Credit Card Fraud – DRI*ELEMENT5.COM
Update: If any of this has happened to you, please leave a comment at the bottom of the page and let me know which state you live in, this seems to be happening especially to people who have paid traffic fines in NYC.
I had the unfortunate experience of having a fraudulent transaction posted to my Visa Debit Card this week. To make a very long story very short, someone, somehow gathered my details, including my credit card number, expiry etc and my billing address. They then used this information to purchase a software license online.
Luckily I pay close attention to my bank statements and picked this up while the amount was still “pending”. Unfortunately at this stage banks can’t do anything about the payments. But I did contact the merchant directly.
DRI*ELEMENT5.COM was the indicator on my account, and having visited their website it was apparent that they get a lot of queries such as mine, considering that their customer service page is entirely a form to look up orders (with email address and last 5 digits of the credit card used). I checked just in case, with multiple email addresses as I have a tendency to do a lot of online shopping.
It turns out that Element5.com is part of Digital River. They are essentially providers of e-commerce to various clients, predominantly software developers. While I cannot and do not blame the merchant at all, it does seem that they fall into one of those categories where a lot of fraud could occur due to the intangible product that does not need to be physically delivered.
If by chance you need to contact them, ELEMENT5.com’s phone number is 1800 406 4966. They were friendly about it all, confirmed that it definitely was not me that made the purchase and reversed the charges. What is interesting is that whoever used my card also created an email address with my name in it. They would not tell me what that email was, but just that it contained my full name – so they really tried to make the best of it.
So my card has been cancelled and I now have to visit a branch with ID’s and all the fun procedures just to draw cash, but at least they can’t use that number anymore. It does worry me that they managed to gather all of my information, though.
Three possible scenarios so far:
1) Someone, maybe at a restaurant who physically had my card tracked down my address somehow and used my details. But this is unlikely.
2) Someone who I have bought with in the past had their data compromised and they had stupidly stored all my details.
3) The most likely is that a recent transaction was handled insecurely and someone along the way had picked up my details. In fact, I paid that parking ticket just a few hours before the fraudulent transaction and they had picked a product which was a very similar price ($2 difference).
Either way, I feel highly violated.
Update:
A lot of people have been mentioning that they are contacting their credit card company, while I went the route of contacting the biller.
Here’s the difference. If you contact your credit card company they will open a case of fraud. You will probably never hear anything back from them but they will reverse your charges.
If you contact the company directly, they will refund you almost immediately but you NOT be able to file for fraud with your credit card company as well.
So the choice is yours.
Just got hit with a charge of $54.57 posted on 12/26 from DRI KASPER.COM. I use Bank of America and this was charged to my visa signature card. I just received this card as a replacement to my old one, and it came with a completely new number as well. The thing is, I don’t use my credit cards, so how did they get my number? (I live in GA)
OK, just got off the phone with Dri Kapspersky.com. Called 877-232-4588 provided in someones previous post. She researched everything and was able to find the order charged to my card and gave me some information. The person who placed the order gave the name of Paul Nelson, lives in TN, and the e-mail address he gave was tnpaulnelson@gmail.com.
Anybody else find anything in line with this?
I hope they catch this asshole.
Just got my statement $230 charge in 12/26/09 – Live in Florida – Sent in my dispute since the customer non-service person had no clue what I was talkign about and could not pull up an order under my name
I was just hit with a $29.95 charge. I live in Florida. I am haveing my bank reverse it and issue me a new card.
I was charged on the 01.01.2010 with 18.71 Euro
DRI WWW ELEMENT5 INFO
I think it is wrong, and guess it’s a case of fraud. It happend with an account in Germany/Europe.
Regards, Stefan Koester-Hirose
I bank with Bank of America as well and I got a surprising charge of $29.95 from DRI ELEMENTS5..and because the charge was pending the bank couldnt do anything about it till it posted. I just had the card cancelled and reordered a new one. internet users BEWARE! this is not the first time this has happened.
I had a charge posted to my business account. I am referring it to the bank. I live in Ohio.
