I Funded My NetSpend Visa and Was Ripped Off..

[skiny]

What do you mean[/] I'm "funny?" You mean, let me understand this cause, ya know maybe it's me, I'm a little f****d up maybe, but I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you? I make you laugh, I'm here to f****n' amuse you? What do you mean funny, funny how? How the f**am I funny, what the f**is so funny about me?

One of my favorite Joe Pesci scenes ever.

 

[bernynhel]

Definitely....the idiot clerk probably bought the card there at the store...and I'm sure it's on tape.

Rite Aid stores don't sell or service NetSpend. The link is Western Union. Rite
Aid is a Western Union agent providing all services.

I have had prepaid debit cards under phony names, phony addresses and phony social security numbers (FYI, when you provide a social security number when registering prepaid phones and/or debit cards nobody verifies the SS#. They only use it for the purpose of verifying your identity by asking for the last four digits when you contact support) linked to cell phones with the same phony names and additionally, linked to email addresses under the phony names. No real data links, whatsoever. Completely untraceable. Nothing factual about me was ever linked to anything in the above mentioned chain.

...but if this money was transferred to another netspend account with a phone number and withdrawn through a bankmachine...Who owned the other Netspend account? Even if the phone number is no good the phone company must know who owned it before... Bank machines have video cameras.
...

NetSpend account available online and registered via any email address -$9.95

Virgin Mobile Marbl phone and $20 Virgin Mobile minute-pak available at any 7-11 - $29.95

Entirely disposable, complete anonymity - priceless!

To get the information about who owns that phone number, you'll have to file a police report.

I am so blessed to have not only Sherlock Holmes, but Dr. Watson as well, hard at work on my case! How can I ever thank you, both, enough?



One more thing. This is for all the QuickTender customers. I have a QuickTender account and use it almost exclusively for depositing at online casinos and poker rooms. Anyone with a QuickTender account who can access anyone else's online casino account with the casino account holder's user name or account number (depending on the casino) and password may withdraw up to the daily maximum allowed by the casino into that QuickTender account. A person requesting a withdrawal from an online casino account owned by someone else is required only to enter their QuickTender account number to initiate the withdrawal process and no further verification is performed by the casino or QuickTender. The above remains true even if the rightful casino account holder had made a legitimate and successful QuickTender withdrawal from the same casino moments earlier. A different QuickTender account number may still be used to make a withdrawal from the same casino account. How about that?

 

[bernynhel]

One of my favorite Joe Pesci scenes ever.

Yeah and he said at the end "I almost had 'em." But I GOT 'em!

OK, BACK ON TOPIC:

Since the start a this, "thing", for lack of a less caustic name for it (I will only say that it rhymes with "fuster cluck"), NetSpend's fraud department has been off for the weekend. They arrive tomorrow, 8:00 AM, CST. I'll let everyone know what happens, next, sometime after then.

And thanks for all the great posts and new friends and fun. There's no such thing as too much fun - even a funeral is a good place to try and have more of it! - bernynhel

 

[skiny]

NetSpend account available online and registered via any email address -$9.95

Virgin Mobile Marbl phone and $20 Virgin Mobile minute-pak available at any 7-11 - $29.95

Entirely disposable, complete anonymity - priceless!

And the bank machine and card used to withdraw the money?

 

[bernynhel]

And the bank machine and card used to withdraw the money?

Disposable temp card - the one you get before the one with your name on it arrives in the mail. Who knows?

And have you ever worn a baseball cap while using an ATM machine and have the machine pause the transaction to request that you remove the cap?

Or ask you to tilt your face up and say "cheese?"

Me neither. I have withdrawn money from an ATM machine standing around the corner and using a women's compact mirror. It was my own, legitimate bank account, the ATM on the corner of the bank building where I opened my account and did all of my personal banking, and no one ever said anything about it.

I've had 3 or 4 open NetSpend accounts, simultaneously, simply from losing one card with a zero or slightly negative balance and then buying a new card without ever reporting the previous card as being "lost".

