Please help me not be an idiot
August 19, 2008 3:37 PM Subscribe
I have made several purchases from a small on-line company. They have always shipped the order out correctly and on time. I just received and email from them stating that they had a problem with my payment. If they genuinely had a problem, I want to help them fix it. If this is a scam, I don't want to be an idiot. I'm confused by them telling me not to reply to the email, but to send a new one. I would appreciate any help or advice that anyone could give me.
This is the email that I received:
colt45,
I shipped the order you placed on xxxxxx but your payment contained a general error and therefore will not settle. I am enclosing a copy of the error (note the transaction status) so please do not respond to this e-mail - please create a new e-mail in response as I would not want to compromise your credit card number. In order for me to settle this transaction I would need the first 12 digits of your credit card along with the expiration date. You can provide me with this information either by e-mail or telephone - our number here is xxxxxxx. Thanks!
Transaction Detail
Help
Transaction ID: xxxxxxxx
Transaction Status: General Error (Unable to Send Notification)
Settlement Information
Settlement Amount: Correct Amount
Settlement Date and Time: Correct Date
Business Day: Correct Date
Batch ID: XXXXXX
Authorization Information
Authorization Amount: My Amount
Submit Date /Time: Correct Date
Authorization Code: XXXXX
Reference Transaction ID: Not Applicable
Transaction Type: Authorization w/ Auto Capture
Address Verification Status: Street Address: Match Zip: Matched first 5 digits (Y)
Card Code Status: Not Applicable
CAVV Result Code: Not Applicable
Fraud Score Applied: Not Applicable
Recurring Billing Transaction: N
Dynamic Currency Conversion: Not Applicable
Partial Capture Status: Not Applicable
Customer IP: xxxxxxxx
Payment Information
Card Type: My Card
Card Number:XXXXX My last four digits
Expiration Date: XXXX
Total Amount: My Amount
Order Information
Invoice #:
Description:
Customer Billing Information
Name: colt45
Company:
Address: My Address
City: My City
State/Province: My State
Zip Code: My Zip
Country: United States
Phone: My Phone
Fax:
Email: My Email
Customer ID: My ID
Customer Type:
Customer TaxID/SSN:
DL Number:
DL State:
DL DOB:
Shipping Information
Name: colt45
Company:
Address: My Address
City: My City
State/Province: My State
Zip Code: My Zip
Country: United States
Additional Details - Level 2 Data
Tax: 0.00
Freight: 0.00
Duty: 0.00
Tax Exempt: N
PO Number:
Linda
This is the email that I received:
colt45,
I shipped the order you placed on xxxxxx but your payment contained a general error and therefore will not settle. I am enclosing a copy of the error (note the transaction status) so please do not respond to this e-mail - please create a new e-mail in response as I would not want to compromise your credit card number. In order for me to settle this transaction I would need the first 12 digits of your credit card along with the expiration date. You can provide me with this information either by e-mail or telephone - our number here is xxxxxxx. Thanks!
Transaction Detail
Help
Transaction ID: xxxxxxxx
Transaction Status: General Error (Unable to Send Notification)
Settlement Information
Settlement Amount: Correct Amount
Settlement Date and Time: Correct Date
Business Day: Correct Date
Batch ID: XXXXXX
Authorization Information
Authorization Amount: My Amount
Submit Date /Time: Correct Date
Authorization Code: XXXXX
Reference Transaction ID: Not Applicable
Transaction Type: Authorization w/ Auto Capture
Address Verification Status: Street Address: Match Zip: Matched first 5 digits (Y)
Card Code Status: Not Applicable
CAVV Result Code: Not Applicable
Fraud Score Applied: Not Applicable
Recurring Billing Transaction: N
Dynamic Currency Conversion: Not Applicable
Partial Capture Status: Not Applicable
Customer IP: xxxxxxxx
Payment Information
Card Type: My Card
Card Number:XXXXX My last four digits
Expiration Date: XXXX
Total Amount: My Amount
Order Information
Invoice #:
Description:
Customer Billing Information
Name: colt45
Company:
Address: My Address
City: My City
State/Province: My State
Zip Code: My Zip
Country: United States
Phone: My Phone
Fax:
Email: My Email
Customer ID: My ID
Customer Type:
Customer TaxID/SSN:
DL Number:
DL State:
DL DOB:
Shipping Information
Name: colt45
Company:
Address: My Address
City: My City
State/Province: My State
Zip Code: My Zip
Country: United States
Additional Details - Level 2 Data
Tax: 0.00
Freight: 0.00
Duty: 0.00
Tax Exempt: N
PO Number:
Linda
Best answer: Why not call your credit card company to verify that the transaction actually came from the company with whom you're doing business, and to find out why there was an error.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:47 PM on August 19, 2008
posted by brianogilvie at 3:47 PM on August 19, 2008
Best answer: I don't think they're scamming you -- they are asking you to send a new email so that all of that transaction info is not included in your reply. They are asking for the rest of your CC number, and that transaction report contains the last four digits, your address, etc. So, if someone intercepted it, they could put it all together. By sending a partial CC number separately, they are protecting you because nobody could do anything with just that one piece of information.
