Hacked_Top_Company
HEY EVERYONE! The dude from VALL-JRSX got busted! I looked up his name from the ‘Ficticous name search’ in cali.. its VALENTIN SHIKHANTSOV.
http://yolo.courts.ca.gov/Calendars/DailyCalendar/?thedate=Date&dept=Department&firstname=Firstname&lastname=SHIKHANTSOV&casenumber=Case+%23&Submit.x=37&Submit.y=11
oh yes, you are right- here’s the FBN entry for VALL-JRSX in Sacramento County-
http://www.efbn.saccounty.net/eFBNBusinessNameDetail.asp?FilingNum=200703682
[...] Update 01/04/08 … Looks like I’m not alone. Check out http://www.cjupin.com/2007/09/13/credit-card-scam-digismarketcom. [...]
Count me in as someone who just got hit for $11.89 from Crystal Clear Designs. I’ve called my bank, cancelled the card, filed a fraud complaint with the bank and the FTC. Many thanks to the person who posted that link. I paid for an Amazon order back in December with my debit card.
I only use this credit card to pay my Equifax bills. I use my other credit cards to pay everything else. Equifax has definitely been compromised. I just called amex, and had these charges refunded.
Has Equifax really been hacked?
Other possibilty is thru our cell phones!
One day early this month I noticed a few new apps i didnt request/download on the screen of my Blackberry!
Google Phone, Yahoo Search, and like 3 others.
This was wierd because I had already deleted all BS apps including the web browser off of my BB.
Didnt think much of it until I saw the 9.95 charge for a download. All I think that is happening is that this scammer gets a hold of your cell phone nbr and places a online order from his companies website. It automatically gets charged to the CC that pays your phone bill.
I did go ahead and report it as fraud and Amex will issue a new card/acct nbr.
Amex account
Paradise Web for $9.59 on 01/06/08:
Transaction Date: 01/06/2008
Transaction Description: PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA
DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
Does not appear to be related to cell phones, the entire cell phone game issue is just a ruse. The current set up of exclusively targeting compromised Amex accounts using this format is not new either.
See this post for the 2006 version: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19810956-Re-VALLJRSX-VINDESIGN-E-NAT-PARADISE-WEB
Several Amex victims who had dormant cards reported being hit, including one that had never been used at all.
Also the following posts in the overall thread that pertain to this current American Exoress crime:
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19768734-Re-VALLJRSX-VINDESIGN-E-NAT-PARADISE-WEB
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19772935-Re-VALLJRSX-VINDESIGN-E-NAT-PARADISE-WEB
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19789295-Re-VALLJRSX-VINDESIGN-E-NAT-PARADISE-WEB
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19776294-
MGD
Add one more victim to this ring. I just checked my banking statement today like I do from time to time and saw and 10.35 charge from a Crystal Clear Designs. Not once have I ever heard of this company. After googleing it, I came across this thread. And the pieces seem to have fallen into place. Recently I have ordered things from Amazon, and I see that many others with this problem have as well. Thanks to everyone with their advice, I plan on calling my bank tomorrow and straigten it all out.
Hopefully, this criminals can be taken down and the rest of us won’t have to worry about this kind of thing anymore.
Hey all,
I have been getting numerous emails about this through my site and I wanted to let everyone know that this is NOT from my company. I’m being mixed up with a company out of Texas (I’m in Ohio) - http://www.ccdtemplates.com.
I currently do not accept credit cards for just this reason, I don’t need the headaches.
Anyway, I just wanted to get the word out there that Crystal Clear Design LLC (my company) and Crystal Clear Designs LLC are TWO UNRELATED COMPANIES. I didn’t even know the other existed until all of this happened.
Talk about bad advertising! LOL.
Thanks,
Crystal
http://www.crystalcleardesign.com
Internets iz serious business!
“Has Equifax really been hacked?” No but you have hahaha.
This is crap I had the same thing 11.39 on 1-15 now i have to cancel my card also. I dont use ebay or equifax,paypal or any of the stuff that was mentioned but i did have a 19.99 charge for email services through yahoo mail that i didnt authorize.it was some mail upgrade.not cool
Re #251
Hi Joe,
was that an AMEX card that was hit ?
