Digital Star unauthorized charge

Complaint

0
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

  • 0
    kevin donlin
    | 1 reply
    for everyone who came across this issue, anytime you go into the amazon website, make sure when purchasing any product that the following message appears:

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

    "In Stock" will be in green lettering

    if it does not say this, then the product is coming from a different website, these websites may be unknown which could cause this issue to occur.

    for now, cancel card and have a new one re-issued
    • 0
      carl replies to kevin donlin
      I did not made any transaction with amazon for the last 3 years and more and I still had a call today from my creditcard company to ask me about a transaction (  I did not made )  with Digital Star. So I'm not sure it has to do something with amazon.
  • 0
    Vince
    | 2 replies
    I had the same 74.95 charge as others. Called Mastercard - they said it was about "theatre tickets." I have ordered from Amazon and others online. Anyway, I had to sign a form lodging an official complaint. They said it could take up to 3 months to resolve (Bank of Montreal - Canada). I called them back once I found this site with other complaints about this scammer, but they said they still had to go through the standard procedure. Why don't they have a flag about this scam?
    • 0
      tj replies to Vince
      You are banking with idiots?
    • 0
      carl replies to Vince
      That's what they told me too! For tickets for a show. I asked 'which show' and she didn't know ( or didn't want to tell me )

      I can imagine these guys buying tickets for shows and then sell them at the doors, the night of the show.

      Good luck to all anyway. Hope they will catch them soon.
  • 0
    Mary
    | 1 reply
    Digital Star charged our credit union debit card for this same amount; it went through on 2/5/12.  The only places I have used this card recently are La Vida Massage franchise, Toys R Us, a local dollar store and Best Buy (all just before Christmas); I rarely use it.  I do have an Amazon account but this card is not attached to it.  We canceled the card and our credit union told us they will credit us provided that we fill out the paperwork they are sending us in order to "officially initiate the investigation".  Scary!
    • 0
      tj replies to Mary
      Was the card ever used online at any time?
      If so, when?
  • 0
    Hedgehog
    Same issue with account in Charlotte, NC ....

    Digital Star +442081237 +442081237377 24830722038314593805951
  • 0
    Hedgehog
    | 2 replies
    I too an BofA customer. I rarely use my debit card. I had used it on 2/6 at one of the kiosks in a reputable mall in NC for a $10 charge on 2/6. BofA fraud calls me on 2/7 and advises me that they have frozen my card and I will have to dispute the charge ... @!&$

    Digital Star +442081237 +442081237377 24830722038314593805951

    Looks like BofA and their partners have been hacked. A word to the wise should be sufficient !
    • 0
      tj replies to Hedgehog
      | 1 reply
      BofA appears to be more on top of this than other reported banks, with more reports they catch it before consumers see it.  May be flagged as a suspicious transaction due to being out of the country, or they may have an internal alert against "Digital Star".

      4 possibilities:
      1)  Hacked merchant (Amazon has been suggested, but some consumers report no Amazon usage)
      2)  Hacked payment processor (consistent with scattered geography and banks, and no clear common source.)
      3)  Computer virus (consistent with scattered geography and banks)
      4)  Card skimmer (kiosk might give easy access to place a skimmer, and reports are heavy on "debit card" use, consistent with an ATM transaction.)

      Had your card been used on line in the last several months?

      Due to the close connection between when you used it at the kiosk, and your bank called you catching the fraudulent charge, file a local police report to report that you suspect the kiosk might have a skimmer.
      • 0
        tj replies to tj
        In addition, contact the Secret Service, as they are responsible for investigating EFT theft.
  • 0
    Steve
    | 1 reply
    Seems interesting that no enforcement agency has yet to report this issue.  I have reported it to several governmental agencies on the state and national level and received nothing but canned auto replies.

    After reading over all of the complaints I doubt it is a single source.  It would not surprise me to find the source is a mix of online and phone or direct purchase.  Enough people have disavowed the use of Amazon so I doubt it is a single source but it certainly could be one source.

    Since these are direct charges to checking accounts I assume all of them are debit card charges not actual credit card charges where you receive a bill and pay it once a month.  Also there are multiple types of debits; PIN, signature, and card not present.  The following is interesting reading about debit cards and fraud.

    http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/money/cred ... of-debit-ov.htm

    Following is the data/cash flow process for online transaction.
    Credit/debit card transaction starts with a data flow that ends with a money flow. The shopper’s credit card details, collected online, need to be authorized by the shopper’s issuing bank. Few parties participate in this flow: merchant’s site, payment gateway, processing bank, credit card association and the issuing bank. Usually the full data flow (authorization process), back and forth, takes less than 3 seconds. The payment gateway is software used by merchant to connect to his processing bank. It is provided by a third party usually for a fee.  Several options are available to the merchant.

    Actual payment is forwarded by the issuing bank, through the credit card association, to the acquiring (processing) bank, which deposits the funds directly into the merchant’s bank account. The money flow usually takes 2-3 business days.

    Consequently there are several points where the data could be stolen.  Obviously the most vulnerable would be the card owner and merchant transaction point whether online or in person.
    • 0
      carl replies to Steve
      In my case, it's not with a debit card but with a MasterCard. If this can help ...;)
  • 0
    Trebor522002
    | 1 reply
    I have the same bill 74.95  us =$76.47 can, I have stop my credit card.
    thank for all information.
    • 0
      Natarsha R Jenkins replies to Trebor522002
      My card was also a Mastercard Im very upset this Digital Star has took money from my account this is crazy
  • 0
    carl
    Nope, it is not from Amazon, I can confirm. I've been called today for the same fraud, and I did not made any transaction with amazon but I did some transactions in California and Canada websites. It seems that they do fraud everywhere, I read some of your messages and that's my conclusion.

    Hope they will catch them soon!
  • 0
    Natarsha R Jenkins
    I was charged 148.99 from Digital Star on 2/08/12 and i have no idea who this company is or why they charge me for something I have no clue about this is hard im a single mom of three and i wrok very hard for my money and dont need no company tryna take it,
  • 0
    Natarsha R Jenkins
    I was charged 148.99 from Digital Star on 2/08/12 and i have no idea who this company is or why they charge me for something I have no clue about this is hard im a single mom of three and i wrok very hard for my money and dont need no company tryna take it,
  • 0
    Chris
    | 1 reply
    Same $148.99 charge for me as well.  Sounds like some company got hacked and information was stolen.
    • 0
      Unknown replies to Chris
      I know same here. It makes me so pissed..

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