Yes I still Smoke Cigarettes and I am addicted to the smoking habit - support and chat thread.

[loxmythe]

Here's a free one at Cnet that seems to have good reviews. My friend is a retired chief of police - he turned the hard drive over to the state police. It turned out they were able to track the IP of the hacker to Russia. I haven't seen him lately to find out what if anything was done.

http://m.download.cnet.com/KeyScrambler-Personal/3000-2144_4-10571274.html

 

[loxmythe]

Oh the program he used to find it was hijack this - I think. Apparently you run the program and send or post the results of the scan and they analyze the data and find the scumbag program running.

 

[Claudia P]

Whew, the pond filter is clean and I'm soaked. I figured today might be a good day to do this because I am still so sore I can barely move from scrubbing the shower yesterday, lol. Better than waiting for the pain to be gone before creating more.

 

[lulu836]

Oh the program he used to find it was hijack this - I think. Apparently you run the program and send or post the results of the scan and they analyze the data and find the scumbag program running.

Yep..I'm familiar with Hijack This. Thanks you for reminding me of it. I used it several years ago and it proved itself as a valuable asset at that time. Think I'll find the new version and make use of it. Thanks, Lox.

 

[daleron]

Just got back from the dentist. My jaw has been hurting for a few days and today I couldn't take it any more and got a last minute appointment. Apparently I have an infection due to bone loss, blah blah blah. Of course the treatment they recommend isn't covered by my insurance and costs over $2000. Or I can just have it pulled. That's what I'm going to end up doing. At least I got some antibiotics. Really craving a cigarette but so far have held firm. I would love to rant about this some more but I have to try and take a nap because I have work tonight.

Sorry to hear about this Queen
Been there done that!

 

[Karen N Daytona]

Here's a free one at Cnet that seems to have good reviews. My friend is a retired chief of police - he turned the hard drive over to the state police. It turned out they were able to track the IP of the hacker to Russia. I haven't seen him lately to find out what if anything was done.

http://m.download.cnet.com/KeyScrambler-Personal/3000-2144_4-10571274.html

Thanks Lox that's really helpful

 

[FinallyQuit]

I had my bank account emptied once against my will, and the stranger had given herself a "gift" through paypal, which is weird because it listed the name and address of the gift recipient. Through diligence in the bank's fraud department and paypal's fraud department, it was discovered that my paypal account had not contributed to the compromise, but rather my debit card number had been lifted at a brick and mortar store where I used it. Since the bank gave me my money back, and Paypal gave them their money back, I'm sure they prosecuted the gift recipient although I was never notified.

That really SUX Lulu. I hope they fix it for you quickly.

And thank you Lox for the helpful links, I shall investigate further tonight!

 

[Erised]

I paid for a co-op day before yesterday and just received a call from Visa that my card has been hacked. I am so frickin' mad I could karate chop a 4x4 post in half with one swipe. It was paid through PayPal. This is the 4th time in about 6 months. Everyone PLEASE check your cards and bank accounts daily if you buy online and especially if you use PP as it is now apparent to me that PayPal is either in on the scam or somebody has easy access to their financials.

That totally sucks!!!
I've had it happen before -- luckily, like you, I usually check my account(s) daily so I immediately caught the first fraudulent charge. I contacted my bank right away and we agreed to block my card even though it would leave me in a pickle because I was over a thousand miles away from any branch and freezing it meant that I'd have no access to my money. I'm so glad I did it though because my bank called me back within an hour and said my account had been pinged with thousands of dollars in charges in less than half an hour.
We had to freeze my account, and it was several weeks before I was able to use it, but that is no where near the mess it would have been if my account had been wiped out.
I hope you're able to find out where your card is being hacked from.

 

[Erised]

I had my bank account emptied once against my will, and the stranger had given herself a "gift" through paypal, which is weird because it listed the name and address of the gift recipient.

Geez, talk about having a big set of .....

 

[loxmythe]

Holy crap load of juice batman that's quite a collection of juice you have up for trade Shari
I think you may soon need an intervention

 

[aikanae1]

I had my bank account emptied once against my will, and the stranger had given herself a "gift" through paypal, which is weird because it listed the name and address of the gift recipient. Through diligence in the bank's fraud department and paypal's fraud department, it was discovered that my paypal account had not contributed to the compromise, but rather my debit card number had been lifted at a brick and mortar store where I used it. Since the bank gave me my money back, and Paypal gave them their money back, I'm sure they prosecuted the gift recipient although I was never notified.

That really SUX Lulu. I hope they fix it for you quickly.

And thank you Lox for the helpful links, I shall investigate further tonight!

That's gotta be everyone's nightmare. I almost got a prepaid card the other day for some online purchases. Those are confussing too. What do you do with balances since you can't take them out in specific amounts. The store I was at had all the ones below $50 sold out. My purchase would only be apx $33. Those cards must be making money just on the spare change left behind. I seem to be always on the wrong side of the tracks when it comes to money making ventures.

There was a thread in the e-smoking discussion that was requesting info on CC fraud. More of a reporting thing, not much help. The idea was they were doing research into what happened to see if there were repeat offenders (payment processing, web hosts) to eventually make reccomendations to the community if they find them. Information is power. I can think of 3 vendors shuttered due to payment processing problems, that were not their fault, but interrupted business and no doubt it's hurt online sales.

Reguardless, I think it is best for all small business' online to develop alternate methods of secure payments. It's just too narrow of a gateway to place in the hands of very, very, very few people. It's entirely possible and has been done to eliminate politically unpopular, but legal business' through payment processing. CC companies/banks shouldn't have that kind of power. IMO.

