[fawnie]

Some companies will lure ppl into an automatic reorder program, offering discounts if you will sign up for automatic delivery of their products at certain intervals. Unfortunately, once they have your credit card number they make it very difficult for you to undo the automatic reorder thing and they continue to charge your credit card.

What to do about it:
1) Don't be trapped into this!
2) Don't give out your Credit Card number online! Get a PayPal account and use the Plug In feature that generates a dummy credit card number for each transaction. If the vendor won't accept PayPal, use a one time credit card that you can get at Walmart or other stores. That way the amount is limited and scam artists can't repeatedly charge your account.

Be very very careful who you give your CC info to!

 

[Mari]

Some companies will lure ppl into an automatic reorder program, offering discounts if you will sign up for automatic delivery of their products at certain intervals. Unfortunately, once they have your credit card number they make it very difficult for you to undo the automatic reorder thing and they continue to charge your credit card.

What to do about it:
1) Don't be trapped into this!
2) Don't give out your Credit Card number online! Get a PayPal account and use the Plug In feature that generates a dummy credit card number for each transaction. If the vendor won't accept PayPal, use a one time credit card that you can get at Walmart or other stores. That way the amount is limited and scam artists can't repeatedly charge your account.

Be very very careful who you give your CC info to!

I didn't know about Walmart credit cards. I'll have to look into that. I know a lot of merchants won't accept Paypal -- saying that the charges are to high for them. Paypal was compromised last year -- a lot of their data was "stolen" -- I wish cash was back in fashion.

 

[Mari]

Some companies will lure ppl into an automatic reorder program, offering discounts if you will sign up for automatic delivery of their products at certain intervals. Unfortunately, once they have your credit card number they make it very difficult for you to undo the automatic reorder thing and they continue to charge your credit card.

What to do about it:
1) Don't be trapped into this!
2) Don't give out your Credit Card number online! Get a PayPal account and use the Plug In feature that generates a dummy credit card number for each transaction. If the vendor won't accept PayPal, use a one time credit card that you can get at Walmart or other stores. That way the amount is limited and scam artists can't repeatedly charge your account.

Be very very careful who you give your CC info to!

The number of people who order on the Internet is growing -- and when you submit your order do you read all the fine print plus all the affiliated sites? These merchants are depending on you the consumer to believe they are honest -- therefore hidden somewhere in the information will be the fact that as soon as your order is placed (it doesn't matter if it takes 3 weeks to arrive at your house) but counting from the time your order is taken 4 weeks later you are automatically enrolled in their auto delivery plan. To cancel -- some mention the fact that you have to cancel within 15 days of placing the order --so you forget about it because quite likely you haven't even received the order -- if you ever do.

 

[fawnie]

Hi Mari,

I've seen Visa and Mastercard "Gift Cards" at the checkout counters of nearly every supermarket store. They can be bought in any denomination. This seems like a safe alternative to giving your main CC info online.

PayPal has the Plug-In function that "hides" your cc info if you use it. Amazon and eBay take PayPal.

I used to do a lot of online shopping until I got my Visa card frozen last summer. I called the company that holds my Visa account and was asked if I had recently made a charge from MOSCOW in the amount of $800.00!!!!

NO-O-o-o-o-oo-oo.....

To their extremely astute credit, that company apparently keeps a profile of their customers' spending habits and freezes the account if any outlying activity occurs. They've caught things twice for me. Thank goodness. Washington Mutual - you (used to) ROCK!!!!

 

[fawnie]

The number of people who order on the Internet is growing -- and when you submit your order do you read all the fine print plus all the affiliated sites? These merchants are depending on you the consumer to believe they are honest -- therefore hidden somewhere in the information will be the fact that as soon as your order is placed (it doesn't matter if it takes 3 weeks to arrive at your house) but counting from the time your order is taken 4 weeks later you are automatically enrolled in their auto delivery plan. To cancel -- some mention the fact that you have to cancel within 15 days of placing the order --so you forget about it because quite likely you haven't even received the order -- if you ever do.

That's very scary!
Would you say that dealing only with sites that are well-known to you is some assurance that you won't get ripped off? Like Amazon?

I've ordered with Dermstore.com many times and I've seen that "Automatic Reorder" function when I've placed an order. I'd hate to think they were out to get me too! But I spose they would if I let 'em. Debbils!!!

 

[Mari]

That's very scary!
Would you say that dealing only with sites that are well-known to you is some assurance that you won't get ripped off? Like Amazon?

I've ordered with Dermstore.com many times and I've seen that "Automatic Reorder" function when I've placed an order. I'd hate to think they were out to get me too! But I spose they would if I let 'em. Debbils!!!

No, sometimes I have no choice but to order through the internet. Most reputable mechants carry the Verizon sign of security - a lock icon will appear on your task bar. These mechants are not likely to rip you off as they have a clientel that is faithful to them. The scammers are likely to be fishing for business and hoping a potential customer will slip and not notice they do not post THIS IS A SECURE SITE. Many Internet shoppers don t even think of potential risks. I check my internet log occasionally and I notice the number of hackers trying to break into or scan my computer. I use Mcfee Security System --plus Vista has a good firewall. Sometimes scammers will ask you to allow cookies before you go into their site -- saying the information will not be totally available to you before you allow this.

One day when I was on this site over 100 pages of scammers were recorded. I can trace back the route -- which is can be from North America to Europe to Asia to Australia. One page was entirely of one scammer who continually was trying to get info from my computer.

Viruses can attach themselves to seeminly harmless notices - don t open any material when you don t recognize the sender and especially don t open their attachments.

 

[fawnie]

Excellent info Mari, thank you! I learned a lot from you!!!

 

[pumi]

Thanks for sharing the above information Fawnie and Mari. I wasn't aware of all these things. I will try to buy stuff instore as much as possible from now on!!
Cheers