Credit Card Fraud

[QusieQ]

Well, it happened to me today

Last night I made an order from empiremods, this morning there was a authorization I did not make. While fraud protection covered me, I think I know what happened ...

For the first time ever, I saved my credit card information on my acct with empiremods for future transactions. I will NEVER do that again. I notified Empire, waiting to here back. I have never had an issue with them before, until I saved my info. I did go into my empire acct, and delete my card information!

Will I order with empiremods again --YES, but if it happens again --NEVER

 

[rockmissjess]

why would u order through them again if that happend to u?

 

[skyztheLynnit]

why would u order through them again if that happend to u?

this was the first time it's happened to them...

 

[QusieQ]

Because, I don't believe they fraud'ed me.

I believe someone hacked their website. I don't want this to harm their business. I posted to educate and make others aware, to be on the lookout. Like I said, never had this happen before until I saved my cc'd info in my acct with empire.

 

[skyztheLynnit]

this was the first time it's happened to them...

Nevermind.. misunderstood what you meant.

 

[vsummer1]

Because, I don't believe they fraud'ed me.

I believe someone hacked their website. I don't want this to harm their business. I posted to educate and make others aware, to be on the lookout. Like I said, never had this happen before until I saved my cc'd info in my acct with empire.

There was a huge scam on TV about this stuff. It isn't the vendor at all, it is the processing company being hacked if I understand it correctly.

I am so sorry to hear this happened to you, and knocking on wood over here. It could happen to anyone! I keep a separate card just for internet purchases and have been lucky so far.

 

[RedhatPat]

Wouldn't hurt to pull up your credit reports to make sure all that got stolen was your credit card info. Sucks, same happened to me with another place.

 

[QusieQ]

Good idea RHP, didn't think about that.

 

[cookiebun]

Well, it happened to me today

Last night I made an order from empiremods, this morning there was a authorization I did not make. While fraud protection covered me, I think I know what happened ...

For the first time ever, I saved my credit card information on my acct with empiremods for future transactions. I will NEVER do that again. I notified Empire, waiting to here back. I have never had an issue with them before, until I saved my info. I did go into my empire acct, and delete my card information!

Will I order with empiremods again --YES, but if it happens again --NEVER

There's been a lot of this lately:
www.e-cigarette-forum.com/forum/gen...sion/403091-fraudulent-card-charge-today.html
From reading that thread I'd bet the fraud starts at the credit card processing center rather than your vendor.

Edit: I think this might shed some light on the problem:
http://www.cardpaymentoptions.com/credit-card-processing/high-risk-merchant-accounts/

 

[Ken_A]

Yeah. Happened to me too. I don't save my info on the vendor sites. Still a bit of hacking and some kid in California got 2 hoodies, 6 pair of creates and a poor of power stilts... And I have to wait for a new credit card to com in sometime next week or the week after. I have fraud protection, so I'm not going to get bent out of shape about it. Since the sports store and the toy store they bought from has the address the stuff was sent to, I feel a bit sorry for the kid that's gonna get in a lot of trouble. Not REAL sorry, but a bit

 

[Crash Moses]

Credit card information is bought and sold like stocks among criminals. There is a good chance your credit card information was stolen awhile ago and the crooks are just now getting around to using it. Your purchase at Empire Mods may have been a coincidence.

 

[MrStik]

So were all the purchases made at all the other Vape vendors that have been reported here. Happens once, something to be looked at. Happens twice, starts getting suspicious. Happens a dozen plus times, there is a pattern. Whether it is the vendor or not, they need to be notified and the public made aware. It may be them or it may be the processor. The first point of contact a customer makes with their credit card is through the vendor (directly or indirectly). If is it not the vendor, and possibly the processor, THEY (the vendor) needs to take it to their processor.

Coincidence or not... to dismiss this as that is just plain dumb.

 

[QusieQ]

Hard to believe it was stolen earlier when the transaction happened w/in 30 minutes after my purchase to empire .... Anyway I'm NOT blaming Empire. I am just bringing it to attention, as a caution to others. I have never-ever had a card hacked, but all the sudden all these posts pop up about cc'd fraud and Ecig vendors and I get hit after an Ecig purchase, seems fishy (not coincidence) to me.

 

[QusieQ]

So were all the purchases made at all the other Vape vendors that have been reported here. Happens once, something to be looked at. Happens twice, starts getting suspicious. Happens a dozen plus times, there is a pattern. Whether it is the vendor or not, they need to be notified and the public made aware. It may be them or it may be the processor. The first point of contact a customer makes with their credit card is through the vendor (directly or indirectly). If is it not the vendor, and possibly the processor, THEY (the vendor) needs to take it to their processor.

Coincidence or not... to dismiss this as that is just plain dumb.

Thank you. If these vendors keep getting hit maybe a different processor is needed. It doesn't happen when I go to the grocery store, or the mall. Something isn't right.

 

[QusieQ]

Edit: I think this might shed some light on the problem:
High Risk Merchant Accounts Explained

Okay, I read this. It does explain why merchants are high risk. However, just because they are high risk merchants does not mean my information should not be as "secure" as using my card at the local grocery store. I don't want to 'bash' a vendor, but that being said I give my info to a vendor trusting it is protected. Obviously my info is NOT being protected.

 

[QusieQ]

Dbl post deleted

 

[Butters78]

Oh lord not again.

They should make a subsection just for fraud.

 

[Crash Moses]

So were all the purchases made at all the other Vape vendors that have been reported here. Happens once, something to be looked at. Happens twice, starts getting suspicious. Happens a dozen plus times, there is a pattern. Whether it is the vendor or not, they need to be notified and the public made aware. It may be them or it may be the processor. The first point of contact a customer makes with their credit card is through the vendor (directly or indirectly). If is it not the vendor, and possibly the processor, THEY (the vendor) needs to take it to their processor.

Coincidence or not... to dismiss this as that is just plain dumb.

What's dumb is to choose a course of action based on an assumption made from anecdotal evidence. I've made nine purchases this week from nine vendors all of whom were mentioned in previous fraud threads so by that very same reasoning purchasing from these vendors is completely safe.

Listen...maybe I wasn't as clear as I could have been...I wasn't dismissing the possibility...what I'm trying to say is that CC theft is not endemic to just the vaping community...it's prevelant everywhere and to ignore other, more likely, scenarios is simply risable.

This is a very active community with a lot of focus on Internet sales and therefore much more sensitive to an overall increase in CC theft...much like a canary in a coal mine. It's fine to be concerned and by all means contact the vendor if you think it will help, but don't focus so narrowly on one aspect that you neglect others.

This has been brought up repeatably in other threads so I won't belabor the issue. Madison Avenue was right...perception is reality.

As you were.

 

[Talyon]

It's also my understanding that our beloved vendors have very few choices to which CC processor they can use due to the nature of what they are selling......

Please correct me if I'm wrong. Ty.

 

[simply me]

This has happened to most all vendors. This has been happing for years. This is not the vendors fault. Just be careful.