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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
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| reply to MGD
Re: [Credit Card Fraud] AMEX American Express Charges from SMS O
said by MGD  :It is nothing short of astounding that even after 7 years of continous fraudulent merchant accounts, all originating from a small radius in California, that American Express is still clueless as to this organized fraud. In this post here I even quote a sharp AMex rep who posted in 2005 about one of the fraud operations du jour. Plus the 2008 indictment by the Feds of one Sacramento county Russian expat cyber-mule, who netted $177,000 in less than four months of his year long operation, see this post in the Devbill thread: » Re: Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/PlutoBy the way, there is precedent for the FTC in filing charges for When does a multi year failure to do basic lemonade stand type due diligence become actionable ? The FTC needs to put American Express on the chopping block. Something just isn't right for AE to ignore this huge blackhole of flowing funds out of the USA.
They need to be next and to be made an example, IMHO.
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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
MGD
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join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| reply to StillAtIt
said by StillAtIt :.... Amex has now credited me for the two reversed credits (are you following this...I'm having trouble myself). But I am steaming mad. They are going to try to block activity from them. Yea... OK I get that there are probably a lot of angry card holders who wrongly accuse a merchant, but you'd think they could look into this...just a little bit. I mean just go to SMS's lousy web site. Sorry...didn't really mean to vent this much. Incredible !! Please keep us updated.
It is nothing short of astounding that even after 7 years of continous fraudulent merchant accounts, all originating from a small radius in California, that American Express is still clueless as to this organized fraud.
Every single charge processed thorugh these accounts are from hijacked American Express data, some victims are in the UK, and have local branded Amex cards.
Already going in to rinse and repeat mode:
LOL! "Shop closed"
As if it was EVER OPEN. Phone number out of service as well.
I am sure that AMEX has already issued a few replacement merchant accounts. That is what makes this "we do not have a clue" problem even worse, as they should be canceling and replacing every AMEX card processed through the fraud site. The monthly billing reports are in essence a master list of hijacked Amex card data.
In this post here I even quote a sharp AMex rep who posted in 2005 about one of the fraud operations du jour. Plus the 2008 indictment by the Feds of one Sacramento county Russian expat cyber-mule, who netted $177,000 in less than four months of his year long operation, see this post in the Devbill thread: »Re: Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/Pluto
The central California BBB even has an open case on SMS-Outlet:
»www.bbb.org/central-california/b···89038980
Someone should point them here
Keep us updated StillAtIt
By the way, there is precedent for the FTC in filing charges for
quote:
Payment Processor Settles FTC Charges
Agency Alleges Defendants Knew or Should Have Known Charges Were Not Authorized
A payment processor and its principal who attempted to process more than $1.2 million in unauthorized charges on consumer checking accounts, even though they knew or should have known the debits were not authorized by consumers, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that their practices violated federal law. The settlement bars the defendants from processing payments without ensuring that the charges are authorized....
quote:
...
According to the FTC’s complaint, the payment processor did not follow its own guidelines for new merchants and did not check addresses, phone numbers, or references the bogus merchant provided.
»www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/06/interbill.shtm
When does a multi year failure to do basic lemonade stand type due diligence become actionable ?
MGD | |
StillAtIt
join:2008-09-30
| reply to MGD
Well, after canceling my Amex card (getting a different number), getting the original charge from SMS credited, reporting it as fraud (and getting a reply in the mail from Amex) this month I got the credit reversed TWICE and a letter in the mail from Amex Merchant Services saying that SMS argued that they had credited me too much. Too much?
Amex has now credited me for the two reversed credits (are you following this...I'm having trouble myself). But I am steaming mad. They are going to try to block activity from them. Yea...
OK I get that there are probably a lot of angry card holders who wrongly accuse a merchant, but you'd think they could look into this...just a little bit. I mean just go to SMS's lousy web site. Sorry...didn't really mean to vent this much. | |
MGD
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
1 edit | reply to trowelblister
said by trowelblister :
SMS-Outlet has now hit my Amex Blue (which I do use for internet purchases, though infrequently) twice in 3 months (March and May, both on same date). AMEX takes care of the charges w/out a problem, but doesn't seem to discontinue the "vendor", just credits my account. I am currently emailing back/forth with AMEX CS, trying to see if they'll hack SMS out of their system, because I feel that they should fix this BS themselves and I shouldn't have to cancel my card and get a new acct#. We'll see what happens,,,
BTW, the 800 number listed in other posts has been disconnected.
