Hello all and Happy Holidays,
My name is Matthew Ferrua, Customer Support Manager with NetBiz.com. As expected this season, we should see a major spike in consumer spending. Unfortunately, with the rising popularity of Internet purchases, we must constantly be aware of where our credit cards are being used. I would like to share with you our recent experience with a deceptive scheme, and what we are currently doing about it in order to minimize these types of scenarios.
Recently, several individuals who are not NetBiz customers have contacted our Billing Department, inquiring about a $79.86 charge. Through our various conversations we have been able to deduce that at some point these individuals signed up online for some type of Google AdWords Success Kit that promised a 30-day free trial. Shortly after being asked to authorize their credit cards for $1.00 in order to activate their account, they began to notice unrecognizable fraudulent charges (i.e an undefined charge of $79.86 from NetBiz.com) on their bank account.
Our assumption at this point is that the scamming company is referencing the NetBiz.com name as the company originating the charge. Surprisingly, companies are empowered to do this. They can alter or modify the name that appears on a bank statement to whatever name they choose. Because we are a reputable and prominent leader in the Search Engine Placement industry, the company operating this scam used our good name to launch a scam that entrenches its victims by using the Google name.
Since the charges are not originating from our company, it is difficult to research further where the fraudulent charges are being initiated from, without the help of the victims. In order to stop the individual(s) responsible for this scam, we need your help. We have requested that each victim’s financial institution/credit card company run a trace on the transaction for either the merchant processor or banking institution associated with the charge. Once we have that information, we will be able to conduct further research and learn more about the perpetrators. Without the information that only your bank can provide, we have nowhere from which to start. Your help in this matter is vital to our success in shutting these people down.
I encourage you, when there is an opportunity, to partake in research yourself. I was amazed to discover the copious number of Internet scams and victims who have, unfortunately, been duped. Doing a simple Internet search for the term“$79.86 charge? scam” proved that scams are widespread. See the image below.
This situation has taught us that we all must be wary of submitting/handing out our credit card information. We urge you to ensure that you only give your financial information to reputable companies, and that you do diligent research prior to purchasing any product or service. Here are some steps to take if you believe you have received fraudulent charges on your card:
*Attempt to directly contact the merchant listed on the charge by phone or email
*If you haven’t received a response after a 24-hour period, contact your banking institution to inquire about the charges; if advised to do so, initiate Chargeback procedures in order to recoup any lost monies.
*If you and your banking institution believe the card has been compromised, a replacement card may need to be issued
*Have your banking institution trace the fraudulent charge back to the originator’s merchant processor or financial institution so that future scams of this sort can be stopped and the victim base minimized.
It is important as a modern consumer to know what actions to take if your credit card is compromised. We should not be overly cautious or paranoid when making purchases, but we should make smart choices. If we work together, and become better-educated Internet shoppers, the puzzle becomes easier to solve, and the opportunities for scammers diminish.
Again, Happy Holidays to everyone, and here’s to safe shopping.
UPDATE 1/4/10: Google has filed a lawsuit against Pacific Webworks, the company that is perpetuating this scam.
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I’m a victim of this if this what I’m reading is true. I have a charge on my account that says Netbiz followed by some numbers and then the amount. I ordered nothing from Netbiz and am having trouble finding out who issued this transaction so apart from stopping my credit card where and what else do I do? Contact me about this please. There doesn’t seem to be any where here to contact you on about this other than the usual twitter, blogs etc..but I want a direct contact to talk to someone about this.
Hi Michelle,
You can always contact us at 888-847-2226. I’ll have someone contact you immediately.
My bank ran a trace on 2 of the netbiz transactions and the merchants bank gave them the contact details of the merchant which happened to be support@AcaiBerryTropical.com, when I sent them an email regarding these charges they said they have no affiliation with Netbiz they have been warned not to take any money and they have been reported for fraud. My bank has informed me that the only way to ensure they can’t take anymore money I will have to close all my accounts, which is such a pain.
I am experiencing the same problem as Narelle and Michelle. Why can’t NetBiz take action against these entities? I may also need to file a complaint to agencies such as the BBB.
Masayoshi – we haven’t chosen to take action against this company yet. That doesn’t mean we won’t, but Google sued them (see the update at the end of this post), so we are taking a wait and see attitude for now.
I also just discovered charges of $79.86 on my bank account since November 09 – same thing. I have had to cancel my bank card in order to stop it. I called the company yesterday and was suspicious when that asked me what phone number I called them at before any discussion. They promised to cancel future charges but said they could not cancel past charges.
People now aware of this scam thanks!