posted on November 30, 2000 03:10:49 PM
Saturday I received an email from Billpoint stating that they had "received a purchase verification from Visa
requesting a reversal of the listed transaction below initiated by the
cardholder, arising from a processing technicality or a customer dispute."
This was for the purchase of a domain name and the name had alrady been transferred to the buyer who lived in England.
It turns out that the purchase was made with a stolen credit card. Fortunately, the guy is not nearly as smart as he thinks he is, and I will be able to get the domain name back.
However, I have to pay a $10 processing fee.
What gets me is that the name that I was given by Billpoint and that the domain was transferred to isn't even the same as the name on the credit card!
Apparently Billpoint makes absolutely no effort to deter fraud at all. And why should they? They make more money if the charge is fraudulent.
At least they didn't freeze my entire account, but I do think this is a little ridiculous.
posted on November 30, 2000 03:23:59 PM
Yup, it's pretty easy for little stinkers to pull fast ones with CC's. I have a buyer right now who I am refusing to accept payment via Billpoint. It's for $250+ and I offered to eat the BidPay fees if he paid with his CC on their site. 24 hrs later & still no response. I think my gut instinct was right on the money with this bidder.
Billpoint "supposedly" runs a check on the CC's before they process the payment, or so they have stated? Guess not?
posted on November 30, 2000 03:37:42 PM
Zazzie ...... It screams "Show Me The Money"
The high bidder has very low feedback, and all except 1 is for selling new retail type items in the past few months. The day before the auction ended I received an email from a "Bob" about this item, but the email ID wasn't registered on eBay. After the auction was over the high bidder, "Bob" referred to an "earlier" email where he "supposedly" asked about having this item shipped via FedEx as he needed it right away.
I never received ANY email from ANYONE asking about FedEx. I also explained that in order for me to FedEx it the shipping cost would be 3 times what I stated in my ad. He wanted to pay with his CC [via Billpoint] and have me FedEx it so it would arrive before Xmas.
No problem, I offered to pay the extra for Xpresspost USA, if he paid via an Interntaional Postal MO, or if he paid via BidPay, which I said I would eat the $10.85 fee for. Had I shipped it via Xpresspost it would have been there mid next week.
I responded to his initial email within minutes, and here I sit close to 24 hrs later & no response? I also asked for his name & shipping info in my EOA email & none was suppled in his return email.
Awfully odd for someone who was in such a hurry to pay, dontcha think?
posted on November 30, 2000 03:44:55 PM
Amalgamated..billpoint was pretty specific when they started taking international charges that there were not the same checks in place to uncover fraud from overseas credit cards...they suggested the seller hold shipment longer to allow for the possibility of fraud and protect themselves.
That said..I am sorry to hear of your problem. I hope you are able to come out as close to whole as possible. Good luck.
posted on November 30, 2000 04:02:35 PMbillpoint was pretty specific when they started taking international charges that there were not the same checks in place to uncover fraud from overseas credit cards
True. They state that international transactions do not support address verfication. But in this case, they didn't even verify the name on the card.
I had assumed that Billpoint would at least exercise the most basic level of diligence. And I suspect that the reason that they do not is because there is not incentive for them to do so. In fact, they benefit from the fraud by charging the vicitized seller $10 "investigation fee."
It's not really a huge problem, but it seems a little absurd to me.
posted on November 30, 2000 05:05:34 PM
Despite my kvetching in these forums, I do believe that most people are basically good and honest. But the point you make is true. I cam to the same conclusion with Paypal. They can freeze an account while still accepting payments in the seller's name. The longer they drag it out, the more money they earn in interest. It's not hard to understand how a simple dispute over a lost package can get dragged out over months.
eBay is quick to point to the safeguards in place to protect bidders. But sellers really have little protection.
I closed my Paypal account a while ago, but then opened another account to claim a few payments that straggled in. I closed that second account yesterday. Paypal has added a new clause, a note that says when I close my account I can not open another one. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I read that. The nightmare is finally over.
posted on November 30, 2000 05:13:33 PM
Unfortunately, sellers get very little protection when accepting credit cards where the card is not present during the transaction. They get even less if the transaction is done through a third party such as Billpoint. They get none if it is an international deal. For more info, read "what the payment services dont want you to know" at http://www.ygoodman.com/credit.html
Just a question, I believe credit card fraud is treated seriously in England. After all, it's not Romania or Indonesia. This guy bought a domain name. Doesn't that mean you know who he is and you can report him to the authorities?
posted on November 30, 2000 05:27:28 PM
yisgood- What's weird to me is that domain name houses will not honor trademarks either! So, with that in mind why would we expect them to honor a credit card or otherwise..?
cyberpunkin' is all over the place, .. the wild wild west... when it comes to laws.
posted on November 30, 2000 08:48:45 PMTrue. They state that international transactions do not support address verfication. But in this case, they didn't even verify the name on the card.
amalgamated2000 the intuitively correct but factually wrong presumption is that verifying the name is easier than verifying the billing address.
It's much harder to verify the name.
"real" merchants doing international CC transactions for large sums do verification by calling the card issuing bank directly. Billpoint could do that, but it takes serious effort and would of necessity result in a substantial charge.
