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TongSama
join:2002-07-04
Santa Rosa, CA

TongSama

Member

$9.95 scam.. check your bank statements.

well i was checking my bank account statements because i bought some stuff online and i saw a weird 9.95 charge from
»www.pansalcorp.com/
I dont remember buying anything for 9.95 on the net so i check out that site. Its a site that you pay money to download some crappy templates. so i searched for "panalcorp scam" and i found this site
»www.computercops.biz/art ··· 824.html
there are other sites like this that sells crap for 9.95. I have always been a safe internet buyer and bought from trusted sites. i always made sure there is that lock ssl icon on when buyin something.
well think about it.. did someone steal my credit card account to just buy a stupid template? its obvious that these guys found a way to legal steal money from credit cards.. if u dont notice the small charge they get ur money. if u report it then they just return ur money and say some1 must have stolen the cc number to use their service.
i already canceled my card and got my refund..
IF YOU ARE A VICTIM DO NOT TYPE PERSONAL INFO AT THEIR SITE!!
well just a heads up to check ur bank statements for charges unknown to you.

ctrip
Islam is a Religion of Peace
Premium Member
join:2002-07-16
New Cumberland, PA

ctrip

Premium Member

I looked at www.pansalcorp.com/ and noticed this testimonial:
“PANSALCORP.com is the perfect resource for companies that are looking at having a professional quality website layout at an affordable price. One look at the quality and detail that is put into each and every design and you'll understand why PANSALCORP.com is number 1 in the template industry.” -- John Tamush
So i googled

"is the perfect resource for companies that are looking at having a professional quality website layout at an affordable price. One look at the quality and detail that is put into each and every design and you'll understand why"(with the quotes).

Google comes up with 109 web sites with this exact wording in their testimonials.

xirian
Premium Member
join:2003-01-26
Beacon, NY

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they look like a template monster reseller

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro

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to TongSama
I noticed that you use PayPal to receive payment for a product you sell. That may be the source of your security leak, their reputation for keeping customer information secure is at best questionable.

Marilla9
I Am My Own Arbiter
Premium Member
join:2002-12-06
Belpre, OH

Marilla9

Premium Member

said by NetFixer:
I noticed that you use PayPal to receive payment for a product you sell. That may be the source of your security leak, their reputation for keeping customer information secure is at best questionable.

I've heard people say that, but I've yet to see real evidence of it.

We've been using Paypal as a payment method for years now, and never once had anything untoward happen.

TongSama
join:2002-07-04
Santa Rosa, CA

TongSama

Member

yea i highly doubt paypal could be it but its possible for leaks to happen. and no i never fell for those fake email sayin they lost my account info and i need to sign in.. this just happened out of the blue. there will always be ways to get peoples credit card numbers but do u really think you can sell templates to people.. that site itself is questionable. they r just hoping people dont see the small charge.
dkmj17
join:2004-07-12
Troy, MI

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Hey everybody- quick update- I just got billed from Elitewebsoft.com

Same deal- I found your discussion by googling "John Tamush"- they have the exact same quote about being the best...

I reported them to the FTC- but yeah- it's definately a scam...

Mike
LittleSaint
join:2001-11-23
Brunswick, OH

LittleSaint

Member

I also received my CC bill yesterday with a charge of $9.95 from elitewebsoft.com.

ozley
Premium Member
join:2002-03-28
TN000

ozley to TongSama

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I always use a credit card that lets me use a virtual account number and set the amount to what I am buying.

consumer worry
@cableone.net

consumer worry to TongSama

Anon

to TongSama
thongsai:

What was the basis of the 9.95 chagre on your bank statement? Was is an "unsigned check"? or a PayPal withdrawal? or a debit card charge?

Here's a link from today's news, a Washington Post article, that mentions a wide spread and growing fraud that seems very similar to what you describe.

»story.news.yahoo.com/new ··· 004jul18

"Checking Account Fraud Is Increasing" WP 17-18-2004
psycaz
join:2000-11-06
Ferndale, MI

1 edit

psycaz to TongSama

Member

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I just found one from absolute-soft.com on cc statement from 6-21.
Too bad they won't get to keep the money, my cc has already been informed and reversed the charge.

Thanks to the o.p. I found it sooner than later.
jmargel
join:2001-03-07
Northumberland, PA

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Member

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I had something similiar. I was charged $29.99 for this crappy software I never purchased. Then on a Saturday I received something from FexEx, ended up being this expensive prescription overwieght medicene. They charged me over $300 for 20 pills. I guess this person thought I was fat. He even next day aired it on a Saturday.

