posted on November 17, 2000 08:55:31 AM new
About a month ago I warned folks about Paymentalt. I said that at best it was an amateur who had no idea how to run a site and at worst it was a crook looking to harvest credit card numbers for fraud. Folks argued with me and said since it had a verisign logo, it must be legit. I emailed verisign and from their response I discovered that all it takes to get a verisign logo is to pay them a few bucks. They do not check the validity of the company other than that it exists.
I warned folks on this board and other boards and sent out email to the subscribers of my free newsletter. Today I was emailed by a friend of one of these subscribers. It seems that the "CEO" of Paymentalt has fled the country. No one received their sign up bonus. 14,000 folks signed up and many are finding fraudulent charges on their cards. The authorities have been notified.
The real problem is that once your CC has been fraudulently used, a good crook can do a real identity theft and obtain additional cards in your name. I have heard cases where folks had this nightmare for years and their credit rating was completely ruined.
Just because a company has a fancy site, a verisign logo, a stooge to post at AW with the company line, does not mean they are legit. When you start to see lies, questionable practices, accounts frozen, you have to start wondering. A great way of getting operating capital is to freeze accounts and get a "free loan." As long as there are accounts to freeze, they can stay in operation. But what happens when everyone starts to pull their money out? The last ones left are the ones who will lose.
Check out this page for a review of payment sites and feel free to email with any relevant information.
