posted on January 20, 2001 01:12:25 PM
I just came across an auction that specifies:
By Visa and MasterCard (ROMANIA ONLY) - credit card and photo ID scans needed to be sent by Email or Fax to us, along with a written and signed authorization for UltraPro Co. to charge the card. Any Credit Card fraud will be reported to the local police.
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Now why would one have to provide a scan of one's photo and credit card? In the UK we don't have photo IDS, by and large, so this would require a scan of our passports.
I have never heard of this before...
The seller is a 0 feedback, from Romania, and the sale is for 10 items, but not a dutch auction (presumably because they don't have the requisite feedback for running a dutch auction). In fact, ALL of their 30+ auctions are for bulk sale of 10 items, and are listed in a variety of currencies.
posted on January 20, 2001 01:29:33 PM
Just a guess, but Romania and other former Soviet bloc and FSU countries have been absolute hotbeds of internet credit card fraud.
The requested identification would be something anyone in that part of the world would easily be able to provide.
Although in the past I've had some very nice transactions with folks from FSU/former Soviet bloc countries in the past, these days I'd be leery of doing business in Central or Eastern Europe unless the buyer/seller was personally known to me.
posted on January 20, 2001 03:35:30 PM
unfortunately in certain countries there are huge credit card fruad rings.
I forgot which one circumvented a major retailers site and stole ALL OF THE CREDIT CARD NUMBERS of users from that site. It was big news last spring and it was an eastern european based ring.
Also I think it was Yahoo that put up a warning notice or was it paypal....that warned all sellers about credit card payments coming from singapore and indonesia and the possibility of them being fraudulent.
Anyone looking for cracks or warez will notice a sizable amount of those sites being hosted on romanian servers lol.
If you have ever lived outside of the US and lived in Europe......locals do not charge EVERYTHING like Americans do. I lived in Italy for 2 years and the ONLY Italians I met that had a visa/mastercard were ones who travelled to the states frequently.
The use of visa/mastercard by people outside of the US is a hell of a lot smaller than Americans would or could ever understand.
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posted on January 20, 2001 03:57:23 PM
I am a bit bothered about the "10 items" thing as well. It looks like a scam to me. Do you think I should ask Ebay to look at it, and if so, to whom to I address my enquiry?
posted on January 21, 2001 10:33:27 AM
I bought a ring from Belgium from a well-established seller. I wanted to pay by credit card (which was offered as an option) but I had to fax or email them a copy of my driver's license and credit card. Their insurance company wouldn't cover them if they didn't have this. It was legit.