DRI*elements5.com is a charge from PCTools (they do spyware doctor also). If you ever bought anything in the past from them they have an auto renewal policy that charges you credit card. Call them at 1-800-764-5783 talk to billing and tell them to refund your account. My bank said because there was no phone number on the charge I could dispute it and I am going to anyway, but in the meantime PCTools also said they would refund and stop the auto charge.
DRI*KASPERKY.COM posted 399.75 on my debit card, I caught it as a pending transaction, and BB&T said it would approve the charges, even though I was challanging them. The 399.75 put my BB&T account into a overdraft condition. Although I cancelled the CC number, the charges are still going to post. Who wins here, everyone but me. Buyer beware.
My bank just called me today 2/4/10 that two charges were made from DRIelementst.info for $289 yesterday and $299 today. Since I did not do this I cancelled my card. I hope someone catches this guy. I see many different phone #s for them from the various feedbacks. I did not call as I don’t want them to have my phone # obviously they are very slick and it will catch up soon.
I live in northwest Florida, and have just been charged $29.95 by DRI*elements5.com.
Bank of America has told me the same thing, that they cannot dispute the charges until it posts, however, they were able to place a “Stop Payment” on the recurring monthly charge of $29.95.
When I called DRI with the number provided to me by my bank, they wanted my card number and zip code. I told her, “NO WAY am I giving you my card number,” and therefore she couldn’t provide me with any information.
First thing tomorrow morning, I am contacting our State Attorney and the Department of Economic Crimes to report them, and urge everyone else to do the same. It is the only way to stop these cyber-thieves, though, as a poster pointed out above, they just change their name. sigh. We need much stronger consumer protection laws!!!
live in PA.
Thanks to Sandy, I was able to cancel the automatic renewal for Spyware Doctor purchased one year ago. I don’t recall ever agreeing to automatic renewels but they sure enough did it. Spware Dorctor didn’t help my business computers at all..and would not recommend it to my worst enemy. So sad to see people being ripped off in this way. Luckily for them, they said they would credit my account. We’ll see…it sure makes we question using my debit card online anymore, and I wasn’t one to be sceptible of this!!!
I just looked at my acct and noticed a 39.95 charge from these people. I called my bank (Frost Bank in Texas). The customer service rep was very nice and told me what to do. I had to cancel my card, request a new one. While on the phone I did this. He saw my request was completed and immediately credited the amount back even though it was just in the pending stage. He is the one who googled the web site for me and saw that DRI*Element5 has fraudulent charge issues. Just when I thought customer service was DEAD! Frost Bank changed my thinking.
I just checked my visa card and $187 was charged to my account from the same place Element5, I contacted the fraud division at capital one and they are looking into it
I was charged $29.95 on my visa debit for a computer anti-virus. I live in florida. I am having my bank dispute it.
MD, just noticed today the pending 39.95 to some element5.com or .info.
Just noticed i had a 53.49 charge. It was charged from my husbands debit card but he is in afghanistan (he still has his card). This wasnt’nt the only charge, there was 5 that was made within 30 min of eachother and all to game places. So I’ve been lookin up these places and i got this foruem from one of the charges. I have cancelled the card and fileing a report…. Very upset bout this.
wow , first of all good see guys sharing their experiences , i too will share mine here :
I live in texas, hillbilly county , I purchased a cool gadget at a cheap price on EBAY and now I found this charge of 42.39$ on my DEBIT card. i am literally worried that they may do it again also , should i close the card ? what u all say?
effective online ads
I just found this site as I searched for digital river.
I am in Australia and discovered from an email from Paypal that 3 transactions for US$29.76 were charged thru Paypal apparently using my credit card on March 8 2010. Of course, I did not authorized these at all.
Paypal is pretty useless when it comes to resolving problems, but I have reported this scam. Their advice is to contact my bank re the credit card.
The purchase was reported as Digital River USD GMBH. The item was listed as WWW ELEMENTS.INFO with 3 different order numbers.
I am watching to see if the credit card is used again illegally. If so, I will cancel it immediately. In Paypal, I changed my password, so hopefully this will block further attempts to use the account.
