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BYERSEBOOKS to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-25 6:21 pm
to MGD
Re: Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/PlutoI just got a charge on my account from byers ebooks. I attempted to call my bank before it actually posted however, they told me it had to clear before they could do anything. This is adgitating because they could have stopped this and did not. Mine was only for $4.95 but that is not the point.. I called and left a nasty message today as it cleared my bank today. Has anyone called Byers ebooks and rec. a return call back?
Beth | | | |
to MGD
Not sure how you find all of your information, but it's appreciated.
Almost seems like a hopeless situation when it comes to stopping the crooks. | |
2 recommendations |
to Owlbet
said by Owlbet:...... I love Ann Rule crime novels, and this thread piques forensic interest for me. I, too, want to know the common denominator for the card data harvesting and one thing sticks out for me. It seems the card authorization process is the data leak, but not once did I see it mentioned in this topic about the card makers. The data has to be put on the card. The only organization with that information are the credit card companies and the companies they contract to issue or make new cards. ... Thank you, Good catch, yes card makers have been on my list of potential sources for some time. They meet several criteria, in that the full name and mailing address of the holder would be in their database, in addition to the card data. Also, information that the criminals clearly do not have with respect to some cards, is that they do not know the frequency of use or when it was last used. That is information that would not be in that kind of data. Clearly from the syndicate's point of view it makes no sense to hit a 18 month dormant card with a charge. That is almost a 100% guaranteed chargeback, why even do it, unless you don't know. Also, if the card data was intercepted from recent transactions there would be no need to ping them. We know that thousands or cards are pinged via hijacked accounts every month. We also know that some of the card data and holder combo is incorrect based on processing rejections. Obviously there can be multiple sources and combinations for this data. However, there are distinct patterns that enable some conclusions to be drawn. MGD | | MGD
1 recommendation |
to BYERSEBOOKS
said by BYERSEBOOKS :
I just got a charge on my account from byers ebooks. .... Wow they are still going strong !! They were in the first group listed in the thread. They are a prime example of just how long each fraudulent entity can survive. byersebooks.com Byers Ebooks was set up back in December of 2006 on JAGUARPC.NET, a long time favorite haunt of the criminals. said by BYERSEBOOKS :
...I attempted to call my bank before it actually posted however, they told me it had to clear before they could do anything. This is adgitating because they could have stopped this and did not. Mine was only for $4.95 but that is not the point.. That is correct, there is no mechanism available to preempt or reject a charge in process, at least at the receiving end. Though they can see them in process, they have to wait until it posts in order to manipulate it. said by BYERSEBOOKS :
...I called and left a nasty message today as it cleared my bank today. Has anyone called Byers ebooks and rec. a return call back?
Beth
I do not know specifically, however that listed number will forward to the criminal's command and control. They will issue a credit, however that is not the best route to take. Allowing the criminals to rescind the charge, helps them preserve the criminal operation. It is imperative to have your bank classify this charge as fraudulent, which is exactly what it is, and immediately charge it back. Also, your card needs to be cancelled and replaced. Your account data is compromised, and you will get additional charges until your card is cancelled. I have made repeated attempts to reach the female cyber-mule in New Jersey, Mrs Jane Byers, and failed. The registrant of the LLC is the one who will be wiring the proceeds from these fraud charges out of the country and into the crime syndicate's hands. That is the weak point in the system, and the optimum place to cut off the operation in the interim. MGD | |  Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30 |
to Laurie3
said by Laurie3: I saw a post recently on another board where the person got hit with a bogus charge on a card that he'd only used once in 6 months, to pay for something through Google Checkout (not sure of the merchant). My bogus charge also came a few days after I used Google Checkout for the first time, to order through buy.com Not sure if it means anything, just throwing it out there to see if maybe anyone else had the same experience. I hope it isn't related since I also recently (in the last 2 weeks) used Google Checkout at Buy.com myself. I've just checked my CC details online and nothing out of line is showing yet, knock on wood.  Regards, Doctor Olds | | |
1 recommendation |
to Zenith5
said by Zenith5:Not sure how you find all of your information, but it's appreciated. Almost seems like a hopeless situation when it comes to stopping the crooks. Thanks, after uncovering and tracking this operation for well over two years, I consider myself an authority on the matter. said by Zenith5:...Almost seems like a hopeless situation when it comes to stopping the crooks. Well.. maybe, ... maybe not, however, I am giving it one last shot. I cannot continue to devote the resources necessary to stay on top of this. It is a very complex and sophisticated operation. It is also dynamic, and is changing to adapt to any roadblocks that are being placed in their path. So it is vital to intensively monitor their activities, so as not to loose track of the mechanics of the operation. Besides cutting off the operation, and attempting to identify the core group of criminals behind it, there are also the changes that need to made in the financial system to prevent it from happening. Remember, this amounts to millions of dollars a year, and has been operating unfettered for several years. Though the charges that are caught by victims are removed, consumers are still footing the annual bill for this. When you add the cost of card replacement, and the time, effort, calls, and paperwork that each victim has to go through, the total cost of the crimes are considerable. There are no line item deductions from bonus checks for fraud each year, that cost in its entirety is passed on to consumers. Despite the promoted image of relative safety in the financial system, to the contrary, there are numerous gaping security holes. It is a misnomer to state that consumers are not liable for fraud. They may not be individually, but they still pay for it collectively. The problem with this long running criminal enterprise is that it has been missed completely year after year, by the banks, the card brands, and the merchant processors, e.g. authorize.net / cybersourse. At the lowest common denominator level, you actually have card victims where their own bank is processing the fraud charge out of their account, and into another one at the same institution belonging to the criminals. So while some customer of the bank is on the phone complaining, and getting the runaround about the charge. The criminals are having the fraud proceeds wired out of another account there, in increments under $10,000, off to Eastern Europe. All occurring week after week, right under their nose. Also, don't forget about the gateway processor, oblivious to this, year after year. Remember, this massive criminal operation has been identified and documented from the outside. Just imagine the data and resources that are available on the inside to have detected this. The problem with the cost benefit decision calculations that are made in writing off financial crime, are flawed. The fraud that you are writing off today, becomes the epidemic that you will have to deal with tomorrow. Tolerance and inaction breeds future epidemics. MGD | | | |
Was wondering if you have ever received positive feedback from www.IC3.gov?
