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rzaruba
join:2000-08-04 | reply to MGD
Re: [Credit Card Fraud] AMEX American Express Charges from SMS O
There are a number of Dearklands in Bakersfield as per Zabasearch.
They appear to be brothers and sisters. | |
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? | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| 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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What’s the point of owning a supercar if you can’t scare yourself stupid from time to time? | |
Ford
@knology.net
| 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. | |
Millenniumle
join:2007-11-11
Fredonia, NY
1 edit | 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." | |
avd706
insert annoying animated gif here
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Union, NJ | You keep everything when you transfer account numbers due to fraud.
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Team JON. | |
MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
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 | |
trowelblister
@sbcglobal.net
| 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. | |
avd706
insert annoying animated gif here
Premium
join:2003-02-06
Union, NJ | The only thing you can do is change your account number.
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Team JON. | |
MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
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
| |
StillAtIt
join:2008-09-30
| 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
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| 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 | |
Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs:
| 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? | |
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