I contacted both companies and traced the IP. Found it being a guy in Belgium, who was testing my card. I got my account changed. Contacted the FBI but they aren't even going to bother with it. Guess they have more important things to do. My bank was nice enough to reverse the charges. Not sure how they got my account either. I use M&T Bank. Like you I also check for the SSL lock, and always type my address into the bar. I run spybot & have anti-virus software up to date as well.

aurigus
@wchstr01.pa.comcast.

aurigus to psycaz

Anon

to psycaz
I got hit with the pansalcorp.com scam as well. I always try to protect my debit card transactions (use one time use credit card for all untrusted sources).

Tried calling the number on the statement, was disconnected.

Website looked scam-ish so I contacted bank to get rid of the old cards. Whois shows it is protected and only registered beginning Feb 2004.

Registrant Contact:
RegisterFly.com - Ref# 10074840
Whois Protection Service - ProtectFly.com (10074840.fly@spamfly.com)
+1.2122952121
Fax: +1.2122952153
230 Park Avenue
Suite 864
New York, NY 10169
US

This page is one of the top links I hit when putting pansalcorp.com into google.

M2S
@attbi.com

M2S

Anon

quote:
Website looked scam-ish so I contacted bank to get rid of the old cards. Whois shows it is protected and only registered beginning Feb 2004.

Registrant Contact:
RegisterFly.com - Ref# 10074840
Whois Protection Service - ProtectFly.com (10074840.fly@spamfly.com)
+1.2122952121
Fax: +1.2122952153
230 Park Avenue
Good one. That phone number belong to Verizon per google
Verizon Communications, (212) 295-2121, 1095 Avenue Of The Americ, New York, NY 10036

Anyone, anywhere, can get a domain and use phoney information. No one validates the accuracy? Amazing...

M2S

Toppil
Premium Member
join:2000-12-30

Toppil to ozley

Premium Member

to ozley
said by ozley:
I always use a credit card that lets me use a virtual account number and set the amount to what I am buying.

Virtual account number? What's that and is it like the one use card mentioned above?
suzi5
Premium Member
join:2004-05-01

1 recommendation

suzi5 to M2S

Premium Member

to M2S
quote:
Anyone, anywhere, can get a domain and use phoney information. No one validates the accuracy? Amazing...
Yes, I believe that's correct - no one validates the info. If you find a domain whois listing with false or incorrect info, you can report it here:

»wdprs.internic.net/

The reports are followed up. I've made a number of reports there and within a few weeks, the domain registration info was changed. I've seen some ridiculous false info with phone numbers of 111-111-1111 and the like.

Now the scammers are using proxy registrars more and more to hide behind.

ozley
Premium Member
join:2002-03-28
TN000

ozley to Toppil

Premium Member

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Virtual account number? What's that and is it like the one use card mentioned above?

Citi Cards have a program you can run on your pc or their web site and MBNA has it on there web site too.
»www.citibank.com/us/card ··· 48619C57
dizzyfaust9
join:2002-12-28
Glendale, CA

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knew i read something here, just got a $9.95 charge from USOFTWEBSYS boo.

whats a good site to do a trace route, ip block lookup ?
thanks.

dp
MVM
join:2000-12-08
Greensburg, PA

dp to TongSama

MVM

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Thanks for the heads-up. As a matter of rule, I always keep a close watch on accounts for this type of activity.
x539
join:2003-08-23
Oklahoma City, OK

x539 to dizzyfaust9

Member

to dizzyfaust9
quote:
whats a good site to do a trace route, ip block lookup?
http://www.dnsstuff.com is a good site for that, but don't expect it to do a whole lot of good. Your time will be better spent disputing the charge with your credit card company and reporting the incident to the FTC and FBI credit card fraud division.

EGeezer
Premium Member
join:2002-08-04
Midwest

1 recommendation

EGeezer to TongSama

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THONGSAI, please read -

be sure you contact your credit card company immediately and let them know that your account has been compromised.

Here's why;
In the article, it said the user was asked for the last six digits of the credit card number.

The scam is this; On many store and gas station receipts, all but the last four digits of the card number are on the slip and are visible in the transaction reports that store personnel can see. card number skimmers buy these from willing clerks who get a few dollars apiece for the incomplete information. This is then used by scammers when they request a user's information and "only" ask for the last four, five or six digits. They match the name and incomplete information from the purchased data with the incomplete information the victim provides in the scam. Voila, complete credit card information.