I've called several ID Theft hotlines and made a few reports. One report was made to the FTC and they actually gave me a report number. I told the person that my situation only involved a small amount and the person said, "The amount doesn't matter......it's still fraud" and took the information for the report. This happened prior to your post about 888-590-9662 no longer being active. Difficult for me to understand why there are so many Government ID Theft hotlines. Does anyone know if there is a central Government hub for ID Theft reports and information? | | | |
Whip412 to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-26 8:20 pm
to MGD
If I may ask, where is the alleged NJ mule located. I am in Califon NJ and may be able to find something out. | |
1 recommendation |
MGD
MVM
2008-Mar-26 9:13 pm
They are located in Mahwah according to the relevant State of New Jesey business registration. Additional address details are listed in the first post, scroll down: » Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/PlutoThere is a public listing for the phone number matching to the address, or was back at the time of the original post. Several messages left at the number were not returned, so verbal confirmation is needed that they were in fact recruited and set up both the merchant processing and bank accounts. Once contact is made and it is confirmed that they are in fact a duped cyber-mule, there is a suggested procedure given to them to extricate themselves from that role, and promptly shut the operation down. I will post the procedure in an upcoming post shortly, where a new Command and Control website will be documented, along with all the recruitment documents and employment contracts that are given to cyber-mules. MGD | | MGD
1 recommendation |
to Zenith5
said by Zenith5:Was wondering if you have ever received positive feedback from www.IC3.gov? ........ Does anyone know if there is a central Government hub for ID Theft reports and information? IC3 is the most appropriate in this situation, since they are a Federal entity. They will disseminate the reports to the relevant agencies, and are a central database where this information can be collected. Unfortunately they do not usually respond or reply to submissions. However, that does not mean that they are not acted upon. Since this criminal operation involves multiple class A federal felonies, includes money laundering, ID theft, credit card fraud, data hijacking, etc., IC3 is the best place to report it. In addition, the multiple bank accounts and corresponding LLCs are located in many different states. Plus the major criminals who operate this crime syndicate, live and operate it from outside of the jurisdiction. The process of identifying, and eventually arresting and charging them will require cooperation and participation from foreign governments. MGD | | | |
ArmyWife to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-27 5:09 am
to MGD
MGD
Thank you for the work you've done here. I stumbled upon this thread when I received a charge on my debit card and didn't recognize it. It is listed as "03/24/2008 POS Debit / HTTP://www.mcatemplates.c" for $11.89 on my checking account. I assumed the description field was too short to include the full ".com". When I typed that address, to my surprise it said it couldn't find the website, but did say "did you mean"... I'm not very computer/internet savvy, so I clicked the link. When the new search came up with EVERY link stating "fraud" I was horrified. This thread was the first, so I began reading it and just finished the 12 pages of posts. Just now I tried typing the web address and this time it brought up the bogus website. Looks very convincing.
I have 2 other charges that I was hoping you could shed some light on, or possibly bring to your attention as possible fraud. Both posted to my account on 3/17/2008, both as "POS Debit" one is from "DRG Enterprises LLC" for $10.29 the other is from "Business Solutions Intern" for $9.98. I know I did not make purchases at either of these, so I questioned my husband and he also does not recognize the charges. I will be going to my bank this afternoon to cancel both mine & my husband's checkcards! I will also be reporting all three charges as fraudulent. And I will go to ic3 to report as fraud.