I assume the Yahoo charge occurred first ?
no it was a master card and yahoo was second. it was for interactive designs. 13626 8th ave S. Phone number 206-319-7126. It is a seattle WA number
New month, new fraud charges on my AMEX Card..
Solomka Desig Pavel
Sacramento, CA
Computer network/info ($9.45)
and
Mobil Txt., Mobil Txt
Fairoaks, CA
Misc Personal Service ($12.24)
I contacted AMEX .
I told reviewed these charges and told them about this web site and all the fraudulent blogs and suggested that they take a look at it and do something beside give credit. I suggested they try investigating our fraud complaints. Of course they said they would as they had calls on these charges already today. I also had them issue me a new card.
I just got hit with a $4.95 charge from MFBPSITE.COM 310-237-6452 CA on January 17th. I called the Culver city police department who left me a voice mail telling me that the telephone number is out of Carson City, Zip Code 90746, possibly 20411 Campaign or Campine Dr.
I was wondering if anyone has called the police on this matter.
I’m also an Equifax and Amazon person.
Got hit with 6.95 charge on my debit card, it is on account i hardley use and guess what, the only monthly charge on that card is my Equafax charge….
01/25/2008
MOBIL TXT MOBILTXT FAIR OAKS CA
MISC PERSONAL SERVICE
$12.24
Just got hit on my AMEX.
I really hope that they get these guys.
Misc personal service on 1/06/08 for $12.24
This was charged on my AMEX the day before I called up and reported the vin design and VALLJRSX charges as fraud and cancelling my card.
It was showing on the account that day, but it appears in my new statement!
I don’t know if I should report this new MOBIL TXT charge, if they reverse the charges again- even though I demand (again) it be called fraud… am I at risk of this criminal getting my new card number??
I just got hit for a second time on my Amex for $11.87, dated 01/30/08:
MOBIL TXT MOBILTXT FAIR OAKS CA
T1F67A345 MISC PERSONAL SERVICE
MISC PERSONAL SERVICE
Reference No: 320080310128006817
I’m getting a replacement card.
I have Equifax credit monitoring and used this card to pay for it. I’ll be cancelling that service.
02/02/08
I just got my credit card statement today and I too was charged $4.95 on my card by Bestdigimart.com OH. I too used Equifax in November. They have a number on statement : 330-871-7932 in Ohio. Guess what? They never answer. I am contacting my credit card co. and cancelling my card too. Also notified my bank of scam so they can be aware of it also.
Has anyone seen any charges from AREALHOME.COM? I just got a 6.57 charge from them and also an $11.87 charge from Crystal Clear Design on the same day. I have never heard of either of them.
This truly rediculous. how in the world are these criminals aloud to operate in the US. We had two charges, one from SILVER T, MT and MJBPSITE.COM, my wife could not use her card to make purchases at certain retail chains. So, we tested my card, it worked, but hers did not. So, we decided to go back to the house to check online to see if there was a blcok on her card. There was, we found the first one. Thankfully our bank has fraud alerts (BANK OF AMERICA) and cancelled the transaction because of our normal activity was disrupted. They will monitor our account and cancel and replace her card. THANX BANC OF AMERICA.
Can someone explain why Visa and American Express who have had hundreds of complaints by now have done nothing to shut these people down? It is one of their member banks that provides the credit card terminal and allows the transactions to be made.
I would also strongly recommend calling the appropriate Police Dept and ask for the Forgery Detective if your credit card transaction has a telephone number that can be traced to a city. In my case it was Carson City California
Coastal Web Solutions - 760-994-4853 - $4.95 - 1/26/2008 - MasterCard
The card is very rarely used, and the only online transaction within the last 6 months is for Equifax 3-n-1 monitoring.
Be sure to take this poll to help everyong identify the source of the CC info Leak: http://www.misterpoll.com/polls/319960
More info:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-760-994-4853
http://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/hTrxdC09zQAyoQjKHEbDiQ/2
Just got the same thing on our Amex:
MOBIL TXT MOBILTXT FAIR OAKS CA
MISC PERSONAL SERVICE
$9.59
I have Equifax, and they totally missed it.
