[Fraud] Beware of darkprofits.com

[Mystic Eye]

This site and is a Fraud. They send an email telling you they may have gotten an order using your credit card that may be a Fraud, then ask you to enter CC info, billing name and address. They are collecting this info for identity theft. Do not reply to it.
This targets gamers as I understand it so beware of it. I contacted the FBI and they informed me their Cyber Fraud Division is already taking action but that I should inform as many as I can. I figured this is the best way.

 

[Sir Osis of Liver]

Thanks for the heads-up, Doug.

 

[the Jester]

Wow, that sucks! Thanks for the info.

Anyone here get targeted by these guys?

 

[Mystic Eye]

Wow, that sucks! Thanks for the info.

Anyone here get targeted by these guys?

Well, I got thier email but did not fall for it and instead contacted the FBI. It is pretty clever. They say they got an order (order number XXXX for instance) and they think it is a fraud. They then go on to ask for all your CC info to varifiy the validity of the order or so that they may report the fruad. In actuallity, they are the fraud and thet are collecting the data in order to steal the CC info.

 

[Jakathi]

thanks for the info

but as a general rule, never ever give out your info online, unless its from a secure site like ebay, a banking firm etc. and even then an unhealthy dose of paranoia is a good think. TRUST NO ONE.


****
beyond a/s/l
My age: 100 billion nano-seconds
My sex: Depends on my mood. usually non-existant
My origin: A little bump on a bump on a speck of dirt.
Gee. That pretty much describes earth huh?

 

[Farland]

One big clue that the site is shady is that you need to register to actually read the forums. Anyone registered there? Somehow I doubt that there are any forums.

 

[DarkSoldier]

but as a general rule, never ever give out your info online, unless its from a secure site like ebay, a banking firm etc. and even then an unhealthy dose of paranoia is a good think. TRUST NO ONE.

Only give that kind of information when you see the lock in your browser's system bar, and never through e-mail, because who knows how many "official" eBay and Amazon e-mails are actually spoofed to harvest unsuspecting schnooks' personal information?

 

[DanMcS]

Only give that kind of information when you see the lock in your browser's system bar, and never through e-mail, because who knows how many "official" eBay and Amazon e-mails are actually spoofed to harvest unsuspecting schnooks' personal information?

The lock symbol on your browser bar is meaningless- it means the website in question is using https, that is, "http secure". To do that, the company has to have an electronic certificate which is used to ensure encryption of the transmission between you and them. Such a certificate is available from verisign. You need a hundred bucks or so, and a mailing address, last I checked.

So basically, the little lock symbol doesn't mean that the website isn't a scam; it means that if it is a scam, the scammers are mildly technically competant.

There aren't really any technical means of ensuring that a company on the internet isn't a scam. Use the same standards you would offline- is it an established company? Have you heard good things about it, or do you know any friends that have used it? Someplace like Amazon is probably going to be ok. Random sellers on Ebay, it's at your own risk, and someone soliciting over email, definitely a no-go.

And, as a side note, use a credit card, not a debit card (even one with a credit card backer), online- credit cards have a liability limit, and the most a thief can take you for is 50 bucks if your number gets stolen. It's much more of a hassle to recover funds if someone gets ahold of your debit card number, since it is gone, straight out of your bank account, and there's no fraud liability limit on debit cards.

 

[mythago]

It may not be Dark Profits that is sending the spam. LOTS of companies have had spammers rip off their names and send e-mail purporting to be from that company, asking for credit card and other information.

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/darkprofits.asp

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/scams/darkprofits.asp

 

[2d6]

And, as a side note, use a credit card, not a debit card (even one with a credit card backer), online- credit cards have a liability limit, and the most a thief can take you for is 50 bucks if your number gets stolen. It's much more of a hassle to recover funds if someone gets ahold of your debit card number, since it is gone, straight out of your bank account, and there's no fraud liability limit on debit cards.

Some credit cards are better then others, many now offer zero liability, rather then the legally mandated $50 max liability.

As for debit cards, that isn't neccesarily true. Your loss is limited to $50 if you notify the financial institution within two business days after learning of loss or theft of your card or code. your liability raises to $500 after the two days and unlimited after 60 days. The bad thing is that the money is gone during that time and there is usually a period of time while the bank investigates the claims that you may have problems with other outstanding checks, etc. If you have a problem with the bank disputing a fraud charge, you can contact:

Comptroller of the Currency's customer assistance specialists by:
Telephoning 1-800-613-6743, toll-free (Monday-Thursday 9:00a.m. to 4:00p.m.CST) E-mailing - E-mail to Customer.Assistance@occ.treas.gov;
Fax - Faxing to - 1-713-336-4301 or; Sending mail to -
Customer Assistance Group
1301 McKinney Street
Suite 3710
Houston, TX 77010

If your a US citizen, contact your represenitives and urge them to revise the Electronic Funds Transfer Act to bring protections on debit cards in line with credit cards, the banks oppose legislation like this, but they make monster bucks on debit transactions.