Someone had posted that the size of the bank seemed to not matter. I concur! We currently live in Germany (husband is active duty Army). Our bank is a small subsidiary of BOA whose clients/customers are all either stationed here with the U.S. military or as DOD employees. Having worked as a CSR for a large regional bank as well as a CC company, I thought that if an item posted as "POS Debit" that my PIN was used. Am I mistaken? I can also attest that in my training for both CSR positions, we were taught to tell the customer to contact the merchant before filing a dispute. Also, we were taught that such a small dollar amount should be treated as a dispute as it cost the bank/credit card company too much to file it as fraud. Of course, we were also taught not to let on with the customer that we were filing it as a dispute when the customer specifically asked for it to be filed as fraud. I never did that though! Morally, I could have never had a clear conscience treating my callers that way. As I still have accounts with both of these companies, I will refrain from naming them. Luckily, I have never had to report fraud on either of my accounts with these companies.
Again, thank you for putting together a wealth of information. If they do ever catch these creeps, I hope they have a reward that could be given to MGD. And if MGD feels he doesn't deserve a reward, he could always make a donation to his favorite charity. | | | |
to MGD
Seems like no one should be able to make a charge against an individual's account unless they have a business license, tax ID number, or are registered as tax exempt. Boggles the mind. | | Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
2 edits |
said by Zenith5:Seems like no one should be able to make a charge against an individual's account unless they have a business license, tax ID number, or are registered as tax exempt. Boggles the mind. You have not been reading any of these threads? They have all that covered and it is easy to get and even easier to get a Merchant Account opened in order to start collecting the money. The US based Mules that are hired setup a fictitious business name and get a Employer Identification Number for the Business then get the Merchant Account. A,B,C, easy as 1,2,3. Boom! Apply for an EIN (Employer Identification Number) Online » www.irs.gov/businesses/s ··· ,00.htmlMerchant Account » en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Me ··· _account
| |
1 edit |
Zenith5
Member
2008-Mar-28 10:37 am
I've read this thread several times. My point is that the mules should be very easy to locate or have I missed something else. I suppose I could have clarifed my point in the previous post. Sorry. | | Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30 |
said by Zenith5:I've read this thread several times. My point is that the mules should be very easy to locate or have I missed something else. I suppose I could have clarifed my point in the previous post. Sorry. How so? They are using fictitious Business names, Fictitious names in the Contact Info and they have cloaked domains that don't show who truly registered the Domains. Only when they slip up then MGD  can find some of the Mules, otherwise it is hide and seek. The biggest issues are that Law Enforcement and the CC Issuers don't see the big picture and choose to write it off and passing the cost of losses to the customer instead of tightening their procedures and adding vetting processes (which is what the Web Hosting providers need to also do). | |
1 recommendation |
to ArmyWife
said by ArmyWife :
MGD
Thank you for the work you've done here. ......
I have 2 other charges that I was hoping you could shed some light on, or possibly bring to your attention as possible fraud. Both posted to my account on 3/17/2008, both as "POS Debit" one is from "DRG Enterprises LLC" for $10.29 the other is from "Business Solutions Intern" for $9.98. I know I did not make purchases at either of these, so I questioned my husband and he also does not recognize the charges. I will be going to my bank this afternoon to cancel both mine & my husband's checkcards! I will also be reporting all three charges as fraudulent. And I will go to ic3 to report as fraud.
...... Having worked as a CSR for a large regional bank as well as a CC company, I thought that if an item posted as "POS Debit" that my PIN was used. Am I mistaken? ....... Thank you, and thanks for that insiders view of the bank card processing. There are legitimate billing errors within the millions of card charges processed daily. However, as you can see, the banks are making a huge assumption error in treating them all the same way. This fraud is specifically set up to successfully take advantage of many generic assumptions that are made in the entire process. The fraud charges to debit cards have been showing up as "POS", which as you noted, is incorrect. They have always shown up coded as such, it must be a coding issue in the merchant processing system. That POS code for debit, denotes a card swipe and signature, or a card swipe and pin. However, I know for a fact they are not pin transactions. They are in fact "CNP" transactions, card not present. The two charges which preceded the mcatemplates.com - 623-444-2173 M.C.A fraud charge, are also fraud charges from the same crime syndicate. "DRG Enterprises LLC" and "Business Solutions Intern" are two of a new batch of several dozen fraud sites set up by the criminals in the last 90 days. This criminal enterprise is constantly setting up new fake sites. There is an assembly line process that is needed to generate the millions of dollars a year in fraudulent proceeds. drgtemplates.com 206-569-4765 DRG Enterprises, LLC. 
Multiple reports of fraud charges: » 800notes.com/Phone.aspx/ ··· 569-4765.
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
.
Registration Service Provided By: NameCheap.com
Contact: support@NameCheap.com
.
Domain name: drgtemplates.com
IP 66.152.162.116
.
Registrant Contact:
DRG
Claudia Thorstensen (drginter58@yahoo.com)
+1.3203868193
Fax: +1.3203868193
37 Bancroft Ave
Reading, MA 01867
US
.
Status: Locked
.
Name Servers:
ns1.hostdone.com
ns2.hostdone.com
.