posted by spilon at 3:48 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by spilon at 3:48 PM on August 19, 2008 [1 favorite]
Best answer: ...and I presume that the author said not to reply to that email because the last four digits of your card were in it. If you hit reply and did not delete the original message from the reply, anyone who looked at your email would have all 16 digits and your expiration date, and they could go to town. If it were me, and my credit card company said it was a legitimate charge, I would phone or fax my credit card to the company instead of emailing it.
posted by brianogilvie at 3:49 PM on August 19, 2008
posted by brianogilvie at 3:49 PM on August 19, 2008
Response by poster: Thanks all! I'm off to call the credit card company and then the merchant!
Man, y'all are fast! Thanks again.
posted by colt45 at 3:56 PM on August 19, 2008
Man, y'all are fast! Thanks again.
posted by colt45 at 3:56 PM on August 19, 2008
What occurs to me is that the email she sent contains all sorts of personally identifying information, so if you replied to that PLUS your full CC# and Exp. Date (with the message history intact) you'd be emailing a lot more fodder for an identity thief out. You can't really do much with just a CC#, Exp. date and email.
I assume you are normally submitting your payment info through some sort of secure system? If you're really leery of emailing your info, a simple way to deal with it would seem to be to reply that you're not comfortable providing your CC info over email or the telephone, and is there some way you can resubmit it through the system. They shouldn't have shipped on an order they didn't have a cleared payment on, so arranging for you to pay by a method you find acceptable is their responsibility (IMO the proper way for them to deal with this would have been to tell you there was a problem so resubmit your order through the secure system).
Alternately, if you have a reliable general contact number for the company, you could call and say that you were told there was a problem with a payment you made, could you please talk to whoever you need to to resolve that. You've already trusted these people with your CC and personal info, so the only real issue is whether you are dealing with a proper agent of the company. I'd be comfortable delivering my CC # over the phone in that situation. The bottom line is I don't trust the integrity of my CC info anyway (too many vulnerabilities in the total EFT picture) so I rely in reading my statements thoroughly and keeping a regular eye on my credit report.
posted by nanojath at 4:03 PM on August 19, 2008
I assume you are normally submitting your payment info through some sort of secure system? If you're really leery of emailing your info, a simple way to deal with it would seem to be to reply that you're not comfortable providing your CC info over email or the telephone, and is there some way you can resubmit it through the system. They shouldn't have shipped on an order they didn't have a cleared payment on, so arranging for you to pay by a method you find acceptable is their responsibility (IMO the proper way for them to deal with this would have been to tell you there was a problem so resubmit your order through the secure system).
Alternately, if you have a reliable general contact number for the company, you could call and say that you were told there was a problem with a payment you made, could you please talk to whoever you need to to resolve that. You've already trusted these people with your CC and personal info, so the only real issue is whether you are dealing with a proper agent of the company. I'd be comfortable delivering my CC # over the phone in that situation. The bottom line is I don't trust the integrity of my CC info anyway (too many vulnerabilities in the total EFT picture) so I rely in reading my statements thoroughly and keeping a regular eye on my credit report.
posted by nanojath at 4:03 PM on August 19, 2008
Wow, that was pointless. Oh Real Preview, why did I quit you?
posted by nanojath at 4:03 PM on August 19, 2008
posted by nanojath at 4:03 PM on August 19, 2008
BTW, sharkfu, what provider/service do you use for those one-time-use CC numbers?
posted by nanojath at 4:05 PM on August 19, 2008
posted by nanojath at 4:05 PM on August 19, 2008
@Nanojath:
My credit card with Citibank has one time use credit card numbers. American Express used to have this through a program called Private Payments, but has since phased it out.
posted by sharkfu at 6:27 PM on August 19, 2008
My credit card with Citibank has one time use credit card numbers. American Express used to have this through a program called Private Payments, but has since phased it out.
posted by sharkfu at 6:27 PM on August 19, 2008
nthing CitiCard's Virtual Card Numbers. I use it for EVERY on-line purchase. It's a bit cumbersome requesting the new card # and then typing in the info on the merhcant's order form, but with the $ and time limits it's nice. For monthly recurring charges I just give it a longer expiration date and a total $ limit equivalent to that number of months times the montly charge.
posted by forthright at 9:16 PM on August 19, 2008
posted by forthright at 9:16 PM on August 19, 2008
This thread is closed to new comments.
As an added layer of security, whenever I shop online I use "one time use" credit card numbers with money limit / expiration dates to cut down on the annoyance if my credit card info is compromised. (My credit card company would reimburse anyway, but who wants to go through with the hassle of replacing the card?)
posted by sharkfu at 3:47 PM on August 19, 2008