MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1 edit | reply to StillAtIt
Re: [Credit Card Fraud] AMEX American Express Charges from SMS O
said by StillAtIt  :....(something like ALL-LC?? which like so many others purports to be a web billing service. Very similar to the Sacramento 24-hour corp scam.) Indeed, it has the aroma of the long running exclusive Amex cards laundering sites. I am looking other victim reports to see if it is exclusively American Express.
The webiste template is a clone of: »www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe···signs%22
Missing this time around are the obvious connections to the Russian expatriate community in the Sacramento county and surrounding area. However there are some non native English indications such as the "reviews":
"this has to be one of the funniest movies of my youth.I think that its better film of century."
There is no advertising of any kind promoting the website:
Also, that contact email address, which would belong to the actual individual who completed the domain reg: monaviy@hotmail.com appears to have references to former Soviet Block languages.
That format is typical of the Amex fraud laundering. There does not appear to be any published phone number for the apparent cyber-mule:
LP/LLC
SMS OUTLET LLC.
Number: 200826710169
Date Filed: 9/22/2008
Status: active
Jurisdiction: CALIFORNIA
.
Address
658 MCCORD AVE
BAKERSFIELD, CA 93308
.
Agent for Service of Process
DAVID DEARKLAND
658 MCCORD AVE
BAKERSFIELD, CA 93308
.
Which matches to:
That 800-380-9809 appears to be a fake set up that will only accept voice mail. To me it appears that there is a blank in front of the spech preceeding "LLC", as if to insert a name, which was not done. Shabby set up that would be used for several instances. It is bogus as it references that they do billing for over 500 websites, yet there is no search returns on the number. I have not checked, but I am willing to bet that the number is a cheap Ring Central Voip toll free number. All options lead to voice mail.
Anxious to find other victims of the fraud charges. Did you line item charge appear as something like this:
Price .. SMS-OUTLET.COM CA 800-380-9809 ??
According to Domain Tools, there are 4 domains where that same name was used as a registrant, though it may not be the same individual.
However the two starting with the letter "B" were registered around the same time as the LLC. If this is what I suspect it is, then I presume there were prior sites as the LLC is from 09/2008 and SMS-OUTLET.COM is very recent.
MGD |
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Doctor Olds
I Need A Remedy For What's Ailing Me.
Premium,VIP
join:2001-04-19
1970 442 W30
clubs: | I love the fixed text on the main page made to look like a visit counter. LOL
"394034 requests since Saturday 05 July, 2008" |
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MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| said by Doctor Olds :I love the fixed text on the main page made to look like a visit counter. LOL "394034 requests since Saturday 05 July, 2008" LOL,
In fact the source code of the page contains the following references:
Red Pill Blue Pill by Key West Designs
and
>http://www.keywestvacationguide.com/key_west_fishing.php
OSCommerce is used in many of the California AMEX fraud card laundering sites.
MGD |
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K Patterson
Premium,MVM
join:2006-03-12
Columbus, OH | The email address, monaviy, looks to be in the Uzbek language, could well be Russian |
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MGD
Premium,MVM
join:2002-07-31
Fort Lauderdale, FL
| said by K Patterson :The email address, monaviy, looks to be in the Uzbek language, could well be Russian The last Amex card fraud laundering scam that showed up on this forum was, as the op mentioned, 24 HOUR CORP / E Sprint LLC that one gained some media attention, including a BBB Alert. They were hitting AMEX branded cards issued by numerous banks, and included many victims from the UK as well as the US. I believe the fraud has operated non stop, it just manages to mostly stay below the radar. The origins of this operation can be traced back to 2002.
Hopefully if there are other victims of this fraud will find the thread and post.
MGD |
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pcdebb
RIP dadkins
Premium
join:2000-12-03
Tampa, FL
clubs: 
| reply to Doctor Olds
said by Doctor Olds :I love the fixed text on the main page made to look like a visit counter. LOL "394034 requests since Saturday 05 July, 2008" it actually is dynamic for me, i refreshed and it incremented.
the site was created in march, however one of the games was added to the "inventory" in december. that's a hot game!
and in the checkout, why do they care if i'm male or female? It doesn't verify cc numbers at all, totally made up everything (been a long day, trying to lighten the mood), it confirmed my order. so it's sending something to a totally made up order somwhere out there in a city i have no idea where it is 
and the single one game i "bought" shows up in the best seller list lol
--
| map your city | |
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SnowyOne
Premium
join:2003-04-05
Kailua, HI
 ·RoadRunner Cable
 ·Clearwire Wireless
| said by pcdebb :why do they care if i'm male or female? It's about the salutation they might need to use when ripping someones CC. |
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StillAtIt
join:2008-09-30
| reply to MGD
Anxious to find other victims of the fraud charges. Did you line item charge appear as something like this:
Price .. SMS-OUTLET.COM CA 800-380-9809 ??
--------------------------------------------
No, there was no telephone number. I got the telephone number googling the address. The charge was made on May 8th. I caught it when I checked my card on-line.
The charge shows:
SMS OUTLET LLC SMS OBAKERSFIELD
78449 DIRECT MKTG MISC
DIRECT MKTG MISC
When I request additional information it shows:
TRANSACTION DESCRIPTION: SMS OUTLET LLC SMS OBAKERSFIELD
DOING BUSINESS AS: SMS OUTLET LLC
MERCHANT TYPE: INTERNET PURCHASES Transaction Date: 05/08/2009
Charge: $XXXX
Reference #:XXXXX DIRECT MKTG MISC
Merchant Number: 1044708386
Merchant Address: 658 MCCORD AVE
BAKERSFIELD, CA 93308-4716 USA
When I called Amex to ask about this, they wanted to simply credit my account. Apparently, when you set up a merchant account, you can agree to have disputed charges under a certain dollar amount just automatically credited back without any investigation on Amex's part.
So, when you dispute a charge, it just gets credited and the merchant is free to continue the scam. In order to have it treated as fraud I had to cancel my card. (Although it doesn't seem Amex is particularly concerned with this type of scam...) So, the card number that is on this hacked/stolen/purchased/whatever list will no longer work for them and I'll no longer be a good "canary in the coal mine" for spotting this particular fraud.
I do have reason to believe I'm not alone, however. When I called the folks with a similar name in Tempe they say they've had a number of calls from Amex card holders about this and that was before I mentioned my card was American Express.
Finally, I'll add that wherever they get their message recording it is almost exactly the same one I heard at 24-hour Corp before it was hastily cut it off.
Thanks to everyone on this board....you guys are amazing. |
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MMW
@aol.com
| reply to MGD
I have also been a victim of this SMS Outlet charging my AMEX card. It has happened twice now. The first time in mid-March and again this past week. On both occasions, the charges came through on a Sunday...very suspicious. The first time the charge came in, I contacted AMEX and they simply credited the less than $20. amount back to me. I thought it was over. Late last night I just happened to think about it again and checked my account online...Voila! There it was again, the exact same amount! Something I find strange is that I never use this card, and in fact don't even carry it with me. I contacted AMEX again today and insisted that it be investigated as Fraud and informed AMEX that I had discovererd several blogs dedicated to this very scam. Obviously this SMS Outlet is a known scammer to AMEX and why they are allowed to continue as a 'merchant' with them is beyond me. I cancelled my card so they cannot charge me again. Another strange thing is that this is the second AMEX card I have had to cancel due to someone somehow getting the number. I am starting to wonder if somehow this is an 'inside job'. |
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