Cancelled the card.
My wife thought I had been buying porn.
Seriously.
I also got hit by Crystal Clear Designs (Washington) for $11.89 on my debit card. I canceled my card and reported it as a fraudulent transaction. I don’t have Equifax but like most people, it’s hard to pinpoint because I use my debit card a lot.
Well, I got stuck with one in August of ‘07 from Digismarket.com. I googled them and found your posts.
I was doing that because I am on another current scam from Bestdgimart.com.
They nailed me for 6.95 and I was alerted by Bank of America regarding this and another legit charge.
They took the charge off and canceled my card and are issuing me a new one.
Unfortunately, I looked back further on my charge statements and found the one for Digismarket.com. Since I paid it back in August, I guess I am stuck with it.
Coincidentally, the Digismarket.com address was the same town I used to live in on Long Island, NY. (selden)
Can’t believe that it might be turning into a ‘den of thieves’.
Guess I will have to scrutinize ALL my charges on my statements.
Thanks for your help.
Has anyone got a charge from a http://www.turbine.com. I think it is fraud also.
God Bless,
Shawn Buser
cancel that
I just received a Credit Card statement last night for a card that I have not used in several months. There is a charge of $11.89 referencing HTTP://WWW.MCATEMPLATES.C 623-444-2173 AZ. After some quick research, it appears that this is a fraudulent charge. I called my card company, and then informed me that on the same day another charge was submitted, but for some reason it had not yet posted so it wasn’t on my statement. The charge was for $9.99 from arealhome.com. Interesting that they attempted to hit me twice on the same day.
Finally got all charges reversed from AMEX and a new card issued ,this month no unauthorized charges. Amen.
TUNA–
That also happened with my charge from arealhome.com, it showed as a pending transaction on my history, but never actually posted. I got a new card. This is an absolute joke!
Guess what , they got me too! I’m angry as hell. How do these people get away with this, 4.95 charge on my debit card and no answer when you call 330-871-7932.I am cancelling my card and calling my bankj to repor this issue, also the BBB. They must be stopped . I live in Pennsylvania , anyone else from PA get this on their card?
I got hit by byersebooks as well. Bought an Equifax report a few weeks prior.
I was hit by Crystal Clear Design for $11.89 206-319-8144 from WA. Earlier this week I DID authorize a charge of $20.00 to AlumniClass.com for a membership that was direct off of my high school websites page. For this link to be there my high school had to add it to their page. Never would think my high school would have a link to someone/place/site that would be fraudulent. Where does the correlation come in? AlumniClass.com on the statement as Alumni Website also a WA company 509-953-3690 on my statement. After researching on google, found out that AlmniClass.com is also a shady company. My guess is that they sold the cc to the Crystal Clear Designs or are somehow related. After all Crystal Clear Designs is a “website” making company.
Will be calling to cancel card and dispute charges. Fortunatley I have a great relationship with my bank and have been a customer for nearly 20 years, so I’m not concerned. It’s just a PAIN!
Same scam is being worked now by a company named Coastal Web Solutions and the only info avail seems to be a phone # 760 994 4853. Bogus charges are for $4.95 and $2.95. Web site with no contact info is support@coastwebtech.com
I just got hit with a $10.29 charge from Interactive Designs. I googled the number (1-206-319-8144 in WA) that was on my checkcard transaction history and your website came up. The only response from the number was to email support@ccdtemplates.com or leave a message. I am disputing it now with Bank of America (or at least I will once they pick up).
FYI: I just found the following unauthorized charge on my credit card statement:
02/27/08 02/27 INTERACTIVE DESIGNS 120-63197126 WA $11.89
I guess that is a phone number: 1-206-319-7126
I have filed a dispute with my credit card company.
Don’t just dispute the charges. Report them as fraud, get your cards canceled and new ones issued with new account numbers.
It might be worth pointing out the the company that is charging our credit/debit cards is probably also a victim of the fraud. The real fraudster is using these companies to test the cards and see if they work. Fraudsters like to test cards by purchasing “virtual” products (like ebooks and quickie custom website logos). That way there is no physical shipping address and no physical product to recover.
