Forum Moderators: buckworks
Ok, that sets the scene.
Over the past few weeks we have gained a lot of "russian brides", and we assume that some of these mustbe genuine. Equally we know there is a Russian mob bride scam designed to extract cash from lovelorn men globally, but usually in the USA.
One of these brides bought membership of the site (a mere bagatelle, at $12.80) as a fraudulent creditcard transaction. Probably another one has today.
Paypal didn't seem to bother too much about our side of the first one and charged us the chargeback fee for it. We're riding with the second (well it is only $10) to see what happens.
But the question is, "Why would you put through a transaction on a stolen or cloned card that obntains you nothing except membership of a dating site? What is the point?"
We can simply not understand what is in it for the Russians. Any clues, please?
Add that to the fact the our fees are pocket money prices, and it seems unlikely
We thought the same, but it makes no logical sense.
You'd be surprised how much fraudulent cc charges from stolen cc are used in convenience stores & gas stations, not just for expensive items.
Perhaps they are doing real-life test of whether credit card will be accepted, and if so they go for major hit on some sexy physical goods e-tailer?
That's our theory too, that in a number of cases the fraudsters are just using our site to test out cards to see if they have been reported stolen and blocked yet etc. They may have used the card a few weeks before hand, and want to see that it will still work on something that wouldn't trigger any alerts.
jules.
The theory is sound, but these guys are bright crooks and this seems crude.
By the way, what commonalities do yu see between the fraudsters. so far we see "pochta" email addresses. Are there other identifyung characteristics you have found?
They use the cc for both small & large orders because it's free for them!You'd be surprised how much fraudulent cc charges from stolen cc are used in convenience stores & gas stations, not just for expensive items.
But the thing is they are getting nothing from us. Just a membership.
But the thing is they are getting nothing from us. Just a membership.
Which would've cost someone else $10. It's still free for them! Or maybe they're actually looking for love...
Which would've cost someone else $10. It's still free for them! Or maybe they're actually looking for love...
No. They are looking to entrap the lovelorn into sending large sums of money to them as a fraud. And before anyone says "Well, they need to invest in membership" please think it through. They don't need to pay us a cent because they can do what they want free of charge. Equally the one who bought a membership "she" already had was blowing cover in a fraudulent use of a card.
Now, since organised crime tends to be quite intelligent, this seems like the act of a moron.
Using logic, it can't be money laundering, because the sums are trivial and you need to get the cash out again. It can't be to defraud us out of membership because that is, frankly, stupid. It can't be to test the card because a large test that succeeds is better than a small test that succeeds - membership of a dating site is fantastic for those who want that membership, membership by fraud is just ridiculous.
We have theorised all the answers so far as well as any of you have. Does anyone have anything that is not just theory?
The challenge, of course, is that other services carry premium set up prices, and may well be as difficult over chargebacks.
How does one recognise a valid transaction? How does one recognise an invalid transaction?