I think they called me on it when I was on the phone to them about something and they closed three accounts, leaving the newest. But this was more than a year after I lost the first card and started accumulating accounts. If you lose a card and don't ever log into that account afterward but have a new card with new log in info that you're using, regularly, who's gonna know?

 

[just play]

Rite Aid stores don't sell or service NetSpend. The link is Western Union. Rite
Aid is a Western Union agent providing all services.

I have had prepaid debit cards under phony names, phony addresses and phony social security numbers (FYI, when you provide a social security number when registering prepaid phones and/or debit cards nobody verifies the SS#. They only use it for the purpose of verifying your identity by asking for the last four digits when you contact support) linked to cell phones with the same phony names and additionally, linked to email addresses under the phony names. No real data links, whatsoever. Completely untraceable. Nothing factual about me was ever linked to anything in the above mentioned chain

I don't understand why you are putting the problem on Netspend? Also it seems your DEAD SET against pursuing Rite Aid, it just makes me wonder why? How does Netspend know you didn't do this yourself? You yourself said above that nothing would be linked to a person, so you could have done it yourself to make extra money. This IS NOT what I am saying you did, I just strongly believe it's Rite Aids problem.

You see where I'm going with this...it's a Rite Aid problem, not Netspend.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think you are "barking up the wrong tree" IMHO

 

[silkprint]

Wow Bern ,what a shitty thing to have happen !
I got the Goodfella thingie right away ...Hasn't everyone seen that movie at least 3 times ? If you haven't , then you have to . Its a classic

 

[skiny]

Disposable temp card - the one you get before the one with your name on it arrives in the mail. Who knows?

And have you ever worn a baseball cap while using an ATM machine and have the machine pause the transaction to request that you remove the cap?

Or ask you to tilt your face up and say "cheese?"

Me neither. I have withdrawn money from an ATM machine standing around the corner and using a women's compact mirror. It was my own, legitimate bank account, the ATM on the corner of the bank building where I opened my account and did all of my personal banking, and no one ever said anything about it.

I've had 3 or 4 open NetSpend accounts, simultaneously, simply from losing one card with a zero or slightly negative balance and then buying a new card without ever reporting the previous card as being "lost".

I think they called me on it when I was on the phone to them about something and they closed three accounts, leaving the newest. But this was more than a year after I lost the first card and started accumulating accounts. If you lose a card and don't ever log into that account afterward but have a new card with new log in info that you're using, regularly, who's gonna know?

The only problem I see is if he was smart enough to steel your information and create an anonymous account at netspend and get a phone that can't be traced (I bought a pay as you go phone before and I had to give all kinds of information and show ID) And get an untraceable debit card and hide his self well enough at the bank machine to keep from being recognized, he probably wouldn't have been working at the Rite Aid in the first place.

Seems like an awful lot of work for 166 bucks.

Pursue it and he'll be caught.

 

[bernynhel]

I don't understand why you are putting the problem on Netspend? Also it seems your DEAD SET against pursuing Rite Aid, it just makes me wonder why? How does Netspend know you didn't do this yourself? You yourself said above that nothing would be linked to a person, so you could have done it yourself to make extra money. This IS NOT what I am saying you did, I just strongly believe it's Rite Aids problem.

You see where I'm going with this...it's a Rite Aid problem, not Netspend.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think you are "barking up the wrong tree" IMHO

I've had that card for a year. In November, as of Friday, I had loaded over $3,000 onto that account, October, $4,500+, never less that $2,000 and in February, this year and December, '08, over $10,000.00, each. I have never made a P2P transaction, never used WU prior to November 1 and every purchase has been exclusively one of the following: An online casino, QuickTender, online computer stuff, travel - purchased online, electronics purchased online, political donations, again, online and a few lunches with bar (in the flesh!) at Palm Valley Country Club (my home). Given that, by what stretch of the imagination would a NetSpend employee have the balls to accuse me of screwinig around for $180 when they're looking at my transactions and they see that on several occasions I have spent more than twice the "disputed" amount on LUNCH?

