Check Your Amazon Accounts!

  • Thread starter Thread starter CT
  • Start date Start date
CT

CT

TPer Emeritus
Suspended / Banned
Messages
26,617
Edit My Images
Yes
Sitting here this evening and Jan suddenly had her mobile pinging away every few seconds. Turns out it's over 20 e-mail acknowledgements of Amazon orders she hasn't placed - all for gift vouchers in the sum of around £24.

She's got straight onto the bank and cancelled her debit card - they're sending her a new one. None of the orders has actually been processed. The Fraud Dept. are going to let just the one transaction go through so they have an investigative trail but otherwise thanks to the early warnings the sods are scuppered and we're covered.
 
hhmmm, probably not her card that's been compromised but her Amazon account, time to change her password if she hasn't already done it.
 
Steep said:
hhmmm, probably not her card that's been compromised but her Amazon account, time to change her password if she hasn't already done it.
Click to expand...

She's going to do that anyway - if she ever logs into Amazon again the way she feels at the moment. :D
 
boliston said:
Seems strange that a fraudster would buy Amazon gift vouchers which can easily be voided by Amazon as soon as the fraud is noticed.
Click to expand...
Well she's locked out of her Amazon account now until she does a password change so it seems it was probably picked up on pretty quickly.
 
what address they have been ordered to? Amazon won't allow ordering to an addres that's not on the address list without card security details.
 
I used to work for a Credit Card provider and our security team hated Amazon as there security checks used to be terrible, such as not asking for CVV numbers etc we used to get a load of fraudulent activity with them, 10-30 pound PAYG phone top ups were a really good one too :lol:

The best ones were the free sample adverts on the net, we used to get so many people phone up claiming fraud on there account's :bang: Honestly if it's a free sample why do you need to give payment details, and then they just click that they've read the T&C's :lol: I didn't have a lot of sympathy for those ones :lol: :bonk:

Matt
 
As far as I can see the orders purport to come from happyneybsa@hotmail.com. to where the printable vouchers are supposed to be sent.
 
MWHCVT said:
I used to work for a Credit Card provider and our security team hated Amazon as there security checks used to be terrible, such as not asking for CVV numbers etc we used to get a load of fraudulent activity with them, 10-30 pound PAYG phone top ups were a really good one too :lol:

The best ones were the free sample adverts on the net, we used to get so many people phone up claiming fraud on there account's :bang: Honestly if it's a free sample why do you need to give payment details, and then they just click that they've read the T&C's :lol: I didn't have a lot of sympathy for those ones :lol: :bonk:

Matt
Click to expand...

Enlightening - I always thought Amazon was pretty secure - first problem we've had in years.
 
I was out when this happened and she's perhaps over-reacted a bit in cancelling the card, but still - better safe than sorry and no harm done by the look of it.
 
CT said:
Enlightening - I always thought Amazon was pretty secure - first problem we've had in years.
Click to expand...

They have got a lot better, a lot of was not directly related to them and DPA issues more that they could have done with taking more security details to validate customers

Often if someone gained access to card details they would do a small transaction on Amazon say 99p etc, then if that when through they would then go ahead and order high value items :shake:

CT said:
I was out when this happened and she's perhaps over-reacted a bit in cancelling the card, but still - better safe than sorry and no harm done by the look of it.
Click to expand...

As you say no harm, we would rather cancel cards than risk fraud at the company that I worked for :thumbs:

Matt
 
Well after all that 18 payments totalling nearly £400 is showing as having gone out of the account this morning.

She's been back on to the bank Fraud Dept who are saying that these payments were being automatically processed before she got the e-mail notifications. How come the Fraud Dept couldn't tell us this on Thursday?How come it's taken two days for the debits to show up in her on line account?

A dispute is being raised with Amazon and we should have no trouble getting the money back, but this leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

Thankfully the card is cancelled, but I doubt she's going to be registering her new one with Amazon.
 
CT said:
Well after all that 18 payments totalling nearly £400 is showing as having gone out of the account this morning.

She's been back on to the bank Fraud Dept who are saying that these payments were being automatically processed before she got the e-mail notifications. How come the Fraud Dept couldn't tell us this on Thursday?How come it's taken two days for the debits to show up in her on line account?

A dispute is being raised with Amazon and we should have no trouble getting the money back, but this leaves a very bad taste in the mouth.

Thankfully the card is cancelled, but I doubt she's going to be registering her new one with Amazon.
Click to expand...

