Alright, so I've been researching the Digital River and Easy Bakeware issues over the past few days and just wanted to share with all of you some of the new information I've acquired.
Digital River is a payment processing company that processes charges for various Online retailers. You can check out more details on Digital River and their website here. Basically, Digital River processes payments for lots of Shady companies. It seems quite a few of the companies offer free trial offers, but the problem is some of these trial offers do not disclose all the information they should--even in the fine print. Another big complaint I've read is that the customers will cancel their trial offer during the trial offer period, but the shady companies will simply ignore repeated cancellation requests and bill the customers a ridiculous amount after the trial is up!
If you can't determine that a charge connected to them is legitimate, immediately dispute the charge with your bank and close the account to prevent future fraudulent charges. If you used a Credit card it should be very easy to get the charges removed. Credit Card companies are pretty good about knowing when a charge is fraudulent, so they may notice the charge before you even do.
I highly recommend not using a checking account number or debit card when shopping online. Using credit cards online is much safer and the legal protection is much stronger. Plus, some credit card companies now offer virtual one time use numbers. This is such a great thing and makes it so much easier to shop online without worrying so much about fraud.
Oh an thanks for the email and the comments. I did get some sleep and am feeling much better! I know this may sound cheesy, but I do have the most amazing readers... seriously, so thank you!
Sunday, September 27, 2009
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20 comments:
Thanks for posting the information on this, Collin. After reading other's comments, I went and checked my credit card (we use Discover) and sure enough, found a charge I didn't recognize. It was from a company called regsoft.com based in MN. When I checked out their website, sure enough, they are connected to Digital River. I called my credit card to dispute the charge, and she also gave me this number 952-908-4091. The customer service there was no help at all, but maybe it will help someone else :) Thank you so much for the heads up on this!
Collin, thank you so much for looking into that for us. Is there anything we can do? I mean bout the scamming company? I believe part of the scam was to wait so long that we'd forget where (or even not be able to track back that far) they could have gotten our number from. The last time I ordered from Easy bakeware was June 1. Now I'm wondering if the charge was from that order or my first one, back in April. I think it's so wrong what they did. I read the fine print, and unless it was in code you'd have to go the school to study or work for the CIA, it wasn't in there. But I feel violated and I hate just sitting back and not doing anything.
Thank you so much for looking out for us. You do so much already and yet you still take the time to protect us further. You are truly a blessing... MIA
Now this makes sense! I just had this problem last week with Digital River putting through charges and until I just read your post I had no idea what it was. Luckily my bank had flagged these charges and I have already filed the fraud claim and cancelled the account. Just reminds us all we have to be careful about these offers, some time they really are to good to be true or come with sketchy companies like this.
Was this only with the pyrex deal or was there any other deal this scam was connected to?
THANK YOU SO MUCH! We just had 3 charges at exactly $146.45 and our CC called us and we closed the card and they are sending us new ones. We couldn't figure out what "Digital River" was except a payment processing company. Thanks for the info.
Thanks so much for the heads up on Digital River. I have had them process something for us in the past, but it was a legitimate company, with a reputable service-can't remember which one it was now, though.
I read this information over the weekend and didn't think much about it. Then sure enough while checking my bank account daily, this Monday AM, guess who had charges pending for $143.07 TWICE as of today's date, 8/28/09! You guessed it, Digital River. Took me a minute to remember where I had seen that name before, then thanx to you guys, I remembered and called my bank ASAP. This blog site saved me from going crazy and giving me the heads up. Thanx everyone.
One thing you may want to recommend to users who shop online is to setup a paypal account and download the paypal plugin. When you do this, the plug in can fill out forms (with name, address, etc) AND the best part is that you can use it to generate a one time secure card. It will be a one time use only credit card number. I love it and use it for all of my online payments. Paypal will even call you to verify the charge made as accurate.
I just got off the phone with my bank. I had 3 charges for 91.97 and my bank blocked my card. Thank goodness..only took 3 times..but now I have to go through this big ordeal with the bank. I was so embarrassed when my card was declined yesterday at Kmart. Good thing I had cash on me and it wasn't much due to the double coupons. I think from now on, I will take a back seat to really cheap online offers, because in the end, they aren't so cheap.
My Credit Union called me yesterday and asked me if I had made an online transaction for Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I told them I had not, and then they asked me about one to Walgreens. I had not done that one either. I wonder if this is the same thing. Does the bogus charges come up under Digital River or other names?
I think they put it through in different names because I too ordered the bakeware and late last week i got 3 charges for $207 from a Riverbend Internet co.(I think that is what it was called).
I have two pending "preauth" transactions on my bank account over the weekend - Bed Bath and Beyond (1.00) and H.M.V. Online Shop, Tokyo (.01) -- I wonder if these are related to the Digital River thing? Argh. I'm scared to see the amount charged once it goes from pending to final status.
Yes, the Walgreen's, Bath and Beyond are all connected to the Digital River issue as I had the same thing and cancelled my account.
Wow. The same thing happened to me on Saturday. Digital River hitting my card three times for $143.07. My bank denied the charges and sent me an email. Had to cancel the card.
Glad to know what might have happened.
Holy cow! I've never had this happen to me and I kind of thought it wouldn't, but I just checked my cc and found a pending transaction from Walgreens. Calling them now! Thanks for the help everyone!
I had commented on the first post for Bath & Body Works where Digital River was first mentioned, but I must again thank Collin and everyone who has helped to provide people like me with info regarding Digital River. I also received a call from my bank on 9/23 asking about suspicious charges. Two of the charges had been denied and 1 is still pending with an exp. of today so if it goes through I will have to file a dispute. All 3 of the charges were for the same amount and 1 was for Digital River and the other 2 were for companies with names so similar that you can tell they are for Digital River as well. The first time I used Easy Bakeware was Apr. 1st and I did receive the bakeware after probably 2 months. In May and June I cancelled the trials too soon and Easy Bakeware said I was no longer eligible for the $1 shipping so I cancelled those orders. I agree with you, Lana, that whoever is doing this is waiting long enough so the charges are hard to trace back. I did look back through my bank statements and didn't see anything suspicious other than what our bank pointed out, but we don't use our cards that much, fortunately. Good luck to you all resolving things!
I had done the Easy Bakeware thing twice, back in the early part of the summer. On September 8, I went to use my debit card and it was denied. I knew the money was in their so I called my bank. Digital River had charged my card $204.00 FOUR times, and tried for a fifth but was denied. It was over $800.00. I finally spoke to some who spoke English at digital river. He said my account had been flagged because none of the personal info matched and they were trying to use it to pay in euros for a Software company. After a long day I finally got it straightened out. Now I am afraid to use my debit card over the Internet. I do not have any credit cards, but I have now applied for one. Does this all stem from Easy Bakeware?
Just thought of these issues when I read this in our local paper:
http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_13544421
Apparently, DR is a very big, generally reputable company, that works with lots of other reputable companies you may have heard of like, say, Microsoft. Who knew? So, the problem sounds like less of a DR problem and more of a Easy Bakeware problem.
AAHH!! I have 3 charges of $211.33 each. Yikes! Stupid easybakeware.
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