I don't need to go after Rite Aid. My business is with NetSpend. Rite Aid/Western Union is their business and the money I handed over to the Rite Aid employee did, in fact, load, as promised, into my NetSpend account. The perp extracted it after it got there, mais non?
And remember: Lorna (sigh) of NetSpend, already said: "...I will transfer any funds still in user X's account back into your account." So if NetSpend acknowledged that they owed me the money on Friday, how do you think they might claim to NOT still owe me the money tomorrow? lol

I'm sorry if it seemed as if I was ignoring those points, earlier. I will file a police report. Then if the cops or NetSpend wanna go after Rite Aid/Western Union of whoever, its their dime, their call.

 

[skiny]

You can go after Netspend and maybe you'll get your 180 bucks back and maybe you won't but personally I'd be after the needledick that thought he could rip me off in the first place.

I'd forego the 180 just to see him hang by his dirty toenails.

 

[WagerWitch]

Me knows berny... LOL!

I was laughin' me ass off!

 

[winbig]

I don't understand why you are putting the problem on Netspend? Also it seems your DEAD SET against pursuing Rite Aid, it just makes me wonder why? How does Netspend know you didn't do this yourself? You yourself said above that nothing would be linked to a person, so you could have done it yourself to make extra money. This IS NOT what I am saying you did, I just strongly believe it's Rite Aids problem.

You see where I'm going with this...it's a Rite Aid problem, not Netspend.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, I just think you are "barking up the wrong tree" IMHO

It's a rite-aid problem too, but Netspend needs to investigate why this scam happened and how this happened so it doesn't happen to millions of other netspend users as well.

Maybe they'll actually block peer to peer transfers until a security code or whatever gets mailed to them, and they verify the code online. This would sure prevent the "hit and run" scam that happened here.

 

[bernynhel]

The only problem I see is if he was smart enough to steel your information and create an anonymous account at netspend and get a phone that can't be traced (I bought a pay as you go phone before and I had to give all kinds of information and show ID) And get an untraceable debit card and hide his self well enough at the bank machine to keep from being recognized, he probably wouldn't have been working at the Rite Aid in the first place.

Seems like an awful lot of work for 166 bucks.

Pursue it and he'll be caught.

How about he's buying dozens of NetSpend account numbers, in bulk, from Rite Aid clerks all over the Coachella Valley and paying $10/account number. That's an extra $30-50 extra in cash/week or more for a $8/hr Rite Aid clerk who probably knows the perp from Jr Hi. Whenever he gets 10 or so, does his thing and now its a few grand, maybe more, and the cost per heist is still under $50 cuz he can use his one disposable phone and NetSpend for multiple heists in one day.

Go into any 7-11 and on the wall, behind the counter where Ibrahim and
Achnad are standing when they're not checking people's losing Mega-Lotto tickets all day, hanging on a peg on the wall with all the Mexican phone cards are Virgin Mobile/Kyrocera Mrbl phones for $9.95. Buy it and a $20 Virgin Mobile money pak and head to the nearest cyber cafe' or your public library where you'll pry the phone from the clam shell packaging, go online and activate the phone and apply the $20 money-pak. Who was there, aywhere, during any of this, to ask for any ID?

This guy/these people can be clearing $10k/week if they got this thing down. Maybe more.

 

[bernynhel]

You can go after Netspend and maybe you'll get your 180 bucks back and maybe you won't but personally I'd be after the needledick that thought he could rip me off in the first place.

I'd forego the 180 just to see him hang by his dirty toenails.

I used to be in a business where collections were necessary from time to time. This was in the IE and there I employed the services of the Callacci brothers (3 of 'em, each 5'6" tall and 5'6" wide - Callacci not their real name). They would cruise the U-Haul rental places and look for a truck someone had returned after hours cuz the keys would be in it, it would be full of gas, and no one was gonna miss it till the U-Haul place called the people who rented it and dropped it off and ask, "Where's the truck?" for at least another day or two.