That is bad, who is the bank, the transactions should show instantly on the system as authorisations these cannot be cancelled, but they should have been able to say that they were there, these will stay on the system for upto 5-7 days and be deducted from the availible credit, but will not show on the account as transactions until the merchant has claimed the funds from the account, at which point the bank has to register the dispute to call back the funds.
 
It just smacks of totally automated transactions despite the fact that the items are being sent to an e-mail address she doesn't have registered with Amazon and a high percentage of the confirmation e-mails are in German!

We're still mystified as to how the account was compromised unless it's the password having been scanned you have to wonder about inside involvement somewhere, but I think it's goodbye Amazon for us.

The bank is HSBC.
 
CT said:
It just smacks of totally automated transactions despite the fact that the items are being sent to an e-mail address she doesn't have registered with Amazon and a high percentage of the confirmation e-mails are in German!

We're still mystified as to how the account was compromised unless it's the password having been scanned you have to wonder about inside involvement somewhere, but I think it's goodbye Amazon for us.

The bank is HSBC.
Click to expand...

To be honest I personally would say its a case of not keeping cards registered with them, but that said they also really need to get there house in order both Visa and Mastercard offer 3D verification and there is no reason why a company the size of Amazon are not using that service it would make things a magnitude securer over night :thumbs:

Maybe if they start loosing customers they will think about this :lol: :bonk:
 
Don't you have to register any cards with them as a matter of course when you register? :thinking:
 
I don't think so I'm sure you can just enter detail and tick for them not to be saved, I confess I don't use them that often ;) as I don't go on the site all that often for the sake of my bank balance :lol: I would spend all my money on things such I wouldn't mind one of those ooo and one of them :eek: :gag:
 
LOL. Thanks for the advice Mark - we're clearing all card details from both our accounts for now and give it a bit of thought about using Amazon again. Just too damned big maybe?
 
MWHCVT said:
I don't think so I'm sure you can just enter detail and tick for them not to be saved, I confess I don't use them that often ;) as I don't go on the site all that often for the sake of my bank balance :lol: I would spend all my money on things such I wouldn't mind one of those ooo and one of them :eek: :gag:
Click to expand...

I have found that after conducting a transaction I have go back and delete my card details because they seem to be auto recorded.
If anyone knows how to stop that happening I would be obliged for the information.
 
Two more payments just showing up as gone out of Jan's account! :bang:

I've just deleted all my payment methods from Amazon (my account) - getting bloody paranoid now!
 
Get you wife to get in touch with the bank and ask if there accounts have a velocity counter, I know that the one I worked for on the accounts there was a in built security measure call a "velocity counter" this would automatically decline the 10th and further transactions in a 24hr period to ensure that if an account were compromised it couldn't be hit again and again, it may be worth asking the bank of this is in place and what it is set at :thumbs: also ask them to clarify just how many authorisations have been approved :thumbs:

Matt
 
MWHCVT said:
Get you wife to get in touch with the bank and ask if there accounts have a velocity counter, I know that the one I worked for on the accounts there was a in built security measure call a "velocity counter" this would automatically decline the 10th and further transactions in a 24hr period to ensure that if an account were compromised it couldn't be hit again and again, it may be worth asking the bank of this is in place and what it is set at :thumbs: also ask them to clarify just how many authorisations have been approved :thumbs:

Matt
Click to expand...

Will do Matt. :thumbs:
 
boliston said:
Seems strange that a fraudster would buy Amazon gift vouchers which can easily be voided by Amazon as soon as the fraud is noticed.
Click to expand...

they always go for gift cards more than other items. i think its a bit like money laundering wherein they think theyre swapping fraudulent payment for a "clean(er)" payment tender.

or some thinking like that maybe?
 
We use a different current account with another bank to do any of our internet purchases, this particular account has only of maximum of £200 in it with no overdraft facility, when we spend on it we just BT that amount back in, or for anything worth more than £200 we put the money in first. This way if anyone does get hold of our details, this is the most they can get out of it.
 
Nikon Fan said:
We use a different current account with another bank to do any of our internet purchases, this particular account has only of maximum of £200 in it with no overdraft facility, when we spend on it we just BT that amount back in, or for anything worth more than £200 we put the money in first. This way if anyone does get hold of our details, this is the most they can get out of it.
Click to expand...

even though you have no approved overdraft you may want to check that your bank still wont let it go into the red and get charged for a non approved overdraft?
 
neil_g said:
even though you have no approved overdraft you may want to check that your bank still wont let it go into the red and get charged for a non approved overdraft?
Click to expand...