I hope you all have your problems resolved soon.
Same charges, a little over $53. They also charged at Apple ITunes. I am in Syracuse NY
I was just hit with a 165.00 charge today. I don’t shop online. The crazy thing that the bank discovered is that the charge was for the same amount on the same day that I spent at Walmart here in town. At first the teller kept brining up the walmart charge, and I told her, that there was a pending transaction for the same amount. She thought it very weird. They are disputing it right now. (I live in Colorado)
I was checking my bank statement online and notice a charge of $29.95 to DRI*ELEMENT.COM. It was for the Spyware program that I purchase a year ago as a 1 time charge of $19.95 then, There was no mention of anything in purchase about yearly charges. I call the 800# and settle this as quickly as possible and will receive a refund with-in a few days. Also notified my bank about them and they suggest I cancel my card and I will receive a new one in a few days also. The 800# is as follow: 1-800-406-4966 this a free call to DRI*ELEMENT company and they will help you.
Good Luck peoples,
David L. of Virginia
Exactly the same message as David L. I called de 800# of Dri*Element… but the worst is that I had purchased Spyware doctor software in 2005. I am very sure they had never charged it every year since my first purchased.. if they did then I gave them 4 times 29.95$ and never used this useless software, it only slows your computer down, and I changed my computer since then. I am now waiting for the refund.
I will cancel my credit card as soon as I get my money back.
Isabelle P.
Montreal, Canada
I was just hit with a TOTAL OF 406.00 dollars in charges. 7 that when i looked it up directed me to this site and found many similarities. Had 3 charges of 53.94, 3 charges of 43.94, 2 charges of 39.95, one charge of 29.95 and 2 charges of 40.27. I am OUTRAGED!! don’t know which is the best way to approach the situation because i would definitly like to prosecute!!
My debit card was hit for $29.95 on 3/17/10 – called bank and filed a fraud claim. Now I wait for my new debit card!!! I will get the charge refunded. I’m in Colorado. Only debit charge this week was at Starbucks!!!
Amanda – cancel your card quickly!!
This is a good news story. Refer my previous message 11 Mar 2010.
With the information I had from Paypal i.e. The place of purchase and the references for the order etc. I contacted the Digital River website and asked for a copy of the invoice. After many emails back and forth each signed by a different person, I received the following:
“We have pulled the information about 3 orders in the same day. It will lead to fraudulent issue. (They confirmed who placed the order and what is was for) Please let us know if you would like a refund.”
I said yes.
So, persistance pays. I hope they report the person involved to the police,
but as I live in Australia and the fraudster lives in USA, I will leave it to them.
I got charged on 3/19/10 $29.99 but I don’t know for what. I called my bank.. they are disputing it as we speak. from southweatern Pa
I had $29.95 taken out of my Bank of America account on Saturday. I didn’t recognize it either until I read some of these posts. I have dealt with Digital River in the past and they were quite honest and helpful. PC Tools is the likely culprit. I suspect they renewed a software that I bought from them (Registry Mechanic)a year ago without notifying me. I imagine that was part of the deal when I ordered it. I just forgot when my one year was up. I don’t suspect them of anything except being a bit sneaky. I believe they should verify with you before taking the funds.
Another happy ending – same deal – automatic renewal of Registry Mechanic that wasn’t authorized – I called 1-800-764-5783 and they immediately cancelled the auto renewal and gave me a credit. This would have been so much easier if the bank had just given me the 800 number on the actual transaction. Problem being debit card cancelled so I wait for my new one!!!
My boyfriend just had a $49.99 charge show up on his visa debit card from . We live in Wisconsin. This needs to be stopped, there are way too many posts saying people had this happen to them
My VISA has been recently charged with $40.95 by dri*pctools.com. I suspect about Bookin Hotels, a booking organization based in Turkey which now I know is operating fraudulently using their credit card information.
