In response to a thread in the new member forum.

[JimmyJet]

If none of that makes you feel better, maybe get a pre-paid visa from your local walmart to use for your online purchases.

Good suggestion six. At Walmart today I asked a few questions about this card. The card costs $3 and "re-charges" cost $3.

Example, if you want a card with $500 on it, it costs $503. If you want to re-charge the same card in the future, it costs $3 per re-charge. In my opinion, that is cheap insurance.

Another advantage is anonymity if you charge/re-charge the card with cash. That is a layer of protection from identity theft. If the card is stolen, physically or virtually, no personal information is exposed.

 

[Loveridden]

Good suggestion six. At Walmart today I asked a few questions about this card. The card costs $3 and "re-charges" cost $3.

Example, if you want a card with $500 on it, it costs $503. If you want to re-charge the same card in the future, it costs $3 per re-charge. In my opinion, that is cheap insurance.

Another advantage is anonymity if you charge/re-charge the card with cash. That is a layer of protection from identity theft. If the card is stolen, physically or virtually, no personal information is exposed.

I think I am going to check this out. Are there additional fees? Like, when you use it? Monthly fees? Etc? I checked it out a Looooooooooong time ago and it was $5 to get one and I think there used to be other fees and stuff too so I didn't get one. But if it's just $3 to buy one and $3 to add more $$ on.....I could live with that...

 

[six]

I think I am going to check this out. Are there additional fees? Like, when you use it? Monthly fees?

You'll have to read the card that the card is attached to (the packaging). In some states, they get to charge you a monthly maintenance fee if you leave a balance on the card and don't use it at all for more than 60 days and some they don't. I have no idea if IL is a state where they get to do that.

I have a couple of kids in college who use them for all sorts of things. In fact, I get them each a card for gas/incidentals money once and a while. So far, they've served their purpose really well.

 

[JimmyJet]

I think I am going to check this out. Are there additional fees? Like, when you use it? Monthly fees?

Each state can be different but this page should answer most questions...

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/walmart/help

 

[Sjkader]

One thing I have run into on these cards (mind you im not saying with Madvapes) Some sites will not allow them. Must be something in their software. I have had them come back as a denied transaction, merchant does not allow prepaid cards. This has happened to me on one time purchases and monthly recurring purchases. Off of the top of my head, I know Netflix is one that would not allow them (this may have changed since I last used one). Just thought I would throw it out there.

 

[5vz]

I can understand Netflix not allowing that. It is a monthly contract for whatever amount of time, so prepaid does not insure they get paid.

A few years back the "Vanilla Visa" had problems, would not work no matter where you tried. I don't know if that got fixed or not, but I still see them in every store I go to.

Also just read a post in general discussion that someone got the message from their browser that a website did not have the proper encryption, not to send any sensitive info. That person went ahead to place vaping order, which I can understand, and got hit. So be careful. If that happens, go to a different vendor website. I have never had that happen with MV, but with a few others, and I promptly left. Now I can't remember which ones they were, but they may not even be up and running anymore. I used to take a chance on any vendor with the right price, not anymore.

 

[Sjkader]

And really no matter what a person does, there will always be some ... trying to take their money.

 

[Shadoweb]

And really no matter what a person does, there will always be some ... trying to take their money.

This is very true, but they are going to go after easiest targets first as it's much less hassle, so a little bit of work on your part is better than none at all.

As my father used to say "Locks don't keep crooks out, they keep honest people honest."

 

[5vz]

For Mac users, just noticed there is now a cc cleaner out for mac.

That can help clean up tracks if you visit a place that give the encryption warning. Use the cleaner after you get out of that webpage and close the brower and before you go to a new one. It cleans cookies, history, etc... May help a little. Keep your antivirus updated, run weekly scans. May want to add malwarebytes also.

 

[MASTER0FDAMPF]

Do the people that got frauded think that MV is the only coincidental site that they have been to? Bing, MSN, Hotmail, Sony.....all have been hit. It is sad to assume that the attack was related to one shop. I applaud those that did not point the finger, but requested it being looked into. Most info theft happens at your machine, not the host. Most hosts are professionally secured...is your machine? I can not tell you how many thousands of cookies I have blocked from peoples signatures.

Most of us also check out china vendors and manufacturers, and have other online hobbies...I wonder what a comparative analysis of your histories would show? I would almost put money on it that the stealer was on your comp waiting for a recognizable form to be submitted, in this case, the form from a popular and well known catalog software.

This is not an attack on anyone, just a different way of looking at how the coincidence of madvapes being involved is just one of many coincidences that you all had in common.

 

[Loveridden]

Each state can be different but this page should answer most questions...

https://www.walmartmoneycard.com/walmart/help

Oh, I didn't know you were referring to the Walmart card. Well, that's not anonymous though, right? Your name is on it, walmart has your info from your application.....tho, at least, it's not connected to a bank account...

I will have to check this out and a regular pre-paid visa out further. I have just been hearing about so much fraud lately and its beginning to really freak me out.

Years and years ago I had identity theft happen to me. And it was a BIG one. Such a transaction shouldn't have even been allowed to have gone through on my bank card as it had a limit, but somehow they did get it through. The bank did not want to have to swallow that cost and they fought me at first, even though it wasn't me. It was fixed eventually, but the whole thing was a nightmare!!

 

[JimmyJet]

Oh, I didn't know you were referring to the Walmart card. Well, that's not anonymous though, right? Your name is on it, walmart has your info from your application.....tho, at least, it's not connected to a bank account.

Yes I think their are some details that need to be confirmed here. I asked the lady at the Walmart service counter about anonymity, due to identity theft concerns. She said if I paid cash, there would be no name associated with the card.

