Be Careful ordering from myfreedomsmokes
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Some extra info. I tried to use a regular over the counter pre paid VISA card to get some stuff from fasttech.
No dice. The basic pre paid cards can not be used for international purchases in my experience.
No dice. The basic pre paid cards can not be used for international purchases in my experience.
I'm not trusting what someone says when the only posts they have ever made on a forum is trashing one specific company.. people here do business with MFS all the time.. literally some active member of this forum probably near daily makes a purchase from them, I'd trust the fact that there aren't a bunch of active members saying this happened to them recently before I'd trust someone who came to a forum just to trash a company.
In my case several small charges were made with a hand held credit card processor
then an attempted charge for over $900 for a computer from newegg.
The charge was declined and i got two emails, one from newegg because the attempted purchase was made w/o logging in and I have an account at newegg..and another from my CC asking if it was legit.
However the only place I had used that card was another vape supplier, NOT MFS.
I think some hacker may be taking advantage of the lack of cybersecurity at some online vape stores.
I've never had problems with MFS
but now-a-days I always use a virtual credit card number good for only one online purchase and avoid the problem completely.
Oh, it's happened to me, but not from MFS, and truthfully not sure where the compromise occurred. I just got a call from my CC company at like 2 AM asking "Did you really just order $230 of Domino's Pizza for delivery in CA?". So you went to hack wherever to get access to my CC and the only thing you can think of doing with it is ordering in pizza for 50 people?
Had a new card the next day.
Had a new card the next day.
Twice for me as well and neither involved MFS. The big Home Depot breach a few years ago and a tiny seed company about six or eight years ago. Had to go through the hassle of a new card number both times. Turn on alerts if your card allows them. I have on-line, over seas and anything over $200 set to email me. Slight risk of a brick and morter test charge, but willing to risk it at the moment.
I don't think the OP was "trashing" the company rather letting us know what he has experienced so we can keep an eye out on our card info to catch it early and get the issue resolved. He was just simply looking out for his fellow vapors.
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Being honest isn't bashing a company.
If you search this very forum, you will find MFS has had this same issue for years.
Not once or twice.
They need to address the problem.
well, in all fairness.... some consider the statement "a 20watt mod that doesn't fire under .8 ohms wouldn't work for me" trashing a company.
I like when people point these things out....fact or fiction, it always makes me pay more attention.
Even the largest companies with the biggest IT budgets and full time computer security analysts get nailed. There will always be some exploit as there's good, easy money in it, and identifying and eliminating every single risk is virtually impossible, especially when you get folks clicking on phishing emails like "Your PP account (or whichever) was been compromised. Click below to reset your password immediately" not noticing the redirect is somewhere in the Ukraine. Even the largest online vape vendors we deal with are still small businesses without the depth of experience to completely safeguard their own systems. And if you can get a Trojan in to unlock a backdoor, well, it's gonna happen.
However, if it's a recurrent problem with one particular company they're not spending the money they need to for a proper security audit and implement a plan to bolster their system. Then again, it might be an inside job (it does happen) or somewhere else along the line like working with a cheap processor and they are failing to properly secure their systems.
However, if it's a recurrent problem with one particular company they're not spending the money they need to for a proper security audit and implement a plan to bolster their system. Then again, it might be an inside job (it does happen) or somewhere else along the line like working with a cheap processor and they are failing to properly secure their systems.
Hmmmm this is interesting! When PP ain't available I use my BlueBird prepaid Amex. Of course most if not all Chinese vendors accept PP so I'm not certain if I've ever tried to use the BlueBird overseas. Gonna hafta look, got me curious now.
Edit: I see I have used it at AliExpress and a couple others but the others may have been Amazon sellers. Possibly BlueBird is an exception to the overseas purchase thing?
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I knew that the Visa prepaid cards can't be used overseas (says so on their terms), but I also can't use them on sites that need to verify an address with a card. I recently got the BlueBird card myself because there is my address attached to it so I can use it for all sites. I'm curious if it will work for FT myself.
