Digital Star unauthorized charge
Complaint
Steve
Country: United States
A preauthorization for $74.95 from Digital Star with a bad phone number (208-123-7377) showed up on my debit card account 1/29/12. Called bank fraud department and had the account killed immediately. They stopped the charge since it had not completed. Do not know who Digital Star is or what the charge was for. I use the card for online purchases mainly through Amazon. No purchases in the last 30 dqays. However, I placed orders in the last 60 days from a company called Turncraft (woodworking plans), Personal Creations, and Entirely Pets. I wonder what companies others have used recently.
Comments
Bank of America says it looks suspicious. had to cancel card as well.
Here is what my online banking showed:
CHECKCARD Digital Star +442 +442081237377 ON 01/27 $-74.95
Has to be a scam.
Amazon probably gets calls on every major card database hack that happens, since with so much business and so many customers, many fraudulent charges occur after an Amazon purchase.
They should have a more complete picture of the scope of credit card fraud than even VISA or MasterCard, whose information is limited to what the banks decide to forward.
Bank of America says it looks suspicious. Bank of America put a hold on my credit card as well.
Here is what my online banking showe
CHECKCARD Digital Star +442 +442081237377 ON 01/27 $-74.95
I canceled my card and re-isssued a new card
You are reporting a fraudulent charge, from some company you know you never used, even of a type most people would be unlikely to make, and the bank response is to treat it as a "merchant billing dispute" and call the "company".
The chargeback response thresholds (typically 2.5% chargebacks) and chargeback fees are designed to limit and flag systematic fraud so it is caught and forced to be shut down, but because that "makes trouble and costs the bank money", the banks prefer to sweep each fraudulent charge under the rug, classify it as a "mistaken billing", evading the very security policies that protect them and their customers from systematic fraud.
It's like if everyone stopped getting vaccinated for all the childhood diseases. Total loss of "community immunity" from "saving" a few minutes of a low level employee's time.
They will show up high on the list of reported recent activity in ANY case of fraudulent charges.
There are a number of othe complaints reporting NO Amazon use, or even charges to rarely or never used cards.
Two complaints report "ping" charges of $1 preceding the fraudulent digital star charges. One of those complaints reported 3 "pings" to 3 different credit cards through Amazon, the other reported a "ping" through some gas station chain.
Although the large banks like BofA, Citi, Chase, Wells Fargo, show up frequently in complaints, many smaller banks or credit unions also show up. The large banks are not represented at levels consistend with their huge customer base, while the small banks and credit unions are excessively represented in comparison.
There appears to be some attempt to avoid stacking up too many charges on the large banks, to diversify the charges across a broad range of banks and credit unions, consistent with attempting to avoid triggering a large fraud investigation. This same "fly under the radar" strategy is visible in the early $74.95 charges, that are now routinely reported as $149.99, but still with the same lethargic bank responses. Apparently it was working so well they gave themselves a "raise".
The above pattern is consistent with "pinging" to obtain valid card information, then using it for the fraudulent charges.
Digital Star +442081237+442081237377 GB it was dated 1/29/12
I realized that on Saturday I was at work all day then came home, never used my card once. I called TCF and cancelled my card after I saw this.
I'm in Minneapolis...don't know if it's just a Minnesota thing or not?
I found out the same way as you---the HARD-way....!!!
Digital Star +442081237+442081237377 GB $-74.95 1/30/12.
It is terrible but it seems to come from AMAZON.com. Has anyone order anything from AMAZON.com?
I ordered from AMAZON.com about one or two weeks ago then on the 29 of January, I get these charges listed above.