Credit Card Fraud after Ordering Juice -- Head's Up folks!

[Shreck]

I was hit as well. avejuice. 2 different instances. 3/16 and 3/17. The CC company had denied the charges because it was out of my usage patterns and contacted me immediately.

Good luck to all the folks here that were affected , and the suppliers as well. I sincerely hope this does not cause AVE any ill effects.

 

[XfooYen]

I was hit too. Purchase date from AVE was Feb 03. Fraud occurred on March 13. I had not ordered from any of the other "suspect" vendor sites.

 

[VaperBart]

I got hit too after ordering from AVE this past Saturday. Fortunately it's an account I use only for online transactions, so the fraudulent purchases were denied. Had to deactivate my debit card & order a new one, which is a bummer. On the bright side, I managed to get my 100ml of Bobas before all of this happened.

same here.....i ordered on the 16th i think, when they had the 100ml bottles back in stock. Just today found out about the fraud as i was trying to get cash from an ATM. My bank never called me so i called and they said it started on the 21st.

 

[Rooscar]

My card got hit also two weeks ago. Ordered from AVE on 1/18.

 

[bones1]

Thanks for the heads up

 

[patkin]

I contacted 6 vendors I use asking them what processing center they use as its not on their sites. I asked very respectfully identifying myself as a good customer and ECF member and explaining why I was asking limiting it to three lines of text and said I was enquiring the same of all vendors I do business with. I contacted one on chat at their site and they promptly answered with no offense taken. Another answered my email promptly and gave me the processor's name. A third was asked through "contact us" and the owner replied.. but half ... saying they process through their bank.. gave no name and, obviously, took offense getting way defensive in CAPS. Not too bad. Half have lost my business for sure. One, I'm not sure yet what I'll do and the other two can be proud on selecting good processors to protect their customers... they, obviously, had nothing to hide and respected me as a customer. So, I guess that will be narrowing down my vendor selections... could be a silver lining actually.

 

[Boxer757]

Yikes, thanks for the heads up! My bank tried to sell me on a separate account to use for only online purchases. I never did it, but things like this make me reconsider...

 

[Tim In Az]

Wow, I'm glad I read this. I was just getting ready to order Boba's and Gorilla Juice.

Sucks that some of you folks have this hassle.

I really want to try these so I'll have to figure a safe way to order. Hopefully they have it figured out.

 

[Boxer757]

Wow, I'm glad I read this. I was just getting ready to order Boba's and Gorilla Juice.

Sucks that some of you folks have this hassle.

I really want to try these so I'll have to figure a safe way to order. Hopefully they have it figured out.

I know that a lot of banks will let you set up a second checking account that you can easily transfer money to from your primary account. You can just put in whatever amount of money you need to make an online purchase and then do so. You leave the account empty otherwise and thus no one can scam the card for a bunch of money. Something to look in to!

 

[patkin]

I know that a lot of banks will let you set up a second checking account that you can easily transfer money to from your primary account. You can just put in whatever amount of money you need to make an online purchase and then do so. You leave the account empty otherwise and thus no one can scam the card for a bunch of money. Something to look in to!

Just check it periodically to make sure and employee or system at the bank hasn't accidentally linked it to your main account for overdraft protection... it happened to me. Also, most banks offer both email and cell phone alerts if someone hits it for over the amount you have set. I have it set up for $0.50 hit warning since the thieves do a test run of $1.00.

 

[Boxer757]

Just check it periodically to make sure and employee or system at the bank hasn't accidentally linked it to your main account for overdraft protection... it happened to me. Also, most banks offer both email and cell phone alerts if someone hits it for over the amount you have set. I have it set up for $0.50 hit warning since the thieves do a test run of $1.00.

Good advice!

 

[talyeho]

Its happened to me, someone from chine try to buy something from my credit cart

 

[tw39515]

someone got me too, Bought a plane ticket to bogata. thanks for the heads up saved me 134.00 dollars.

 

[Nsanejain]

No problems here, but I only ordered from MT Baker vapor and easyvaping. I will definitely use prepay in the future however just in case.

 

[metallicsunbeam]

Have any of you filed police reports about the fraudulent charges with your local PD? If not, as an ID theft victim, I highly recommend you do so.

Once you get a copy of the PD report, you need to file and ID Theft report with FTC. Get copies of the fraud report from your Credit card company/bank, too.

I've been hit 3 times (pre vaping orders), and each time did the above to protect myself and create a paper trail. Should someone try to become "me" (and they DID try), I have a trail to show the authorities.

If you haven't set bank alerts and/or credit card alerts, you should consider doing this, too. Most banks and card companies now offer free alerts for charges over a $ amount you set. They can email or text alerts to you.

 

[Mamacruz13]

There is some very good advice in this thread. I work as a credit card fraud analyst for a bank. The sad truth is that credit card fraud is the fastest growing crime in the world in the industry we say it is not a matter of if it will happen to you but when it will happen to you. I keep a separate account just for online purchases and transfer just enough to cover what I am ordering. While that will help protect against the card being stolen online, anywhere you use your card leaves you open to have the card number stolen.

If it was more than just AVE that was hit it sounds like a processor was hacked not specifically the vendor.

 

[metallicsunbeam]

Thief forgot to change shipping address. Dumb criminal. Do file a report with PD to protect yourself.

 

[Ahzahail]

I have had alotta this lately on my account. According to my bank, deducing where your card gets compromised is almost impossible. These crooks may have stolen that credit card months ago. They sit on it, for the very purpose of hiding where they stole it. So although that person finally used it who knows how long they had it before they used it. So maybe it wasn't those vendors that were compromised. Such a cowardly crime, most of those people wouldn't dare steal that money in person. They are pretty brave behind a screen though.

 

[Big Screen D]

Had this happen to me last year. CC company caught it while I was out of town. Total PIA

So now I have one CC that is used exclusively for online purchases. If it gets hacked, my main card is unaffected. It is my banks problem to get their money back so long as I notify them promptly of a problem. I'd never use my debit card. Better for the bank to get their money back, then wait on them to get my money back.

 

[patkin]

I have had alotta this lately on my account. According to my bank, deducing where your card gets compromised is almost impossible. These crooks may have stolen that credit card months ago. They sit on it, for the very purpose of hiding where they stole it. So although that person finally used it who knows how long they had it before they used it. So maybe it wasn't those vendors that were compromised. Such a cowardly crime, most of those people wouldn't dare steal that money in person. They are pretty brave behind a screen though.

I agree with them but only to a point. If its a card only used for ecig purchasing, you can go to the vendors and ask what payment processing center they're using. That's where the breaches are occurring. If you see a pattern, then stay away from vendors using that one. Ask each vendor you deal with periodically so you know if they've changed centers and keep a list of good ones and bad ones. Your information is only as safe as their security. Any in the ecommerce network seem safe as well as usaepay. I can't recall the one AVE was using right now but its, obviously, not safe. Get the processing center name and then go to their site to see how well they protect their system and your info. Also, remember, there are net sites where rings sell your info so you may not have a problem for a while and all of a sudden do... someone new bought your info then.