Wow - I was hit yesterday by Crystal Clear Design for $11.89 206-319-8144 from WA. I have now filed a fraud claim with my bank and they are returning the $ and canceling my card. I was trying to get more info so googled the phone # and found this site!
Thank you for all this information!!!!
Last week I saw a pending transaction from a floral company and thought it was strange - then it was gone the next day. Right after that - this charge showed up!!!
I haven’t used Equifax, but have used this card for Paypal, etc.
I actually have this account as a separate account to use for internet & phone purchases. In this way, if my info is compromised (like now), it doesn’t affect my main account!
They got me too. $4.95 on 2/29/08. I noticed a charge back in September for digismarket.com for $4.95 and thought my husband ordered a book and didn’t think too much about it.
Now I’ve discovered what type company they really are. Someone needs to put these scammers out of business and in jail. I’ve filed the dispute. Sounds like I need to ask for a new card number…
I have just noticed a charge on my debit card for
4.95 for Coastal Web Sol! I have NO idea what this is!….I just canceled my debit card. I have been trying to find a place to cancel my Equifax 3-1 Monitoring–of course, there is nothing on their website that allows me to do this. Also, trying to get in touch with someone over the phone is not happening. If someone has Equifax phone number where someone answers please post the number or an email I can contact someone. Thank you.
I just got hit on my account for 4.95 from byersbooks. cancelled my card ricky tick. I had the equifax 3-1 a few months ago.
Well I also have Equifax 3 in 1 monitoring and I received a charge of $12.79 on my account with the same phone number above. When I called them, their name is now Interactive Consults and when you call the number, you receive a recording and an email address. This just happened to me today so I am beginning the process of disputing it.
Here is the response I got from the email I sent:
From: support@interactiveconsults.com [mailto:support@interactiveconsults.com]
Sent: Saturday, March 15, 2008 7:25 AM
To: Alicia H
Subject: Interactive Designs, LLC
Hello Alicia,
I represent Interactive Designs, LLC.
We got an email from you reporting a charge on your credit card.
Thank you for reporting about this situation promptly.
First I guess I should explain everything to you.
Our company produces webdesign and templates - primary web pages
with no content. Your card was charged for the price of a template
bought on our website.
I have a very important question for you:
Are you sure that nobody but you has access to your credit card
information(name and number)? You see that if your card was charged
and you didn’t know about that somebody does have your card
information and can use it. Please check it.
We have already removed the charge you reported. The refund will be
stated in the account within three or four business days.
Nevertheless I strongly recommend you to call your bank and ask them
to issue another card for you. Because if your card was once charged
without your notification there’s no guarantee of that the person
having access to the CC information wouldn’t use it again.
It is also possible that some banking error occured and your card
was charged by mistake but still please call them and talk it over.
Sincerely,
Support Team.
Also if you look up the website it will take you all the way through to check out and when you click on “check out”, it says there is no valid website. Here is their website:
http://www.interactiveconsults.com
Alicia, don’t bother with contacting them or disputing the charge. Report this as a fraudulent transaction, cancel your card and get a new one issued with a new account number. Make sure your bank knows this is FRAUD, not just a disputed charge. They’re different.
Equifax credit monitoring is the culprit - letting my information to scam websites..
You can’t make a blanket statement like that. Many of us here don’t even have Equifax monitoring.
Update—my bank refunded my money immediately. I gave them all of the posts from this website and other websites about these scam artists preying on our debit and credit cards. I somehow still think Equifax is the link. Consumer Affairs have complaints about Equifax–and I have to say I had a hard time getting a hold of them to cancel my subscription. Someone needs to track these slime balls down from Coastal Web Solutions, World Development, and all of the other places that have scammed others.
I am surprised to say that the $12.79 credit was back in my account today. The bank was of no help to me. They basically told me that the transaction came from online and that I needed to contact the company directly to have them credit my account. I explained to the bank that this is fraud and they said the procedures were still the same, I had to contact the company myself. At least I got my money back, and I will be cancelling my account with this bank altogether and moving my business elsewhere.
Sorry to hear that, Alicia. My bank reported it as fraud, and canceled my debit card immediately. The next day I had to go into a branch, sign a form, turn in my old debit card and get a new one with a new account number. The amount was also credited to my account. That’s what should have happened for you too. I don’t blame you for switching banks.