Creation date: 03 Jan 2008 22:22:35
Expiration date: 03 Jan 2009 22:22:35
. As usual, hidden from the internet: 
. . "Business Solutions Intern" is actually:bsi-concepts.com . bsi-concepts.com 609-910-2942 Business Solutions International, LLC
.
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
.
Registration Service Provided By: NameCheap.com
Contact: support@NameCheap.com
.
Domain name: bsi-concepts.com
IP 66.152.162.116
.
Registrant Contact:
BSI LLC
Sami Omar (sami_omar48@yahoo.com)
+1.7202288698
Fax: +1.7202288698
360 Jefferson Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11221
US
.
Status: Locked
.
Name Servers:
ns1.hostdone.com
ns2.hostdone.com
.
Creation date: 21 Jan 2008 22:24:41
Expiration date: 21 Jan 2009 22:24:41
. Once again, hidden from the internet: 
. Following the crime syndicates trail from the reports adds another name to the mix: mcatemplates.com ---->Business Solutions International ---->DRG Enterprises LLC---->MCG Enterprises LLC: quote:
BigOps96 - 21 Mar 2008
I received an unknown charge for $11.89 from MCG Enterprises LLC with a phone number of 541-306-6075, which looks almost exactly like the charge I got for the same amount from DRG Enterprises LLC, 206-569-4765. I am reporting both to my bank and getting a new credit card number (unfortunately).
»800notes.com/Phone.aspx/ ··· 306-6075
. mcg-websolutions.com 541-306-6075 MCG Enterprises, LLC. 
.
Registrar: ENOM, INC.
.
Registration Service Provided By: NameCheap.com
Contact: support@NameCheap.com
.
Domain name: mcg-websolutions.com
IP 66.152.162.116
.
Registrant Contact:
fbrt llc
Jennifer Gough-Belleau (goughbelleau@yahoo.com)
+1.8017570168
Fax: +1.8017570168
39 country club drive apt g
coram, NY 11727
US
.
Status: Locked
.
Name Servers:
ns1.hostdone.com
ns2.hostdone.com
.
Creation date: 21 Feb 2008 00:27:38
Expiration date: 21 Feb 2009 00:27:38
. mcg-websolutions.com is still in the seasoning phase, however, reports of the fraud charges are starting to come in: » 800notes.com/Phone.aspx/ ··· 306-6075Also blocked from search engine archiving. Confirming the fact that they are not engaged in e-commerce, and are just a fake front operation to process hijacked credit cards and launder the funds out of the country: 
This is pretty bad: quote:
escalatorgirl04@gmail.com - 22 Mar 2008
I have just been a victim as well only my bank refuses to reimburse me (bank of america). i stopped my card and got a new one. I saw a purchase for 11.89 that i did not authorize from chula vista CA and aother one from AZ with a different company. I called as well and got the same voice mail. WHO can i contact to get this guy f*cked up?
»800notes.com/Phone.aspx/ ··· 569-4765
Need to contact her, and explain the process that the bank is required by federal law to follow. She does not need to eat these charges. Also would like more specific data on those other names. I am in the process of sniffing out, identifying, and locating the cyber-mules who set up the merchant and bank accounts on behalf of the criminals, and are funneling the proceeds out of the country.
PLEASE NOTEThe names and addresses used for these domain registrations may be bogus, I am attempting to establish if they are or not. However, THEY ARE NOT THE CYBER-MULES. If in fact they turn out to be real, they will be victims of either a fraud charge for the hosting on their cards /Paypal account, or they are random. They are not connected to the fraud. The listed phone numbers will be bogus, or relay numbers that go to the criminals. Also, for victims of these charges, be careful when you search these names. The LLC names are only unique within the jurisdiction that they are registered in. There may, and in fact are, similarly named legitimate companies, who are in no way connected to this fraudulent operation. Be advised that running a search on the names will produce legitimate business with the same name or close to it. Over the years that this fraud has been tracked on this forum, many legitimate unrelated companies have been inundated with calls from angry victims. With this criminal enterprise, all listed phone numbers and email addresses will relay back to the Command & Control center. The only local person connected will be the duped cyber-mule. For those of you with multiple charges from names that are not already listed, Please list the specific line item fraud charge as it appeared on your bill along with the date. Despite the length of this thread we have only covered a small amount of the fraudulent names that either have been used, or are in use. Posting the full deatails of any additional charges that have not been covered, is very helpful in tracking this criminal operation.
Coming up next, I will document a new C&C hub website that is running the mule recruitment and herding operation for this new group of fraud sites. MGD | | MGD
1 edit
1 recommendation |
MGD
MVM
2008-Mar-28 8:35 pm
The C&C and recruitment division of this crime syndicate has a new hub site that has been recruiting cyber-mules, primarily from job postings on Craigslist during the past three months. The job ads are very generic, and advertise part time management positions. There are no links or leads in the postings as to who they are. Once a potential cyber-mule submits their resume they first receive the following response: quote:
------------------------------------------------------------
From: Aleksandr Kostanda aleksandr_kostanda7@fellowsolutions.com
To: Potential Cyber-mule
Subject: Job offer on Craigslist, Fellow Solutions, Inc
Hello "Potential Cyber-mule"
Thank you for responding to Fellow Solutions, Inc's job offer on
Craigslist.