Rene /Chile
yeah, I got this chg from DRI too.
turned out “it was legit” I had purchased “RegistryMechanic” (3 licenses) for 39.90 total…with annual automated “one a year billing” from PCTools…
They use DRI …Digital River …a 3rd party biller…
flashrob
I received a charge for 29.95 from DRI*ELEMENT5.COM, ELEMENT5.INFO. I used the phone number for PCTools from Sandy (posted in this forum) and the charge was from PCTools for Registry Mechanic that I hadn’t had for years. The refunded the charge. They are hard to understand, they are in Ireland; I am in the US. The number was 1-800-764-5783.
happened to me 3 times before i noticed my fault it happened so many times buy now im out 300bucks, sucks for a poor college student. fml…
and also i live in northern California. all charges were $80.
someones getting rich from this. i hope they get that they deserve, a ticket strait to hell.
I GOT CHARGED 400 DOLLARS FROM ELEMENT 5. MAKES ME SO MAD THAT PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO DO THIS TO ME.
I was Hit with just under $500 they started with TMA*AFFILNAME,GA then went to Valve then went nuts on itunes. My bank just called and told me otherwise i would not have known for a few days.
wow…ive been getting hit with a $54.95 charge from TMA gamename affiliate for the past few months now…ive replaced my personal card and my business card twice now, and today i noticed a hit on there for the same value but billed as Miscellaneous. it would seem that im not the only one…Im in detroit michigan.
Just got charged $63.53, I live in Alaska
I legitimately bought spyware software from this company back in March for a one-time fee of $30 for one year. They charged my account, all was well and good (this was the only software that was documented to get rid of the virus I had).
I look at my account today and have a charge of $74.95 from this past Monday. I checked out my PCTools account, and they had no record of this second charge. Called PCTools — they had no record either. Obviously, I called PNC to dispute it.
Here’s the weird thing: My mother has a debit card linked to my bank account (which is in my name). This latest charge was made with HER card. Is it just a coincidence that her info was used in the fraud? Or somehow connected to the fact that I was once a customer?
Bah.
Live in Southwestern PA.
Great article. There’s plenty of great info correct here, although Used to want to allow a person understand something — I’m running Operating system X with the circulating beta associated with Chrome, and the design of weblog is kind associated with bizarre for me. I read the articles, but the navigation doesn’t function so great.
I just got charged $39.95 – I live in Massachusetts
My card was hit for $54.99 & 10.95 I called the number above and they are gonna process my refund!
I called 1-800-406-4966 (as listed by a person above). I reached a processing company called DIGITAL RIVER. They are a processing company for “thousands of companies” (per the person I talked to) – and get this – they can’t give me a number to reach the company I supposedly purchased something from. She said that last year someone purchased Spyware Doctor with Anti-virus with my account, and the purchase had an auto-renewal setup in it. WRONG. I told her I wanted a credit. She said she sent a credit REQUEST to the vendor, and gave me a confirmation number. I will contact my bank also. I supposed I will have to change my account numbers. Nice.
I live in Maryland and this happened to me. I called their “secret” customer service number, which they don’t want anyone to know about, and after having to get fairly strident was able to get a refund — however, the unauthorized debtit caused me to incur overdraft charges, which they refuse to reimburse. I am haven’t given up and am raising a stink anywhere I can. Go to PC Tools Facebook page and post your complains, go to PC Tools forum and post. Also there is a a Facebook Group – Victims of PC Tools Fraudulent Billing Practices – with lots of information on how to contact PC Tools. This company needs to be stopped!
Received a fraudulent debit card charge of 29.95- Thanks to this site I was able to call to get a refund!!!! I’m unemployed and pissed off!!! I live in Michigan
i was just hit with a non authorized $39.95 charge.
got hit 10 01 10 on my BAC for $79.00 DRI*WWW.ELEMENT5.INFO
got my refund and ordered a new card. PITA
Yes, same thing here. There was an invoice emailed to me for a subscription renewal to something I did not buy. I called the number, they said they canceled it and refunded my money (40$) – we shall see if it gets refunded…. They claim I bought the software in 2007 and I did not – This is BS and I hope they take this element 5 and digital river out of business… scam artists…