They'd drive to where my debtor lived at like 3:30 AM, two through the front and one through the back each with a Mossberg Model 500 "Law Enforcement" combo 12 guage shotgun with the pistol grip installed and 3 full rolls of duct tape ringing the barrels. Every one in the house was stripped naked, duct taped, rolled into a corner and then the house was stripped including carpeting, plumbing fixtures, all cabinets and if an "exploratory excavation" revealed copper pipe, the walls came down and copper removed. If anyone knocked on the door during this time, they were added to the "pile". Every "collection" was completed before sun-up and I always let the Callaccis keep 100% of the collection -it was always worth it - but I would stroll in at the end and take a piss on the "pile" before leaving. But I was young. Let NetSpend have their fun!

Me knows berny... LOL!

I was laughin' me ass off!

Well I knew you appreciated a good sense of humor. How could I lose? See how quick the ladies had your back? I was impressed! lol

It's a rite-aid problem too, but Netspend needs to investigate why this scam happened and how this happened so it doesn't happen to millions of other netspend users as well.

Maybe they'll actually block peer to peer transfers until a security code or whatever gets mailed to them, and they verify the code online. This would sure prevent the "hit and run" scam that happened here.

Maybe. Either way it's NetSpend with the egg on their face, the way I see it, which is like this:

 

[skiny]

I used to be in a business where collections were necessary from time to time. This was in the IE and there I employed the services of the Callacci brothers (3 of 'em, each 5'6" tall and 5'6" wide - Callacci not their real name). They would cruise the U-Haul rental places and look for a truck someone had returned after hours cuz the keys would be in it, it would be full of gas, and no one was gonna miss it till the U-Haul place called the people who rented it and dropped it off and ask, "Where's the truck?" for at least another day or two.

They'd drive to where my debtor lived at like 3:30 AM, two through the front and one through the back each with a Mossberg Model 500 "Law Enforcement" combo 12 guage shotgun with the pistol grip installed and 3 full rolls of duct tape ringing the barrels. Every one in the house was stripped naked, duct taped, rolled into a corner and then the house was stripped including carpeting, plumbing fixtures, all cabinets and if an "exploratory excavation" revealed copper pipe, the walls came down and copper removed. If anyone knocked on the door during this time, they were added to the "pile". Every "collection" was completed before sun-up and I always let the Callaccis keep 100% of the collection -it was always worth it - but I would stroll in at the end and take a piss on the "pile" before leaving. But I was young. Let NetSpend have their fun!

This also seems like a lot of work for 180 bucks.

But again you're assuming the nitwit who scammed your Netspend account is a criminal genius.

Real geniuses don't normally need to resort to petty crimes.

 

[WagerWitch]

Well I knew you appreciated a good sense of humor. How could I lose? See how quick the ladies had your back? I was impressed! lol

They Rock - (those ladies) don't they?

:notworthy

But about the Rite Aid Scam Artists - DAYUM... Bern - let me think about this.

WOW - some serious ring - too many people should be complaining so they WILL be caught.

Please please please DO pursue this thru RiteAid.

I want to see the headlines - this could be killer and YOU could bring down the bad ass ring.

I mean ya gotta respect the gonads these nerds have - but why can't they use the chutzpah for something valid and good instead of something rotten to the core like thievery?

Sigh...

Anyhow Bern - keep us totally posted - this is almost a killer screen play - I can see it being acted out. Yanno?

 

[Dinahnana]

Holey Crap! this whole post is a wakeup call for me. I have a wired plastic and always use WU to reload since the local 7-11 clerks can't figure out how to do the swipe and load. I have no idea why since it is not rocket science. I am usally very careful filling out the info making sure I dont accidently leave my number anywhere. But I can see something like this can easily happen. It is definitely not farfetched to believe that a group of people could be working together in order to scam people. Criminals can be sneaky devils and are always thinking up creative ways of seperating us from our money. I remember hearing a case a couple of years back where somebody who worked for a payroll company siphoned off small amounts from peoples paychecks and it took quite a while before anybody copped on to it. Small amounts go unnoticed but to these criminals it is the volume that makes up their large payday and who knows many people may not bother to report that they got ripped off thinking that there is no way to get their money back anyway.
In future I will be extra careful!

 

[DaveG39]

Just a thought, but am I the only one that knows you can load NetSpend via PayPal..for free??

 

[winbig]

Just a thought, but am I the only one that knows you can load NetSpend via PayPal..for free??