I just looked at my BlueBird history and a couple charges from LONDON FTECH. The only thing I can think of would be FT. Which would make sense since this card is used almost exclusively for my Vape fund. Love it, this card has never cost me a cent. If a vendor can't accept PP and won't accept Amex they don't need my business!
This is what I recommend to anyone purchasing from overseas.
Either a prepaid card or Paypal.
Most online Chinese Vape shops take Paypal.
That was me a week or two ago. Placed an order and a day later got nailed
I use Bluebird for most of my online purchases, not just vaping. Partly because of the security but also to budget my spending. Never carry more than $40 on it until I put cash on it for specific purchases. Also don't have any other accounts tied to it except Amazon and a specific PayPal account (which the Bluebird is the only account attached to it) for sites that don't take AmEx. Never ordered from a site that wouldn't take one or the other.
Have only had one card compromised in 40+ years but have always be cautious with charging cards, even back in the flatbed days.
Have only had one card compromised in 40+ years but have always be cautious with charging cards, even back in the flatbed days.
Credit card hacking can happen anywhere that cyber crooks target. Speaking of Target!
Anyway, my Mastercard got hacked a couple of weeks ago, right after I used it to pay at the dentist's office. The credit card company texted me and asked if two charges were legitimate. One was the dentist (accepted because I have card history there) and the other was a credit card buy from Dyson for $553.00 (rejected because I had never done business with them and the method was probably suspect). When I got home I called them and they sent me a new card. It was a smooth recovery.
Man in the middle attacks are common when businesses use wireless networks in their office. A year or so ago I cautioned that dentist to secure his wireless network. It was open and I was able to log in without going through the firewall with a password. He immediately called in his network guy and had it hardened, but obviously someone penetrated it. That's just my assumption, though. You never really know when or how it happened.
Anyway, my Mastercard got hacked a couple of weeks ago, right after I used it to pay at the dentist's office. The credit card company texted me and asked if two charges were legitimate. One was the dentist (accepted because I have card history there) and the other was a credit card buy from Dyson for $553.00 (rejected because I had never done business with them and the method was probably suspect). When I got home I called them and they sent me a new card. It was a smooth recovery.
Man in the middle attacks are common when businesses use wireless networks in their office. A year or so ago I cautioned that dentist to secure his wireless network. It was open and I was able to log in without going through the firewall with a password. He immediately called in his network guy and had it hardened, but obviously someone penetrated it. That's just my assumption, though. You never really know when or how it happened.
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I have made hundreds of purchases online and haven't had issues until last week when I made a purchase from MFS. I caught the charge immediately and contested it with the bank. Now I can't say for certain it was that purchase. But it is suspicious. Fun fact is that I had just requested a new card from my bank a day later as the magnetic strip was screwed up.
One of those things that make you go...hum. They were hacked about this same time last year. I got an email from MFS about it a few weeks after my card was compromised that time so in that case I found out how it happened. The time before that I never found out. I just contested the bogus charges and got a new card both times.
Sadly, with all the crooks out there it is going to happen from time to time. We just have to be aware that it can happen and keep a close eye on our accounts. I check my balance at least every other day so will catch pending charges before they actually post.
I am sure it isn't much fun for MyFreedomSmokes either when this happens. I don't think vaping business have many options as to which CC processor they use so have to settle for one that might not be as aggressive at keeping info safe as they should.
Edited for accuracy: it wasn't this time last year. It was March 2015.....Time sure can get away from ya
Sadly, with all the crooks out there it is going to happen from time to time. We just have to be aware that it can happen and keep a close eye on our accounts. I check my balance at least every other day so will catch pending charges before they actually post.
I am sure it isn't much fun for MyFreedomSmokes either when this happens. I don't think vaping business have many options as to which CC processor they use so have to settle for one that might not be as aggressive at keeping info safe as they should.
Edited for accuracy: it wasn't this time last year. It was March 2015.....Time sure can get away from ya
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If Paypal is accepted, that's what I use.
Any purchase I make is reflected in an email, but I don't check email more than once a day. I probably should select text notifications from the CC company.
Any purchase I make is reflected in an email, but I don't check email more than once a day. I probably should select text notifications from the CC company.
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