As for the Equifax link, that may be true for some people but that doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone. Millions upon millions of people use Equifax, so that raises the odds that a lot of defrauded people will also be Equifax customers. Same goes for PayPal and eBay. I understand the desire to “figure it out” and pinpoint it to a specific website, but for every defrauded person who uses Equifax, there will be three who don’t.
Thanks Laurie. I have Equifax myself but I got it as part of a settlement so I never had to provide them with any credit card information. I just find it funny that the company emailed me and advised that someone may have my credit card information. I guess thats their whole scam. If they blame it on the customer, they think they are covering themselves. Who should I file a fraud complaint with? The Attorney General in TX?
Just got scammed for 12.97 from interactive designs…called my capital one card and opened an investigation plus had a new card and number sent to me..
About 2 months ago, I noticed that the site “Mfbpsite.com” charged $4.95 to our checking acct. I looked it up online, got the phone number and called non stop for DAYS. Finally some women that was very nasty called me back and told me the money would be refunded. I asked her what the purchase was and she said “an ebook on how to drive”. I laughed at her and told her my husband nor I made that purchase because my husband is a professional truck driver and I have had my license for 10 years now and we do not need a book on how to drive”.
The money was never refunded and I really didnt press the issue because it was only $4.95. Not a big deal to me…..at the time anyhow. Well a couple of days ago, I noticed another charge was made by the same company to our acct for the same amount. Thats when I called and had our check cards canceled and receieved new ones.
OHINCOMETX charge just showed up as a $136 charge deducted from my bank account
John- could “OHINCOMETX” be related to income tax???
Duh - After checking you are absolutely right - I owed $136 and authorized the payment - Sorry for the inconvenience and THANKS
Just found a charge on my account for $2.95 and disputed immediately from MFBPSITE.COM. Checked recent statements and noticed they got me in December 2007 too. I will be canceling this card today.
Thanks for the info.
I just got hit for $4.95 from COASTAL WEB SOLUTIONS. Calling my bank first thing to have my card canceled and # changed. Theese guys are still at it.
I just got charged $4.95 by byersebooks.com on a brand new card that’s only had 2 purchases on it, one being my Equifax Score Watch service. Filed a fraud complaint with the bank, canceled the card, canceling Equifax next. Supposedly byersebooks has been doing this sort of thing since December of ‘06
Greg:
When was the card issued ? In what order did the charges appear?, dates?
Thanks,
MGD
MGD:
The card was issued about a month before the # was stolen. I had to call Equifax personally to give them the # because there is no way to update billing info on their website. Equifax billed me for Score Watch on 04/05/08 and byersebooks charged me $4.95 on 04/07/08. I appreciate all time and effort you’ve put in to this
Thanks
I was hit a while back on Visa card issued in Canada that I rarely use. BUT….all of these rip off artists have a bank just like you and I, that they buy credit card services from.
What does it tell us that after 9 month and hundreds of compaints that neither Visa nor the banks that provide the credit card services have done anything about this?
add another one to the list.
SYNERGETIC EXPERTS LLC
out of Texas. (915)-986-9428
$4.95 charge
Well, mfbpsite.com got me too!! I have a fraud investigation open with my bank & had the card cancelled. This card is (was) linked with amazon, equifax, DirecTV as well. I hadn’t cancelled my equifax since they cannot charge a card that no longer exists!
The one thing I DID make sure to do was file a complaint with the attorney general in California, since that is where this site has their mailing address.
Anyone else get the mfbp jerks? here’s the cal site to complain:
http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=CL
Fill out the form & send it in.
I’ll also be writing to Bob Sullivan and my local news in DC as well.
Good luck everyone!!
I had the same thing happen to me but it was a company called ‘Process at Home’ (Raven Media) that got my card info and charged me $197 for some rebate processing training??? I have never been to this company’s website.
does anyone know about this company or scam?
BestDigiMartDotCom has charged my debit card 2 times, in the amount of $4.95 each. I have contacted my bank to dispute the charges, and will follow up with BBB.