I represent Fellow Solutions, Inc. My name is Aleksandr Kostanda, I'm
a manager of this company. We are a rapidly growing comprehensive
Business Solutions, Internet and Website Design company. We specialize
in getting businesses onto the Internet quickly and professionally.
Our manager team will grow the next 3 months.
In this letter I will kindly let you into the details of Fellow
Solutions, Inc position of Manager.
We have been in Business 7 Years and many of our staff have been
involved with the Internet for a lot longer, we are somewhat of an OLD
business in this relatively new industry.
Our Marketing Department has developed a perfect idea to boost sales
(our company produces web items).
The idea is to have more subsidiaries that would resell our Webstite
Templates.
As more we have the websites (subsidiaries) as more we can get new
customers and of course we get more profit. The advantage of having
such subsidiaries lies in having different business names sell our
web design services. It's business strategy.
Manager is the person who owns a subsidiary company.
Anyone can do this, because setting up a small company of your own is
very simple, and provided with easy-to-follow step-by-step
instructions of your personal Fellow Solutions, Inc manager.
After your company is set up, Fellow Solutions, Inc will create a
website (online store) for you which will resell our templates.
Final step is launching your store live on the web and taking your
commission from sales.
Your income will increase as the business progresses.
Let me emphasize extremely advantageous features that are sure to help
you make the right decision and become our partner. They are:
- No skills and experience in programming and web design are required
from you. Fellow Solutions, Inc professionals will handle all
technical questions;
- You will not have to sell or advertise anything. It is our special
marketing department that will be responsible for it;
- It's good opportunity for the manager because for this work he
spends not too much time and can work for his usual work and for our
company because we have the opportunity to enter to the USA's market.
If you've got a burning desire to succeed and are interested in
maximizing your personal and professional growth, please kindly get
back to us via our email address
( aleksandr_kostanda7@fellowsolutions.com). I will get back to you with
every little detail of how our cooperation will develop.
Please reply to this email: aleksandr_kostanda7@fellowsolutions.com
Respectfully,
Aleksandr Kostanda,
Fellow Solutions, Inc.
36 Dragan Tsankov Blvd.,
Sophia, 1057
Bulgaria,
Phone/Fax for US: (606) 764-1922
------------------------------------------------------------
Should the potential "employee" move forward on this "job" offer, they will be sent the following instructions. They will have to submit identity documents, and be subject to a background check: Instructions: 
Employment Agreement: 
In addition, they will receive instructions on how to obtain an EIN number from the IRS. Also, how to set up a merchant bank account. 
They will also be told which banks not to use, and steered towards banks affiliated with the processing gateway of Authorize.net / Cybersource. The other criteria is that the bank account must have online access, so the criminals can log in and monitor the the results and funds from the fraudulent card processing. Once this is in place the website will be up and running. The Cyber-mule will not have access to the the website control panel, or be able to see logs etc. They are also provided with a FAQ: 
After the operation is up and running the cyber-mule's only duties are to follow the instructions from the C&C herder on when and where to wire funds out of the country. fellowsolutions.com AKA Fellow Solutions Inc.are probably accurate when they say they have been in business for 7 years: 
That is about when the first signs of the modus operandi of this fraud can be tracked back to. 
Don't bet that this is actually whee they are, go East.: Site Contact info: Fellow Solutions, Inc. » fellowsolutions.com/Phone : +1-530-618-6428 Address : Bulgaria, Sophia 1057 36 Dragan Tsankov Blvd. E-Mail : support@fellowsolutions.com The domain registration:
Domain Name: FELLOWSOLUTIONS.COM
Registrar: ONLINENIC, INC.
Whois Server: whois.35.com
Referral URL: »www.OnlineNIC.com
Name Server: NS8.888HOSTINGS.COM
Name Server: NS9.888HOSTINGS.COM
Status: ok
Updated Date: 07-jan-2008
Creation Date: 07-jan-2008
Expiration Date: 07-jan-2009
.
Registrant:
John Millad johnmillad57@yahoo.com +1.5306186428
fellowsolutions.com
1825 Benson Street
Philadelphia,PA,UNITED STATES 19152
.