Honestly, I was skeptical when she told me this. Next time I go I will ask again. Might just have to buy a $50 card to find out for sure.

I will share what I learn and I hope everyone else does also.

JJ

 

[Plumes.91]

If you are getting a "Merchant does not accept prepaid credit cards" error message, then there is one of two things wrong. 1. You are ordering from a website that offers/uses reoccuring monthly charges as one of its main features. This would be for your netflix websites, buying games that you have to pay to play monthly, subscription websites. 2. The other reason why you might get this message, is due to not registering your pre-pay credit card via telephone first. I am 21 years old and I do not have a credit card. I use a Visa Greendot card for all online purchases right now. However, I'll be switching to something new because Visa Greendot blatantly squeezes every drop of fee money that they possibly can out of you right in front of your eyes, worse than the damn cell phone companies do. First its $5 to buy the card, then $5 to put money on the card, then $5 a month, then $5 every refill, with a minimum $20 refill a month, or they make your card go negative, its BS.

 

[CraigHB]

The internet is a hostile place.

I've had my card comprised so many times I can't count. It's always from buying stuff online. It sounds like MadVapes takes the right precautions, but not all online vendors do that.

The reason I know it's from buying online is that I finally dedicated one card to buying stuff in brick & mortar stores and one card to shopping online. As soon as I started doing that, it was only the card I used online that would get compromised. I have the stolen credit card phone number about memorized by now. Though it's actually been some time since I've had to close one out. Don't know if it's because my online shopping habits have changed or if it was all from one vendor I don't use anymore.

BTW, there's a big difference between getting a credit card compromised and your identity stolen. With a compromised card, you simply close the bad account number out and get a new one. New charges on the compromised card are reversed by the bank. It's not really a big deal. With a stolen identity, the criminal opens new credit card accounts in your name making you liable for illegitimate purchases. It can make your life a living hell and destroy your credit. The main thing with that is to protect the privacy of your social security number. A person's identity is actually way too easy to exploit in our financial system and it has not yet been properly addressed.

 

[arkador]

Odds are that the user's card was hacked elsewhere from a past use, and it was a coincidence that it happened the same day he processed a payment with Madvapes.

I'll put my money on his computer being keylogged.

 

[Plumes.91]

Yikes, just goes to show that everyone should have up to date anti-virus/malware/spyware protection. Stay away from spywarebot, avast!, and all the freeware virus/spyware killers and stick to the best rated PAY protection! Just go to best-buy and ask the nerdgeeksquad guys what the best virus protection they have is, they will be able to point you in the right direction. KeyLoggers are LIFE RUINING and i think something like 1 out of every 30 websites visited can infect your computer through temp. internet files, caches, etc. I know that MadVapes is a trusted website, so I can't say much when it comes to that. E-cigarette websites SHOULD have protection, with the little protection badge on every page.

 

[CraigHB]

One thing to be said for not using MS Internet Explorer, it's probably the most exploited web browser because it has the most holes. Of course, that's pretty much the case for all MS products. I use IE because I'm lazy and it's there when I install Windows. Bad on me, but whatever. I'm the perfect example for the browser antitrust lawsuit. If IE wasn't already integrated into Windows, I probably wouldn't use it.

I set IE so any site not explicitly trusted runs with high security. All add-ons including ActiveX are disabled. That ActiveX is a real virus magnet. That seems to do the trick, but it's a pain because I have to trust any web site before it will work completely right. Some are better than others though. It's always nice when a site works reasonably well with high security, but most web designers aren't that gracious. Most of the time, I just move on rather than adding a site to my list. That's what they get for being liberal with my computer. Of course, sites I visit all the time are trusted (like ECF).

 

[Shadoweb]

Just go to best-buy and ask the nerdgeeksquad guys what the best virus protection they have is, they will be able to point you in the right direction.

I really hope you are being sarcastic. Geeksquad can barely remove viruses, much less anything nastier, and Best Buy employees are horrible at actually knowing diddly about what they are selling. Every single customer of ours that goes to Best Buy to get their system cleaned we have to shut off again and inform them they wasted money by going to Best Buy because they are still infected with the trojan/rootkit/etc.

 

[mcl5000]

This is ridiculous. Do you honestly think that someone found a way to hack into MadVapes encrypted credit card bank, and then decided they've had enough after stealing 3 credit cards?

If this was MadVapes fault, there would be A LOT more people this has happened to.

That would be like robbing a gas station, and saying "Give me all your quarters, and nobody gets hurt."


If you credit card got hacked, and you haven't purchased from a site that came out saying their information was compromised (Zappos, for example), you got keylogged. Stop blaming it on someone else.


edit: Also, when people hack a company and take mass credit cards, they're almost always used for similar purchases...because it's the same people that took all of them.

 

[jjandbjvapr]

AMEN!! They are DEf more trouble than they are worth!!,,,.......If one can not secure themselves with the VAST QUALITY antivirus, malware, spyware,etc.....methods available in this day in age then I would suggest they use a "surrogate" such as a trusted family member to handle their online affairs, or dare I say JUST DONT USE THE INTERNET AT ALL!! Or you could always take a free course at a public library or something similar and learn some of the basics and maybe you would be more comfortable in the online world.......

I really hope you are being sarcastic. Geeksquad can barely remove viruses, much less anything nastier, and Best Buy employees are horrible at actually knowing diddly about what they are selling. Every single customer of ours that goes to Best Buy to get their system cleaned we have to shut off again and inform them they wasted money by going to Best Buy because they are still infected with the trojan/rootkit/etc.