As avd706 stated, the only effective option is to have a new card number issued. Your account is not cancelled, a new card number is assigned to it.
The problem with your scenario is that even if Amex ejects the SMS Outlet LLC aka SMS-outlet.com merchant account, which eventually happens anyway, the crime syndicate still has your complete account data. They create numerous merchant accounts directly through AMEX, as they have for years, and will continue to process fraud charges against your card under various other merchant accounts. The alternative is that you will have to closely watch your card's activity until its expiration date. There is also an additional risk, while the crime syndicate preserves the majority of the hacked card data for this fraud, a percentage of the cards are burned up on major spending sprees. Personally I would be unwilling to tolerate having my valid account data stored in a criminal's database for an extended period.
Amex appears unable, unwilling, or both, to apply a reasonable vetting process for merchant account applications. This criminal operation has functioned for at least 5 years right in front of them. I previously posted several simple filtering suggestions including zip codes, that up until SMS, would have easily created a short list of suspects at application time.
The other problem is that by ignoring and tolerating this perpetual fraud, Amex has deprived themselves of the potential ability to identify the compromise vectors that are yielding their customers account data. Combining the card data used in the multiple accounts of the long running fraud into a database for analysis, could produce evidence of the potential sources of this data. That analysis could have long ago identified the source/s and closed the exploit.
Tolerating fraud may be economically viable in the near term, though very short sighted. Invariably it motivates the criminals to continue and expand an operation that is productive. As noted from the indictment of one cyber-mule, these individual fraudulent merchant accounts can produce upwards of a quarter million dollars of fraud proceeds before they are closed. It is difficult to imagine how Amex could continue to ignore the multi year operation right at their front door. Apparently there are several deeply "asleep at the wheel".
MGD
| |
avd706
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Union, NJ | reply to trowelblister
The only thing you can do is change your account number.
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trowelblister
@sbcglobal.net
| reply to MGD
SMS-Outlet has now hit my Amex Blue (which I do use for internet purchases, though infrequently) twice in 3 months (March and May, both on same date). AMEX takes care of the charges w/out a problem, but doesn't seem to discontinue the "vendor", just credits my account. I am currently emailing back/forth with AMEX CS, trying to see if they'll hack SMS out of their system, because I feel that they should fix this BS themselves and I shouldn't have to cancel my card and get a new acct#. We'll see what happens,,,
BTW, the 800 number listed in other posts has been disconnected. | |
MGD
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
1 edit | reply to StillAtIt
In order to establish some scope to this latest Amex merchant account fraud, I am interested in seeing postings from victim's of this fraud on non US issued American Express branded cards. Also, if you do have a foreign issued Amex card with this SMS Outlet LLC aka SMS-outlet.com fraud charge, did you ever use this card at a US based Company?.
With respect to all victims of the fraud, was your card ever used for internet ecommerce activity, or only used at brick & mortar establishments?.
For those of you that contact Amex about the fraud charge, ask if they can tell you if your CVV2 (aka CID) security code was entered, along with your full name and address, as would be expected for a CNP (card not present) transaction.
I suspect many victims are not catching this fraud charge, or at least not until the fourth or fifth hit.
quote:
I just realized that they charge my card 4 times in last few months.
It seems to be related to the "free" ring tones scam from last year. Note: I'm not using the chared card and I'm keeping it in the drawer for more than a year.
Ref:»www.complaintsboard.com/complain···197.html
Remember, when you call Amex CS, insist that they process the charges as fraudulent, and issue you a new card. If you have multiple charges over several months insist that you are credited for ALL of them, without regard to a time limit. At least one victim has been told that these are set up as recurring charges.