Sure, if you want to wait a few days for the ACH to hit...

Plus there's been reports of Paypal closing people's accounts for funding these netspend cards....I'm not sure if they're still doing that or not.

 

[DaveG39]

Sure, if you want to wait a few days for the ACH to hit...

Plus there's been reports of Paypal closing people's accounts for funding these netspend cards....I'm not sure if they're still doing that or not.

True, I suppose you pay for the convienience. I don't mind waiting, in fact the wait keeps me "in check" else I'd be gambling every day. PayPal did question me once but they haven't closed my account. You'd think, if PayPal was closing alot of accounts, NetSpend wouldn't have the option.

 

[anniemac]

Just a question. To do P2P transfers online, you have to have the card # and the 3 digit security # on the back of the card. How did they get that? You don't put that down when you fill out the WU prepaid load form. Usually I don't even have to show my card to load with the form. Also if you do it by phone you have to have your pin# and the security #.

Just doesn't make much sense to me.

 

[bernynhel]

This also seems like a lot of work for 180 bucks...

LOL! So true. I didn't do it for the money.

...But about the Rite Aid Scam Artists -...WOW - some serious ring - too many people should be complaining so they WILL be caught...

Gee, thanks for the vote a confidence!!! But, er, for the time being, the "ring' theory is still just a paranoid fantasy. But it could happen! Couldn't it?

Just a thought, but am I the only one that knows you can load NetSpend via PayPal..for free??

Ha! Don't get me started! If you think this thread is scary, you don't even wanna hear the true horrors about PayPal. Your **** would fall off! I was fortunate enough to have been alerted and able to wash my hands of PayPal 5 years ago. PayPal IS the Anti-Christ!

Just a question. To do P2P transfers online, you have to have the card # and the 3 digit security # on the back of the card. How did they get that? You don't put that down when you fill out the WU prepaid load form. Usually I don't even have to show my card to load with the form. Also if you do it by phone you have to have your pin# and the security #...

The 1st couple of clerks asked for my card. I thought nothing of it at the time except that maybe they would be less likely to enter my card number incorrectly if they verified my handwritten entry against the actual card. YOU just gave me an "aha" moment. Can you guess what it IS? lol

I know absolutely nothing about P2Ps, their internal organs, their culture or even whether or not they are a carbon-based life form. On the other hand, I do know something about what can be achieved with credit/debit account numbers when the pin numbers and CVV codes are not known. And given the recent cyber-thefts in the news involving millions of cardholders, someone else does, as well. However, hindsight being 20/20 coupled with revelations only moments old, it seems that the CVV code for my card was just as available as the card number.

UPDATE ON MY CLAIM:

"Charlotte" of NetSpend's dispute department assured me that my claim email has been received and that an "investitagor" has 10 business days to contact me either via email or snailmail. No Police Report is required for claims less that $300 and filing one will not affect the outcome of my claim.

When I mentioned to Charlotte that Lorna (sigh) had already offered to transfer all of the missing funds back to my account and asked "why Lorna din' needs no 'vestigator?", Charlotte stuttered and stammered something to the effect that she doesn't know who Lorna is. So, I told Charlotte all about Lorna. Now she knows.

OF PARTICULAR INTEREST:
I am able to access my account history and the $16 that was in the perp's NetSpend account has been transferred via "P2P reversal" back into my account.

 

[WagerWitch]

Gee, thanks for the vote a confidence!!! But, er, for the time being, the "ring' theory is still just a paranoid fantasy. But it could happen! Couldn't it?

Uhm.... you betcha - like I said this could make a decent screenplay.


Also - uhm... YOUR

AHA moment

Errrrr.... could it be the 3 digit number part??? LOL!


ding ding ding ding - she shoots - she scores - she wins!!!

Whatsa my prize boss?

 

[silkprint]

So what happened to your money? Any update?

 

[bernynhel]

Errrrr.... could it be the 3 digit number part??? LOL!...ding ding ding ding...

...a rhetorical question to which the answer was assumed to be a GIMMIE, ww! lol

So what happened to your money? Any update?

Update edited in to my last post near the bottom. Excitin', ain't it?