Domain Name:fellowsolutions.com
Domain servers in listed order:
.
ns8.888hostings.com
ns9.888hostings.com
They push the fact that no technical skills are needed, they want novices, and non net savvy victims. Techies that may first show interest, will catch on: » forums.invisionpower.com ··· y1707105and: » thebecauseeverybodyhason ··· ive.htmlMGD | |
1 edit |
mike7678 to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-29 5:27 pm
to MGD
Mgd please contact me when you can i have alot to talk about with you... | | | |
angry to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-31 2:27 am
to MGD
Oh my! I did a search of some bogus charges that were on my AMEX and this site popped up! Thank goodness I'm not alone. I apologize in advance if this is not the correct place to post this or if you all have discussed this information previously. The two companies that charged my AMEX have already been posted by others: 1) ROMAN I PIGLITSIN Telecom Service 2/20/08, $11.87 ROMAN I PIGLITSIN DBA 4351 Marysville Blvd Sacramento, CA 95838 Cellular Telephones R And P Web Designer 2) SOLOMKA DESIGN, Computer network 2/08/08 $11.95 SOLOMKA Design 4282 Pinell St Ste 101 Sacramento, CA 95838 Internet Downloads I immediately flagged it online, but didn't submit it as a fradulent charge. At the time I thought it MIGHT have been something connected to my MONTHLY charge from EXPERIAN that is SUPPOSED to cover credit report monitoring and protection. Imagine that!  The so-called monintoring service by Experian is $11.95 a month...eerily close to the amounts charged by the 'fake companies'. I immediately called Experian and cancelled and I told the account rep that I was cancelling because I had two charges that were unfamilar and I felt they were connected. I just had a really bad feeling. on my AMEX statement, the same exact language and location (california)used to describe the 'legit' Experian charges is also used with the fake charges. Of course the Experian rep said the standard line of 'we would never knowingly pass your information along to third parties, blah, blah, blah'. AMEX has sinced given me a credit and sent letters stating they are investigating. I'm hoping they don't 'recharge' my account. But they gave me an immediate credit, no questions asked. I wonder if it's because this has happened to so many other card holders recently?? I have scanned this site for about 10 minutes and I'm thankful I found all of this information. Interesting and VERY scary stuff! Also, I noticed where there were some posts that stated this may have started with Equifax. Do we know if Experian has also experienced (pardon the pun  ) the same kind of leaks? Can anyone tell me HOW I became a victim? Are there some sites I may have visited or do we think it truly is related to Experian? Is there a way of finding out? I am glad (for lack of a better term) that when I signed up for this service through Experian I used my credit card and not my bank card. I truly meant to cancel the service months ago and kept forgetting. I never meant for it to be an on-going charge. I only wanted the service that one time, but I was constantly getting updates of who was viewing my credit, etc, so I felt it may have been worth it. Never again will I let this kind of stuff fall by the wayside! Thanks for any updates you can provide. Angry in Birmingham, Alabama | | | |
Whip412 to MGD
Anon
2008-Mar-31 9:35 am
to MGD
Did you actually sign up through some bonefide Experian site or through a site like 'freecreditreport.com'? | | | |
to MGD
Just joining in with the "it happened to me" list.
Had two charges listed on my account as "Debit Card Electronic Business". The first for $4.95 left me wondering just who it was who had a legitimate charge for using a debit card. Three months later I had another $2.95 charge listed the same way. Decided I would never use my card wherever they charged for using debit cards. The inquiry to my bank led to EBSEbooks. Strange, we NEVER got any e book download, and never even heard of them.
The annoying thing is the amount of the charge. These charges in and of themselves are too small to peak the interest of the bank or any law enforcement agency. I suspect that is why it is so. | | Laurie3
join:2007-07-08
Forest Hills, NY
1 recommendation |
to angry
said by angry :Oh my! I did a search of some bogus charges that were on my AMEX and this site popped up! Thank goodness I'm not alone. I apologize in advance if this is not the correct place to post this or if you all have discussed this information previously. The two companies that charged my AMEX have already been posted by others: 1) ROMAN I PIGLITSIN Telecom Service 2/20/08, $11.87 ROMAN I PIGLITSIN DBA 4351 Marysville Blvd Sacramento, CA 95838 Cellular Telephones R And P Web Designer 2) SOLOMKA DESIGN, Computer network 2/08/08 $11.95 SOLOMKA Design 4282 Pinell St Ste 101 Sacramento, CA 95838 Internet Downloads I immediately flagged it online, but didn't submit it as a fradulent charge. At the time I thought it MIGHT have been something connected to my MONTHLY charge from EXPERIAN that is SUPPOSED to cover credit report monitoring and protection. Imagine that! The so-called monintoring service by Experian is $11.95 a month...eerily close to the amounts charged by the 'fake companies'. I immediately called Experian and cancelled and I told the account rep that I was cancelling because I had two charges that were unfamilar and I felt they were connected. I just had a really bad feeling. on my AMEX statement, the same exact language and location (california)used to describe the 'legit' Experian charges is also used with the fake charges. Of course the Experian rep said the standard line of 'we would never knowingly pass your information along to third parties, blah, blah, blah'. AMEX has sinced given me a credit and sent letters stating they are investigating. I'm hoping they don't 'recharge' my account. But they gave me an immediate credit, no questions asked. I wonder if it's because this has happened to so many other card holders recently?? I have scanned this site for about 10 minutes and I'm thankful I found all of this information. Interesting and VERY scary stuff! Also, I noticed where there were some posts that stated this may have started with Equifax. Do we know if Experian has also experienced (pardon the pun ) the same kind of leaks? Can anyone tell me HOW I became a victim? Are there some sites I may have visited or do we think it truly is related to Experian? Is there a way of finding out? I am glad (for lack of a better term) that when I signed up for this service through Experian I used my credit card and not my bank card. I truly meant to cancel the service months ago and kept forgetting. I never meant for it to be an on-going charge. I only wanted the service that one time, but I was constantly getting updates of who was viewing my