I noticed a charge of $4.95 on my credit card. I know I did not authorize the charge. It was from Coastal Web Solutions.
I searched the internet and found CoastWebTech.com. On the contact page, I found the phone number and it matched the phone # on my credit card statement.
I used whois.com and found the Web site registered to:
Richard Ayers
619 Silverwood St
Oceanside, CA 92054
Ph# 208-361-3929
I filed complaints with
http://www.ftc.gov
http://www.ic3.gov (https://complaint.ic3.gov/)
Local Police
My Local Bank Internet Investigation dept
I disputed the Charge
The only way to stop the charges is to report the card stolen
and cancel the card immediately. Then you have to separately dispute the felonious charges.
I just noticed a 4.95 charge on my debit card from Synergetic Experts, I almost overlooked it since the name of my gym is Synergy. When I googled them this blog came up. Thank you so much, I contacted Chase right away and cancelled the debit card and they are starting an investigation. The above number is disconnected the active phone number is 915-996-9428. I can’t figure out how they got my info. I also have my debit card connected to Amazon?!
I’ve been reading the blog and realized I do have Equifax Scorewatch as well!!!!!
I’m sorry, I also received Equifax Scorewatch as a settelment !!!
I also have equifax, and got a 4.95 charge from this company. I canceled my card, which reversed the charges, and synergetic also refunded my money.
Does anyone out there have a real address for mfbpsite.com? The address listed on their site,
20411 Campaign Drive, Carson, CA 90746 is BOGUS!
I have been in contact with the CA Attorney General’s office and they tied corresponding with them & it came back as undeliverable.
They are very interested in this company and will surely contact them should we have some actual contact information.
Please let me know should anyone have this info.
Thanks,
Mo
If the AG is *that* interested, they should subpoena the registrar to get the IP and payment information used to register the domain, follow the trail of money from the fraudulent charges back to the recipient, etc. If all they’ve done is try sending a letter and given up when it bounces, I question their true interest….
I found a website that has some great information about these fraud sites. I also found an address for mfbpsite. It is also listed on the below website.
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19620593-Ebook-websites-fraud-charges-DevbillDigitalAgePluto
Also here is mfbpsite’s IP Address: 208.109.225.236
Hope this helps!
Here is the address listed on the CA license..
147 E 232nd st
Carson, CA 90745
Also, the CA licensing bureau lists a Christopher Thom as the Agent for Service of Process for this company.
His address is
2440 N Fremont #208
Monterey, CA 93940
hey all, not sure if anyone is interested but the same thing happened to me except from a couple different companies during the same month. I was telling everyone about it and a few of them turned me onto this newer company Isekurity. they are way different than like a lifelock or any other credit monitoring. they are run by former federal agents and they actually deal with identity theft. not only preventing it, but also reacting if a breach does occur. they are a little pricier than the other companies out there but nobody else does what they do. anyways their website is http://www.isekurity.com but if you are really interested you should call them and have them explain the company to you. hope this helps…
Here is a very interesting item. My Master Card was hit by IPS for $9.80 with a transaction date of 06/02 and a posted date of 06/02. What is so interesting about that you say? Well, that is the very next day after I signed up for credit monitoring with Equifax.
Related? Could be but the kicker is I did not use my credit card to sign up. I got a one year free deal because the HR department of the company I work for lost a lap top with personal information on lots of employees. I did not provide any credit card information to Equifax.
Kind of makes you hummmm……
Ahh back again. I posted on digismarket back in October of 07 .. seems like I got another funny charge “APPLIQUE LLC” for $4.87. Only thing I used my card for was gas. Anyone seen this one? I still continued Equifax monitoring.
My advice to anyone–get rid of Equifax. I believe Equifax has access to all credit card info. I just don’t trust them.
Hi Amber,
I have not seen any prior reports of “APPLIQUE LLC” for $4.87. Can you post all the details from the line item charge?. Was there a listed phone number, or any other information with the charge, such as a state abbreviation. If not, you should contact the issuing bank and ask for additional details on the charge. Was this the same card as as the digismarket fraud charge?.