In my opinion there could be an issue of liability here. Unlike Visa / MasterCard which involves multiple unrelated entities, Amex controls the entire system. Amex issues the merchant accounts, and controls the system gateway processing, theirs is a self contained proprietary system. There may be an issue as to whether reasonable and ordinary care is being used to protect consumers. From time to time over the years that this organized fraud has been running, Amex has stated that several of these fraud set ups have been under investigation. Yet they continue unabated with relative ease. Somewhere in the Devbill thread I quoted a posted comment made by an Amex employee from circa 2006, I believe, confirming that a crime syndicate's set up from back then was under internal investigation.
Every single charge processed from any of these accounts are to card data that has been hijacked. A considerable amount of the charges go through unquestioned, and the resulting fraud proceeds are wired to foreign countries for laundering, then on to the organized crime syndicate.
MGD | |
avd706
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Union, NJ | reply to Millenniumle
You keep everything when you transfer account numbers due to fraud.
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Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY
1 edit | reply to Ford
AMEX may be well intended, but their failure to act provides the appearance that they rather enjoy the ~3% cut they acquire from the fraud activities.
So, given AMEX profits from the fraud, it is AMEX that should be concerned with: "It just seems weird that AMEX doesn't seem to care about this problem." | |
Ford
@knology.net
| reply to Doctor Olds
Fair enough-you're probably right. It was a wild assumption, and you're right-I don't know enough about the process. It just seems weird that AMEX doesn't seem to care about this problem. Perhaps it would take more work and resources for them to attack the problem than allowing the fraudulent business to continue taking smaller amounts? It doesn't seem like it would be to me that difficult to curtail, but I'm obviously no expert as Doctor Odds has pointed out. Point taken.
Thanks again for the informative thread. | |
Doctor Olds
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| reply to Ford
Where do you get that you lose your accrued benefits? It looks like you are the only person posting that as no-one else posted that changing their account number affects their card holder status or their accrued benefits/perks. It sounds like you don't understand how the process works and are just making wild assumptions.
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Ford
@knology.net
| reply to StillAtIt
Thanks all for this very informative thread.
We've been having the same trouble, so I won't bore you with repeating the obvious symptoms. However, I do have a question:
Do any of you have cards with perks?
Ours is a Delta Skymiles card, and we've accrued a significant amount of credit for plane tickets.
Like MMW, I'm beginning to wonder about this: is it not just a little suspicious that AMEX is not at all concerned about all these little amounts here and there that are apparently not very isolated. Like MMW, I never use this card, and so on certain months, other than the mandated minimum, the only charges are these bogus SMS outlets. Is it too big a conspiracy theory to say that AMEX is using (or more likely tolerating) a dummy business to pester cardholders into losing their perks? | |
rzaruba
join:2000-08-04 | reply to MGD
There are a number of Dearklands in Bakersfield as per Zabasearch.
They appear to be brothers and sisters. | |
MGD
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join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1 edit | reply to StillAtIt
I am unable to locate a listed public telephone number for the cyber-mule for SMS OUTLET LLC., one Mr. DAVID DEARKLAND, middle initial "R" appx. 49yrs, of 658 MCCORD AVE., BAKERSFIELD, CA 93308 »www.realtor.com/property-detail/···afb4bd01
I am working a lead the may yield a number. Of the multi year Russian AMEX fraud featuring California cyber-mules, Mr. Dearkland may be able to offer some intelligence on the operation. Over the past year I have tracked down several of the cyber-mules who registered many of the fraud LLCs, and none were willing to talk. All were Russian immigrants, there were both males and females. Consequently, I have been unable to corroborate a direct connection between the Devbill Visa MasterCard fraud and the California Amex fraud operation. Uncovering how the fraud Amex proceed funds are wired out of the US, and to where, could provide evidence of linkage between the two. So far the only fact that can be established is that it also has direct connections to Russian organized crime and operates with the exact modus-operandi.