 

[Prism]

You can get a pp card at Walmart or Walgreens that you can add to when you want. Before I got my PayPal CC I did that. You just go to the store to load whatever amt you want on it whenever you want.

 

[aikanae1]

Sorry to hear about this Queen
Been there done that!

That sux. I'm in need of some mega dental treatment as well and have been collecting names of dentists across the border. It's about a 2 hour drive. I took a look and for the less than the price of treatment in the states, I could take a Cabo vacation, spanish lessons, dental treatment and get my teeth whitened. That was tempting. Still is. Oh yea, and stay in an adorable picturesque B&B within walking distance to town and beach (sigh). (The dentist's speak english and US training)

Anyone care to join me?

 

[aikanae1]

You can get a pp card at Walmart or Walgreens that you can add to when you want. Before I got my PayPal CC I did that. You just go to the store to load whatever amt you want on it whenever you want.

Thx. This might sound shadey (which is stupid) but do you have to reigister an address? I wanted to buy some RYO tobacco not available locally. The laws reguarding sales are extremely vague - it's not a ban, but do it wrong can include all the way up to felony's. ARGH. That's hard to digest and crazy-making when they don't make anything clear.

It's stupid to feel this way as a consumer doing nothing wrong. All I want to do is stay away from chemicals and I'm not excited about the local shops I've been too (all of 2. I prefer shopping at midnight). If anything, the RYO business could be an example of closing down an industry with just a few swipes of a pen, aided by CC.

Oh yea, FDA sent out a ton of warning letters about pipe tobacco to apx 10,000 companies avertising "dual use" (i.e. cigarettes), shops and manufacturers. I think 80% of the price of a pack is taxes. It sure doesn't sound like anyone wants people to quit.

 

[Prism]

Thx. This might sound shadey (which is stupid) but do you have to reigister an address? I wanted to buy some RYO tobacco not available locally. The laws reguarding sales are extremely vague - it's not a ban, but do it wrong can include all the way up to felony's. ARGH. That's hard to digest and crazy-making when they don't make anything clear.

It's stupid to feel this way as a consumer doing nothing wrong. All I want to do is stay away from chemicals and I'm not excited about the local shops I've been too (all of 2. I prefer shopping at midnight). If anything, the RYO business could be an example of closing down an industry with just a few swipes of a pen, aided by CC.

Oh yea, FDA sent out a ton of warning letters about pipe tobacco to apx 10,000 companies avertising "dual use" (i.e. cigarettes), shops and manufacturers. I think 80% of the price of a pack is taxes. It sure doesn't sound like anyone wants people to quit.

Yes you do , when you get it you get the card from the store then register it online, you can use the one from the store right away but they also send you one with your name on it just like a regular cc only you put the money on it

 

[loxmythe]

Since less than 1% (i think thats right) of tobacco related illness involves pipes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco it's taxed at a much lower rate. That's why a lot of RYO is labeled pipe tobacco.

Those of you needing dental work should look into a "care credit" credit card. You get 6 months interest free and anything over $1000.00 is one year interest free. Most dentists (and veterinarians) take it and its pretty easy to get instant approval.

 

[FinallyQuit]

Hello all! Dinner's not on yet, and I'm ready for bed already. I'll try to come back later. . .

 

[daleron]

Hello all! Dinner's not on yet, and I'm ready for bed already. I'll try to come back later. . .

Ugh ..... go on to bed if you can!
We'll be here tomorrow

 

[FinallyQuit]

Holy crap load of juice batman that's quite a collection of juice you have up for trade Shari
I think you may soon need an intervention

Roflmfao!! LOTS of opportunity for trading! Good luck Shari!!

 

[alisa1970]

Since less than 1% (i think thats right) of tobacco related illness involves pipes, cigars, and smokeless tobacco it's taxed at a much lower rate. That's why a lot of RYO is labeled pipe tobacco.

Hey Lox, I had wanted to respond to your comment waayyyyy back about me getting ripped off on my $7 snus and that I should be able to get it for about 2-4 bucks....

Not in Oregon. Where I bought mine was at a chain convenience store (the only one who carries General) and I would assume they all have the same if not similar prices. The other "boutique" tobacco shops I would guess are probably more.

The reason for such a high price? Smokeless tobacco has a MINIMUM $2.15 tax for retail sales here.

Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS) chapter 323 discusses how tobacco products are taxed in Oregon and related administrative requirements. The general categories below have a different treatment.

•Cigarettes – are taxed by application of an Oregon cigarette tax stamp. The current tax rate is $1.18 per package of 20 cigarettes.

•Cigars – are taxed on 0.65 percent of the purchase price paid on untaxed cigars except that the maximum tax on cigars that cost $0.77 or more “each” is limited to $0.50 per cigar.

•NEW – Moist Snuff – the tax is $1.78 per ounce except that the minimum tax paid per retail unit is $2.14 per unit. This begins on January 1, 2010.

•All Other Tobacco Products - are taxed on 0.65 percent of the purchase price paid on untaxed tobacco products.

Anyway, your mention about states seeeing smokeless tobacco as "less harmful" reminded me that here in a very ANTZy state, that's not the case.

Those of you needing dental work should look into a "care credit" credit card. You get 6 months interest free and anything over $1000.00 is one year interest free. Most dentists (and veterinarians) take it and its pretty easy to get instant approval.

I have one of those. I used it for TMJ treatment that I needed last year. Very convenient. Although I couldn't pay it all of the first year, I was able to pay 1/2 before the APR kicked in.