This month it's $9.95 and you noticed. Many people won't notice. If not, a few months later, the really big stuff gets charged. (Charging a couple bucks as a test is another piece of the scam).

Also please file with the FTC. Link at »www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ - follow the instructions.
Also file with the IFCC - link at »www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

ID theft typically costs around $1400 in legal fees hiring a lawyer or accountant to straighten out the mess and several hundred hours of dealing with creditors bank, credit rating companies and so on. Not to mention your credit rating determines your car insurance rates!

klimax
Premium Member
join:2001-06-13
Flushing, NY

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Re: $9.95 scam.. check your bank statements.

Not sure if it's related at all, but after reading this post I decided to check my cc accounts and to my surprise, found two charges from a store named "Safron" (Retail - Food) that I didn't recognize at all.

8/10 $19.95
8/13 $100.00

Of course I called the cc company to notify this, and the rep told me that it seems to be a phone/online order from an out-of-country store (Country code: AE) and that there aren't any further information about this store. This is a card I mostly use for gas. Coincidence?
I requested to have them close this account immediately and issue a new one, and also a further investigation regarding these transactions. And to think I always thought I was careful and safe... this is a first!

Thanks to OP for the reminder.

brett_
Premium Member
join:2000-07-22
Lombard, IL

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I had this happen on my MC in June. A $9.95 charge showed up on my credit card on 6/04/04 from e-zsoft.com in Danbury CT. I went to their web site and found the same goofy web template offering that I had obviously never purchased. I emailed their customer service about the charge, and I received a prompt response that it was a mistake and they would refund my money. I then received a $9.95 credit on 06/09/04. I just checked, and e-zsoft.com doesn't seem to exist anymore, but if I run a whois I get the same ProtectFly.com. I haven't had any questionable charges since then, so I never gave it another thought. Now I'm wondering if I should contact the bank or not.

Dave3334
@hp.com

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Anon

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pansalcorp.com is still charging credit cards for 9.95 as of 8/6/04. I've only had this card for a few months, so I'll have to go back through my charges to see if I can tell where it was obtained. I think I'll sign up for a Citi card or MBNA card as mentioned above and start using virtual CC#'s -- this is the second time this has happened to me.

BTW, the pansalcorp.com web site is no longer up.

Dejavu
Game Misconduct
Mod
join:2002-09-11
Ishpeming, MI

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Mod

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I also had the ez-soft charge on my card for $9.95. I immediately called and cancelled that credit card and filed a fraudalant charge case with them.

I should get credit on it I hope.

Dan Given
Premium Member
join:2001-03-16
Fort Worth, TX

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This is troubling! I will immediately scrutinize my statements, and a big THANKS for the heads-up!!

forgottologin
@lax1.dsl.speakeasy.n

forgottologin

Anon

ez-soft and uwebsyswhatever are both hosted by devbill hosting inc, according to ripoffs.com and computer cops they have a history of running scams.

brett_
Premium Member
join:2000-07-22
Lombard, IL

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I ended up cancelling my card yesterday, and received a new one today. I don't use this particular card too much, so its no big hassle. But since I use this card so infrequently, it makes me wonder how they got the number in the first place. I'm using virtual numbers from now on since this is the second (and different) card I've had compromised in less than 6 months.
bt06437
join:2001-12-03
Carrollton, TX

bt06437

Member

"But since I use this card so infrequently, it makes me wonder how they got the number in the first place. "

They can hack into web sites & get card info. Be sure you are using a paper shreader on your statements. In some cases, mail has been stolen out of mailboxes...checks get washed & rewritten, credit card info is obtained. Start using electronic bill pay & save on stamps and cut the risk of mail thieft. Many banks now offer free internet bill pay services. The best advice I've seen in this thread is the use of a "virtual" credit card, (Citibank, or MBNA). You specify the dollar amount limit, and the length of time that a specific transaction is good for.

brett_
Premium Member
join:2000-07-22
Lombard, IL

brett_

Premium Member

I do all of that, yet they still got the number. I even make sure to specify (when given the option) that e-commerce sites don't keep the card number on file. The only way they could have gotten the number would be something outside my control, like hacking a web server, generating random numbers or getting the numbers from an inside source.

BTW, my other card number was stolen from a hacked web server.