Repeated prior contacts with the cyber-mules generated multiple responses that they do not speak English, though they know enough of it to say so. Only one of many attempts to contact other members of the household produced someone fluent in English. That was a cousin of a female college student who registered one of the LLC. When told what they participating in, the cousin was adamant that she would not knowingly participate in such an operation. Her cousin agreed to call me back and act as an interpreter, as I told him I needed to find out where the money was going and exactly how she was recruited. Despite the promise to call back with her present, he never did. Repeated calls made to him were not answered, nor returned. Other cyber-mules would just hang up repeatedly. At least up until now, it was reasonable to conclude that the recruiting vector was through some Russian language publication in the Sacramento County area, either in print or on the internet.
I am not sure why the latest cyber-mule is a deviation from the long running procedure. Whether it was the quick and easy filtering diagram that I posted back in September of 2008, of a simple 30 second procedure for American Express to filter out these fraud merchant applications. Or whether the word spreading within the tight knit Russian community of the arrest and indictment of Alex Bernik had a chilling effect on the recruitment process. Especially since Mr. Bernik was immediately incaracated and refused bail as he was designated a flight risk. It does appear from the allegations in the indictment that Bernik may have a predisposition to the shady side of life.
I am of the opinion that a debriefing of DAVID DEARKLAND could offer significant intelligence on the inner workings of this multi year Amex card fraud laundering operation. I believe that could be very beneficial, especially since American Express does not appear to be much inclined at protecting their card holders from repeated fraud from within their own system. Much less make any reasonable attempt at analysing the possible compromise vectors that have been in repeated use over the last five to six years.
Many of the American Express fraud victims have similar stories as the visa/MC victims, in that some of the cards targeted with the fraud were rarely used, or were dormant during the past several months, or longer.
MGD | |
MGD
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Fort Lauderdale, FL
1 edit | reply to famousperson
From the other thread, in reference to a predecessor of sml-outlet llc called 24 HOUR Corp which was hitting both US and UK Amex victims. A video of the cbs13 news story: »cbs13.com/video/?id=39375@kovr.dayport.com
Amex has no excuse for allowing this to continue by dolling out merchant accounts so criminals can launder the hijacked card data right into cash with Amex's help.
The only difference between SMS OUTLET LLC and the several prior years worth of fraud merchant accounts, is that this time the cyber-mule does not appear to be a Russian expat, and is located ~300 miles from the normal concentration of cyber-mules in the Sacramento County and surrounding area.
MGD | |
MGD
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| reply to famousperson
said by famousperson :
sml-outlet llc tried to get me, too. The first charge to my amex card for $34.20 on May 4th was reversed, for reasons not stated, on May 14. Then two charges for $34.20 appeared on May 17. Amex reversed the charges and said that they would open a fraud file. They said nothing about issuing a new number.
Hi FP,
Thanks for posting. PLEASE call AMEX back and insist that they issue you a new card. This Russian organized crime syndicate will continue to process fraud charges against you card. Your card account data has been compromised (hacked). Also insist that they process the charges as fraudulent.
Maybe you can not only direct their attention to this thread, but also to excerpts from the main documentation here: »Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/Pluto which shows that this AMEX fraud operation has been going on for years unfettered. From time to time Amex will cancel a fraud merchant account or two, which has no long term effect. The criminals just reapply for more, and get them. Amex is also missing out on the opportunity to perform forensic analysis on the entire compromised data that is processed through these fraudulent accounts. Analysis of this data processed over the years, could have established the compromise vectors and enabled these exploits to be addressed.
MGD | |
MGD
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join:2002-07-31
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| reply to jenny
said by jenny :
They have billed my card twice for $14.39. I was also hit 3 times with bogus charges from 24 Hour corp 3 months in a row. AmEx took off all of the charges.
Jenny, follow Doctor Olds 's advice.
Your post also confirms the OP's suspicion that sms-outlet.com aka SMS OUTLET LLC is part of the Russian based multi year Amex card fraud laundering operation out of California.
said by jenny :
They have billed my card twice for $14.39. I was also hit 3 times with bogus charges from 24 Hour corp 3 months in a row. AmEx took off all of the charges.
Since we already know that 24 Hour corp was part of the Russian AMEX crime syndicate that connection absolutely confirms that SMS OUTLET LLC is one of the latest of the crime syndicate's Amex card fraud laundering operations. They have compromised your card account data, and are repeatedly charging it across several of their fraud sites.