credit, etc, so I felt it may have been worth it. Never again will I let this kind of stuff fall by the wayside! Thanks for any updates you can provide. Angry in Birmingham, Alabama Everyone assumes the culprit is whatever company they last used the card with, or newly used it with or whatever. And like I said on another site, there are MILLIONS of people who use Equifax (and Experian) for credit monitoring, so odds are that a lot of those people will also be among those of us finding these bogus charges. Simple mathematics. But there are people INSISTING that it MUST be Equifax--and they refuse to believe otherwise--because others have also recently used Equifax. SOLVED! But for every defrauded person who is an Equifax customer, there are three who aren't (like me). It's human nature to want to pinpoint it and quickly name a culprit. Makes us feel safer, like all we have to do is eliminate that one entity from our lives and now we're safe. We like to feel we've "figured it out." But it's not nearly that simple. This thing is way bigger than that. We can try to come up with common links, of course... but to insist it's all down to "our" culprit AND THAT'S FINAL!! is to leave ourselves vulnerable to all the real culprits out there. And they're everywhere. Just my 2 cents. | | | |
Army mom to MGD
Anon
2008-Apr-2 12:14 am
to MGD
I want to thank you for all the info you've researched and posted regarding DRG. My son is stationed in Mosul, Iraq and has no choice but to shop online. Apparently his card info has been compromised and DRG has a pending charge on his debit account with Security Service Fed Credit Union for 11.89 from...you guessed it...DRG Enterprises LLC. Even though he has been buying online quite a bit I was for some reason wary of the name (I've worked in infosec for 2 large financial institutions for over 10 years and watch things closely though sometimes that just isn't enough either). Wasn't familar with the name. He is frequent shopper on sites like Walmart, BestBuy and Amazon, but DRG Enterprises just sounded wierd considering his spending habits and usual shopping. Considering the foreign ATM machines and other vendors he was forced to swipe and otherwise trust his card info with on his recent trip back to Mosul (stops in Ireland and Germany and Kuwait), along with online shopping there is no telling where the leak happened i guess. These people suck. The charge was on 3/31 and is still pending so i've notified the credit union of possible fraud, told them to deny the charge, cancel the card and issue another. Stepping back...the 11.89 is not the big deal really at this point. This is an extreme hardship for him since now he has no way to access his funds from Iraq for weeks while I mail the new card to him. GRRRRRRRRRR!!!
Thanks for your hard work and keep it up. | | Doctor OldsI Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium Member
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30 |
said by Army mom :
Stepping back...the 11.89 is not the big deal really at this point. This is an extreme hardship for him since now he has no way to access his funds from Iraq for weeks while I mail the new card to him.
Actually is it a big deal because the small amount (under $25.00 usually) is what keeps them under the radar so they can screw up your son's life and yours.  Now if you went into a bunch of Banks in the real world and took $24.95 from a single teller at 100 branches, then the LEOs would rightly arrest you. But do the same thing in the virtual world with credit/debit cards and it is nearly ignored or worse, the Banks/CC Issuers simply pass the losses on to customers as higher rates and therefore have no incentive to put a stop to it. If the Banks/CC Issuers had to eat these losses then this crap would stop, but the people that could make that happen won't apparently. | | | |
army mom
Anon
2008-Apr-2 2:07 am
sites like this are what keep them from flying under the radar for those that actually watch their accounts for any unfamilar charge, big or small. $11.89 is small compared to the screwed up mess it makes of your finances and life while you wait on your hands for newly minted cards is all I meant. You are absolutely right... they should pay. What a pain. | |
2 edits
2 recommendations |
to Army mom
You are welcome, based on the circumstances you may want to consider an option. You may want to hold off cancelling the existing card and have the issuer process a replacement card while keeping the current one active. During the interim the criminals may hit you with another similar charge, they usually continue to do two a month maximum. You could reverse (charge back) any new charge that shows up while the new card is being processed. This way your son will at least have the ability to still use it in the interim. Once the new card is issued then forwarded to you son he can then cancel the old one upon receipt of the replacement. Your institution should be willing to work with you on this based on your sons circumstances. At least this way he will not have to go without a card for any length of time. The vast majority of cards are only hit once or twice a month with these small fraud charges. They do continue until it is cancelled. However, in this case, I would consider that as an option to minimize the hardship on your son. There is another item worth noting with respect to the DRG Enterprises fraud victims. This may be pure random coincidence, but I believe that you are the fourth person to report that specific charge from DRG who has a military related card. A few posts back, "ArmyWife" who is stationed in Germany had two fraud charges, the second of which was from DRG. I am on my way to dig up the others I remember recently seeing posted on other forums. As I recall, one was from someone stationed in Saudi Arabia and another stationed in Canada. I assumed they were all Bank of America military issued cards, I do not believe they stated which they were, though you have listed Security Service Fed Credit Union for that one. As I mentioned, having that in common for a handful of victims, even at one fraud billing run, may not be statistically significant. By my estimation this crime syndicate processes somewhere between one and two million cards a year. On any given month each of these 30 or so active sites run 5,000 cards apiece. So a half dozen with similiar unique characteristics, even from one entity, are well within a random expectation. Off to look for the others...... MGD EDIT= Actually they are from the MCG / DRG combo group: quote:
BigOps96 - 21 Mar 2008
I received an unknown charge for $11.89 from MCG Enterprises LLC with a phone number of 541-306-6075, which looks almost exactly like the charge I got for the same amount from DRG Enterprises LLC, 206-569-4765. I am reporting both to my bank and getting a new credit card number (unfortunately).
