Now I can proudly say that, to my knowledge, I have never been actively scammed. I might have paid an inflated price for stuff bought in SE Asian markets, or slightly overcharged by taxis there, but never scammed, until now.
I purchased a couple of pairs of sandals from an online merchandiser about 3 weeks or so ago. The money was duly withdrawn from my Visa account, and I waited patiently for the delivery.
And waited, and waited…so this morning I went to jump on the website to inquire where the hell my sandals were, only to find the website has just disappeared into the ether. And googling the name just brought up lots and LOTS of people screaming SCAM SITE, all reviews posted within the last three weeks.
The thing that most pissed me off (apart from breaking a stellar non-scammed record) was having to ring my bank to cancel the card. I doubt I shall ever see the money again (my bank has started an investigation) but meh, caveat emptor yada yada.
Oh, and no Birkenstocks for this old bird it seems.
Debit card I assume? Obviously with a credit card you’re fine.
Even so, Visa makes pretty sweeping claims:
Most of that seems to be talking about fraudulent use when you didn’t give your card details. But what you’re talking about is still fraud. Seems like it’s worth sending your card issuer that link and pushing the issue as hard as you can.
But really… never wise to be using a debit card for online purchases.
The bigger concern should not be the missing sandals - but the fact this particular company now has that DC/CC information - I would be canceling that card immediately.
Think kambuckta mentioned he was cancelling it in the OP.
It’s hard not to get scammed these days; at least it wasn’t a huge purchase and apparently you caught it in time to prevent further damage. I think Visa will probably do the right thing and reimburse you.
I might have been scammed last night, but I’m ok with it.
I ate dinner at a Mexican restaurant. When I left it was raining. A guy standing in the rain told me his car had run out of gas and his credit card was declined. He was traveling home to Harrisburg. I gave him $10. Maybe I was scammed, but it must suck to be in that situation for reals and I didn’t want to be my usual, cynical self.
There are two ways to make a purchase with a branded debit card.
One is to enter your PIN, just like when you get money from an ATM. This is common at point-of-sale systems; I am not sure how common it is for online purchases. This processes the transaction through the bank’s debit network, and you have little or no protection against merchant fraud.
If, on the other hand, you use it just like a credit card, it is processed through the association’s network (Visa, in this case) and you should have the same protections as if you used a regular credit card.
My debit card has been compromised a couple of times. My credit union has always given me my money back and given me a new card. The first time I had to file a police report in order for them to be able to do it. The next time it was no questions asked.
I honestly would not count this as being scammed, you purchased an item from a website that looked perfectly legit. Ran through the process, only to find out there was no product.