MGD
D: So do Experian, and Transunion, and any number of similar companies. There are many credit bureaus and other companies that have access to our credit reports and account information. However, none of them–even Equifax–have our expiration dates and/or CVV numbers on file. The only way they can get that info is for us to pay for their services, and most of us have not.
Most of us here (and on other sites discussing this problem) do not subscribe to any of these services–thru Equifax or otherwise–and are still getting hit by these bogus charges. Equifax, like Amazon and eBay, is just one of many outlets that millions of people in this country use every day. So the odds are good that some people getting hit will subscribe to Equifax’s services. Equifax may very well be one source, but it’s not THE source. I don’t use Equifax… so who do you advise me to “get rid of” so I don’t get hit again?
This is bigger than Equifax or Amazon or eBay. It’s human nature to want to make yourself feel better by thinking you’ve “solved” it because you have Equifax, but that won’t make you safe. It’s a false sense of security that will make you let down your guard and get hit again.
And it continues… I believe this makes 4 charges now on this card.
SYNERGETIC GAMES LLC 915-6135482 TX ($4.95)
Seems they altered their name a bit, and got a new phone number.
And yes I know I should cancel this card, but I’m leaving it open just to see how many times they try this.
Hey Aaron,
I am aware of others that have done that also. You can dispute and have the charges removed, while keeping the card open. the crime syndicate does not cross reference the chargebacks and will continue to process additional charges.
Would you mind listing the other 3 charges and their dates, so I can cross check them against my list on: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19620593-Ebook-websites-fraud-charges-DevbillDigitalAgePluto
Also, please update us on the new charges as they come in.
I received a charge today, 8/1/2008 for 2.87 from APPLIQUE LLC
07-31-08 23:25APPLIQUE LLC APPLIQUE LLC 203-6547698 CTUS
Transaction was processed the evening of the 31st I guess…
Headed to the bank today!
To add, I have used Equifax Scorewatch at several different time periods in the past.
Just found a $4.87 charge from Applique LLC as well, have had a charge from Digismarket in the past as well.
Ref: 07-31-08 23:25APPLIQUE LLC APPLIQUE LLC 203-6547698 CTUS
Thanks for posting the line item charge, that is very helpful.
The number appears dead, has any victim ever called and got the recording on what the support@ domain was called?
I have had several of the fraudulent digismarket charges and just today discovered the fraudulent charge from applique llc for $6.87. I see that there is an appliquellc on ebay. I suspect that these charges may be coming via PayPal.
I am now disputing for the second time a $4.95 charge from SYNERGETIC GAMES LLC 915-6135482 TX. I have NO IDEA how they got a hold of my DEBIT CARD number! It’s crazy! I haven’t cancelled my card because I pay all my bills online with that number, so It’s going to be a HUGE hassle to change all that. But i’m about to do it! They make a little charge like that so it goesunoticed, but I look at my account online evry day so, i spotted it immediately. I’m pissed!
Thousands and legate left buy cytotec dead hand daughters.
I also just disputed a second charge from SYNERGETIC GAMES LLC for $4.95. (The first one was SYNERGETIC EXPERTS LLC, for $6.95, about three months ago).
The credit card has only been used at only one online vendor, Aircraft Spruce and Specialty, Inc., and it hasn’t left my desk drawer since I got it.
The bank cheerfully credited my account both times, but after the second phony charge, I canceled it and got a new card.
There’s a special place in h*ll for the people who perpetrate this kind of scam.
Same for me…a few months ago was Synergetic Experts. The bank removed that one, no problem.
Today’s was Synergetic Games. My CSRep wasn’t too cool about accepting my word today. He asked questions like, “You don’t play video games online, at all?”
For the 4th freakin’ time, NO! Just Google it, dude.
On the Experts charge, they had a number to call. When I did, a ladies recorded voice said, “Please enter your account #, or your soc sec # if you don’t have your account #. Well, obviously, nobody is going to have an account #, so the less in tune would plop in there SSN…where it would go from there…who knows?
Hi BmC,
Can you post the exact line item from the “Synergetic Games” fraud charge, so that I can track it down. (not the 21 digit code tot he left) Begin with the name and the portion to the right. Include the listed phone number etc.
Cancelling and replacing the card number as soon as the first one hits is SOP.