William Cobb - 28 Mar 2008
I received a simlar charge to my account, an account that I do not really monitor as I only put a few dollars hear and there just to keep it active and that's where my TDY pay and various other types of pay go to from the Army. I called my bank and put a stop payment and report of fraud on it. I then looked up the company on the internet and got a company in TX. I called and the guy told me that there were several other people calling about it as well with 2 common things: (1)All Military and (2)All Shopped at Ranger Joes. This is some fraudulent crap!!!
MAJ D - 30 Mar 2008
I just noticed a hit too! I called my bank (from Saudi Arabia), cancelled my card and filed a fraud report. If anyone else has shopped at Ranger Joes, we need to notify them and the Columbus PD as well as the FBI
» 800notes.com/Phone.aspx/ ··· 306-6075 | | | |
army mom
Anon
2008-Apr-2 2:26 am
yup to Ranger Joes. He has shopped there in the last 2-4 months. | | | |
ArmyWife to MGD
Anon
2008-Apr-2 8:48 am
to MGD
I've continued reading this thread daily in the hopes of looking for any other info that might help me in my situation. When we went to the bank to file the fraud paperwork, the CSR was able to tell us which card was used for each of the 3 fraudulent charges. The one from mcatemplates was on my card. My card gets used for many online purchases at everywhere from Target to Walmart to LL Bean. The 2 from DRG & Business Solutions Intern were both on my husband's card. Interestingly, the ONLY online purchase made with his card EVER was at Ranger Joe's. Otherwise his card is used strictly for purchases at the local AAFES (Army Air Force Exchange Service) store/gas station or our bank's ATMs. I know that it might just be coincidence that we shopped at Ranger Joe's, but with several other people getting hit with DRG after Ranger Joe's makes me more than suspicious.
I wanted to ask your advise on a service one of my CC companies offers. They will create a temporary account number to be used for online/phone purchases. This way you have a one-time use number that is supposed to be more secure than using your actual account number. What do you folks think of this? Good idea, doesn't work, etc.
Thanks again for helping to open the eyes of consumers and hopefully put an end to this criminal scum. | | | |
army mom
Anon
2008-Apr-2 7:41 pm
yes, i've heard of it and its a good idea and works. Several financial institutions are doing this or considering it. USAA is one. B of A another.. keeps your card info from being exposed directly on less reliable sites especially. another tip is to not use your debit card for purchases online as it exposes the account that will cause most of us much pain immediately. rather, use a cc with a low limit. disputing fraud on cc seems simpler compared to debit accounts also.
regarding ranger joes...while I am sure these thieves are getting card info from other sources it does seem likely that at least at some point their site was compromised or someone associated with them is less than trustworthy and sold customer data perhaps. there are so many ways for your data, once shared for a valid transaction, can be mishandled or stolen with malicious intent. the one time use shopping card would help this for online shoppers. you can usually set time and amount thresholds and specify the payee in some cases. any other use beyond that is declined. | |  CQB
@bellsouth.net |
CQB
Anon
2008-Apr-3 1:42 pm
Ranger Joe's sent an email out about this. Some how, data was stolen by hackers and some of their customers CC#s were stolen. I've had this happen (through other companies) twice in the last year! It sucks that there are all these low-life crooks out there pulling stuff like this constantly. You would think, if the credit card companies expect to stay in business, they would find ways to stop this kind of thing from happening. To their credit- in my experience, Ranger Joe's has always been a good reputable company to deal with and I appreciate the fact that they came forward and gave me a heads-up on this, (neither of those other companies did!) | |
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The so-called monintoring service by Experian is $11.95 a month...eerily close to the amounts charged by the 'fake companies'. I immediately called Experian and cancelled and I told the account rep that I was cancelling because I had two charges that were unfamilar and I felt they were connected. I just had a really bad feeling. on my AMEX statement, the same exact language and location (california)used to describe the 'legit' Experian charges is also used with the fake charges. Of course the Experian rep said the standard line of 'we would never knowingly pass your information along to third parties, blah, blah, blah'.
) the same kind of leaks? Can anyone tell me HOW I became a victim? Are there some sites I may have visited or do we think it truly is related to Experian? Is there a way of finding out?