We did have this happen last year, where I used the account and so did my wife going over our limit, the bank charged us a large fee (which we paid), I then went in and spoke to the manager about this and they refunded the fee and gave us £25 compensation.
 
Amazon and paypal should both be shut down, they are both not good with customers, paypal held money of mine for over 6 months and also amazon i have ordered things and not recived items in the past. Hate it now! Fraudsters should hang from there heels.
 
Gregory Hicks said:
Amazon and paypal should both be shut down, they are both not good with customers, paypal held money of mine for over 6 months and also amazon i have ordered things and not recived items in the past. Hate it now! Fraudsters should hang from there heels.
Click to expand...

Been using Amazon for years never had an issue. The one time I had to contact them when something hadn't arrived, they just put another in the post. Good customer service IMO.
 
The MSE and CAG forums were the bain of my life when I worked in the financial sector, they are full of a lot of rubbish and people proporting to be experts when they actually know very little, also you only ever see the one side of the story on forums like that :shrug: so please please please take anything that you read on forums like that with a huge pinch of salt ;)
 
fabs said:
Been using Amazon for years never had an issue. The one time I had to contact them when something hadn't arrived, they just put another in the post. Good customer service IMO.
Click to expand...

+1 up to now no issues and have been using them 10+ years.
 
Another long-term amazon user who has nothing but good experiences to report. I've only once had to test their customer service once and they allowed me to return an item without question, apart from that every order has been satisfactory. This is no help to the op obviously and I hope you get thing resolved quickly but just wanted to add some perspective because people rarely say when they're happy with a company. I go to amazon first when placing orders online, only if they don't have stock or somewhere is significantly cheaper do I buy from elsewhere.
 
PSILVERMAN said:
+1 up to now no issues and have been using them 10+ years.
Click to expand...

We've probably been using them that long too with no previous issues whatsoever. The fact is though that Jan's account has been compromised and a series of purchases made in such a short space of time that it's an obvious scam which should have set off alarm bells at Amazon if there were any sort of reasonable security checks in place.

The bank have informed her that she'll definitely be reimbursed early next week soon after the dispute is lodged as the scam is obvious. We certainly hope that proves to be the case, but just a cursory search of the web shows that a lot of people aren't getting their money back in these circumstances.
 
CT said:
We've probably been using them that long too with no previous issues whatsoever. The fact is though that Jan's account has been compromised and a series of purchases made in such a short space of time that it's an obvious scam which should have set off alarm bells at Amazon if there were any sort of reasonable security checks in place.

The bank have informed her that she'll definitely be reimbursed early next week soon after the dispute is lodged as the scam is obvious. We certainly hope that proves to be the case, but just a cursory search of the web shows that a lot of people aren't getting their money back in these circumstances.
Click to expand...

Agreed, Amazon have certainly dropped the ball. I was just responding to Gregory's rather reactionary post.
 
No probs Mark we've always been happy to shop via Amazon, in fact it's been our preferred route, but something as obviously bogus as this is very worrying.
 
CT said:
No probs Mark we've always been happy to shop via Amazon, in fact it's been our preferred route, but something as obviously bogus as this is very worrying.
Click to expand...

The trouble is the scammers are playing on the time of year, it's not inconceivable that people would be buying several vouchers in a single go at this time of the year for Christmas presents :shrug:

I remember when I was in the sector we were damned if we did stop a transaction and damned if we didn't :lol: I once had a call of a guy that all he did was scream and swear at me for 30 minutes because we had stopped his credit card for the second time, he was in central china and was withdrawing the maximum cash allowance out on the credit card every day, and couldn't understand how that could look suspicious :bang: :bang: :bang:
 
Amazon are really good for customer service... Did you speak to anyone there about the problems you've had?


Out of interest, did you use the same email/password combination on Amazon as for other sites? With most cases like this it's not the site security that's the problem but the fact you often use the same details for other less secure sites which capture your login details and allow the fraudsters into your other, more secure sites.

It's a pain but try not to use the same password repeatedly, then any that get compromised don't jeopardise everything else.
 
fabs said:
Agreed, Amazon have certainly dropped the ball. I was just responding to Gregory's rather reactionary post.
Click to expand...

I was just sharing my views. Sorry
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top