Also file a complaint at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
Thanks.
I also had a transaction on 8/19 for Synergetic Games. I will research past transactions looking for the companies you mentioned above.
My bank is refunding the $2.95 transaction and issuing me a new card.
I can only see online statments through May, but I have to ask - are most of you located in NYC?
Is it possible the link is geographical, not a common vendor?
I have also recieved a mysterious charge from Synergetic Games on 8/26. I googled the name, went to the site and attempted to call the 915 telephone number. I only recieved a message stating “Mailbox is full and is unable to accept new messages” then it disconnects. I have also been hit by the MyLiberia scam a few months ago. I had the Equifax 3 in 1 credit watch for a year and also during the incident when I was hit by the MyLiberia scam. I never renewed the subscription after the 1 year term ended a few months ago. I ended up purchasing the credit watch again last night after I saw the Synergetic Games charge on my account.
This is very strange. I very rarely make purchases online. I guess it only takes one time to potentially become a victim. I will definitely be reporting this to my bank
Also, I live in the maryland, dc, virginia region
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thank you
Got hit again… on BOA VISA
This time from Illionis company called EDGE for $9.40
These guys are selling “musical instruments, sheet music”… but I don’t play musical instruments!
See more at following site:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-888-281-0639
I ALSO AM A VICTIM OF THIS SCAM. I HAVE A CHARGE OF 4.95 ON MY ACCOUNT FROM THEM ON 9-11-08. OF COURSE I TRIED TO CALL THE NUMBER AND GET A WOMAN’S VOICE WITH A STRONG ACCENT. IT’S A RECORDING. THEN IT TELLS ME TO LEAVE A MESSAGE BUT THE MAILBOX IS FULL. I WONDER WHY? BET MANY OTHERS HAVE HAD THIS PROBLEM. I WILL BE CALLING MY BANK TO REPORT THIS AND ALSO PLAN TO CONTACT THE BBB AND ANYONE ELSE THAT I CAN TO EXPOSE AND PUT A STOP TO THIS. I DO HAVE A ROOM FOR THESE PEOPLE AT THE PRISON WHERE I WORK.
We just got a charge from Applique LLC for $4.87 on our most recent bill for one of our business cards. As our credit is mostly maxed out on this card our secretary spotted it immediately, which then led us to this site (as well as several other informative ones).
I’ve been charged twice now by Synergetic Experts LLC. The seen to be doing it quarterly. Same story, inbox is “full”, and website gives no info. Citicards credited my account both time without fuss and says they are investigating. And I use the card to buy my FICO score from Equifax.
I found your blog while researching my own identity theft. I thought you might find my blog http://idtheftinvestigation.blogspot.com/ interesting. I have indisputable proof (14 documented coincidences with supporting documentation) that an Equifax employee is behind my identity theft. I’m seriously thinking about gathering volunteers to help me gather proof of this e-book scam and other “coincidences” that involve Equifax. Maybe with enough evidence and some media attention The GA Attorney General will request an investigation. It’s worth a shot.
I just found out, about 15 minutes ago, the charged they made from my account. I called Chase, they cancelled my card and will issue a new one. I’m glad I found this site. I’m very surprised of how many people got charged with this fraud. Attorney General should do something.
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Oh god I had no idea this was so bad. I’ve been wracking my brain all day trying to figure out what this is and why it happened and now I find out it happened to a lot of people, not just me. Bank of America said it will be back in my checking account by morning and of course they canceled my debit card and I have to wait a week for a new one. That sucks, I hate writing checks.
I can’t tell how old the posts are here but I have a new name to add to an old scam. Noticed a charge of $13.29 on my bank statement that I didn’t recognize. “www.nuranastudio.com 415-3667187 NY”. Calls to the number are answered with a recording asking you to send an email to support@nuranastudio.com.
Went to the bank today and filed a fraud claim and had my debit card canceled. Also filed a IC3 internet fraud report through a link from the FBI website. The nuranastudio website is some generic site that supposedly sells web design templates. I had never seen it before I noticed the charge. It’s registered to someone named Sossi Postajian in CA but has a Detroit phone number, while the IP seems to be in NJ.