Unfortunately, in my opinion American Express is way beyond clueless. "Way beyond" because this AMEX charge fraud operation has been going on for over 5 years. One would think that a company who provides merchant services and where criminals within a confined geographic area can repeatedly process fraud charges against their own customer's accounts, would have caught on by know. Instead these criminals are now availing themselves of Amex's streamlined feature called "charge reversal". This merchant service agreement add on is an absolute bonus to fraud accounts. It allows Amex to reverse charges back to the merchant upon receiving a customer complaint. The benefit is that the usual high charge back fees are not assigned to the merchant account. You could not have wrote are more facilitating set up for this criminal operation. they no longer have to arrange contact info and process credits. American Express does that for them.
American Express is well aware of this operation. On multiple occasions over the years they have stated that they had active fraud investigations on numerous of the merchant account names that the Russian criminals were using. Clearly, even a cursory investigation would have yielded evidence that this is a multi year fraud operation. Additionally, by not performing reasonable due diligence when issuing online merchant accounts, American Express is facilitating this organized crime syndicate by providing them easy and repeated access to processing fraud charges against AMEX's own customers accounts, from card data that the crime syndicate has hijacked. See this news ar1ticle on the "24hour" corp: »www.sacbee.com/ourregion/story/1264057.html
Over the many years that this Amex fraud has been in operation, one cyber-mule was indicted in May of 2008 for a 2005 card fraud laundering entity. An excerpt from the Devbill fraud thread:
quote:
United States Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment today charging ALEXSANDR BERNIK, 29, of the Sacramento area, with wire fraud, money laundering, ...................
...
from October 2005 through November 2006, Bernik engaged in a scheme to defraud American Express and its customers. He used the fictitious business name Lexbay Limited to open a bank account and establish a merchant relationship with American Express. Between August 2006 and November 2006, he fraudulently charged American Express customers for products or services that the customers did not order. During this time period, a bank account he controlled in the name of Lexbay Limited received approximately $177,000 from American Express. Some of those funds were then withdrawn in transactions designed in part to avoid transaction reporting requirements under state and federal law.
See: »Ebook websites, fraud charges, Devbill/DigitalAge/Pluto
Also:
»cbs13.com/local/defrauding.custo···077.html
Word on the street at the time of ALEXSANDR BERNIK's aka "Alex" indictment, was that he was not "talking", nor willing to finger the Russian based Command & Control, whether from fear or stupidity is not known.
American Express customers should be appalled at the complete lack of reasonable care that they are using to address this long running fraud.
MGD
| |
famousperson
@verizon.net
| reply to StillAtIt
sml-outlet llc tried to get me, too. The first charge to my amex card for $34.20 on May 4th was reversed, for reasons not stated, on May 14. Then two charges for $34.20 appeared on May 17. Amex reversed the charges and said that they would open a fraud file. They said nothing about issuing a new number. | |
MMW
@aol.com
| reply to MGD
I have also been a victim of this SMS Outlet charging my AMEX card. It has happened twice now. The first time in mid-March and again this past week. On both occasions, the charges came through on a Sunday...very suspicious. The first time the charge came in, I contacted AMEX and they simply credited the less than $20. amount back to me. I thought it was over. Late last night I just happened to think about it again and checked my account online...Voila! There it was again, the exact same amount! Something I find strange is that I never use this card, and in fact don't even carry it with me. I contacted AMEX again today and insisted that it be investigated as Fraud and informed AMEX that I had discovererd several blogs dedicated to this very scam. Obviously this SMS Outlet is a known scammer to AMEX and why they are allowed to continue as a 'merchant' with them is beyond me. I cancelled my card so they cannot charge me again. Another strange thing is that this is the second AMEX card I have had to cancel due to someone somehow getting the number. I am starting to wonder if somehow this is an 'inside job'. | |
Doctor Olds
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| reply to jenny
said by jenny :
They have billed my card twice for $14.39. I was also hit 3 times with bogus charges from 24 Hour corp 3 months in a row. AmEx took off all of the charges.
They will continue to hit your AE Card until you get it replaced with a New AE Card that is using a New Account Number.
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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
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