I got ripped off - check your transactions.

[Zachariah]

I recently noticed charges on my credit/bank card. I have not traced yet what site stuck it to me yet. I contacted Citibank and they helped me out. They informed me that they will refund the charges and kill my bankcard. They will re-issue a new card (3-5 days). If the problem still happens after the new card is issued. They plan to close the account and open another one. I hope this info help others.

05-02  	  	DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 	  	  	  	  	 
  	  	WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-73 	  	$ 9.00  	 

03-31  	  	DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 	  	  	  	  	 
  	  	WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-73 	  	$ 9.00 

03-03  	  	DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 	  	  	  	  	 
  	  	WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-73 	  	$ 9.00 

01-31  	  	DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 	  	  	  	  	 
  	  	WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-73 	  	$ 9.00

01-5  	  	DEBIT CARD PURCHASE 	  	  	  	  	 
  	  	WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS 800-73 	  	$ 9.00

Many on-line places have problems w/ this. Below is a post I copy / paste from "Adam Rosi-Kessel's Fair and Balanced Weblog" that best explains what's up.

This is what we found out. We were scammed as well. This e-mail from another source helped us understand exactly what happened. Hope this helps you.

Hi... I recently encountered a problem with this company but I got to the bottom of it, and thought I'd share what I found out.

I'm actually on the other end of things... I have a web store, and one of my customers saw this $9 charge on her credit card statement. When she called to find out what it was, they told her she'd signed up for this rewards program via MY website. I, of course, was appalled, could not imagine how that could be true (thought maybe they had hacked into my servers??) and so I called the folks who provide our secure credit card processing (www.virtualcart.com) to see if they could shed any light. Turns out, they were 100% aware of the stupid thing... in fact, they signed up for it.

Here's how it works - shopping cart providers (like VirtualCart) have an agreement with this company (Webloyalty, aka WLI Reservations Rewards) whereby when a customer gets to the confirmation page of a transaction in a store that uses a VirtualCart shopping cart, they see a little box saying: "Your purchase is complete. Click here to claim your $10 Cash Back Reward on your next purchase!"

It looks, for all intents and purposes, as though it's part of the store that you're on but underneath the "Continue" button that you can click, in small print, it says "By clicking above, you can claim your reward from the reward provider, Reservation Rewards." It basically banks on the assumption that customers trust the site they're on, THINK they're getting $10 back from that store, and so they click on it. Once you click on it, it pulls your credit card information from the site you just used, and signs you up for this "Rewards" program. It's the most godawful scam I've ever heard of, but as I said, the people providing cart services to vendors have CHOSEN to be part of it (although, in my case, as I suspect in many, without the vendor even knowing!!). When I spoke to my shopping cart provider, they were quick to tell me that they thoroughly researched this program, that places like Yahoo and Expedia all use it, etc etc. I then had to formally submit a request for them to DISABLE this stupid thing on my web store (I couldn't even do it myself through my control panel).

It's a pretty hideous scam, but that's how it works. Hope this is helpful...
Kerry

Here's a list of some of the companies that people have purchased from which have passed cc info to WLI:

fandango.com
movietickets.com
ebay.com
wdrake.com (Walter Drake)
classmates.com
amazon.com
joann.com
jessicalondon.com
travelvalue.com (WLI aka)
travelvalueplus.com (WLI aka)
buyerassurance.com (WLI aka)
reservationrewards.com (WLI aka)
chadwicks.com
orbitz.com
jyfonline
columbiahouse.com
lillianvernon.com
skinstore.com
deepdvddiscount.com
accstation.com
virtualcart.com (shoppingcart - beware of any purchases made through online stores using this shoppingcart)
yahoo stores
expedia.com
priceline.com
ubid.com
onetravel.com
sprint.com
bidz.com
buy.com
1800flowers.com
charlotteflowers.com
priceline.com
mypoints.com
webloyalty.com (WLI)
restaurant.com
dvdplanet.com
cooking.com
allposters.com
musicspace.com
aetv.com
half.com
drugstore.com
jcwhitney.com
hotelreservations.com
lanebryant.com
ccnow.com (shoppingcart - beware of any purchases made through online stores using this shoppingcart)
lernercatalog.com
americangreetings.com
vistaprints.com
gifttree.com
ebags.com
electronicsplus.com


Below is more info on the Web I found on this issue.

Adam Rosi-Kessel's Fair and Balanced Weblog
WebLoyalty.com aka WLI*ReservationRewards Is A Scam
http://adam.rosi-kessel.org/weblog/t...is_a_scam.html

WLI ReservationR - reservationrewards.com - Webloyalty.com - Time Life Use Online Businesses to Rip You Off Norwalk Connecticut
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff151827.htm

WLI* TRAVELVALUESPLUS.COM - WLI*RESERVATIONREWARDS.COM - unauthorized $ 7 charge from each
http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/march/28/2.htm

WLI Travelvalueplus.com - WLI Reservationrewards.com unauthorized credit card charges Shelton Connecticut
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/ripoff154355.htm

[akanevsky]

File a chargeback with your bank or your credit card company and have them replace your credit card as soon as possible.

[Zachariah]

Originally Posted by Psionic Vision

File a chargeback with your bank or your credit card company and have them replace your credit card as soon as possible.

Ya I got that covered.

Originally Posted by Zachariah

I contacted Citibank and they helped me out. They informed me that they will refund the charges and kill my bankcard. They will re-issue a new card (3-5 days). If the problem still happens after the new card is issued. They plan to close the account and open another one. I hope this info help others.

[peterska2]

Just as a BTW, from my background in Finance, cancelling the card and replacing it with a new one will not stop these payments. The only ways to do it successfully are to either:

• close the account and open a new one; or
• contact the company concerned and get them to stop taking the charges by cancelling your subscription with them

If you are contacting the company, ensure that you do it via snail mail, and keep copies of all correspondance in case you need to refer to it.

[Zachariah]

There is no responce to e-mails / website / phone calls.

Looking at tons of posts across the web I have seen this has been happening since 2004.

[Freesteyelz]

Small transactions; effective technique to stay under the radar.

It looks like you got things covered, Zachariah. I hope it goes well for you.

[Chris M]

It should stop it if the information they have on record is the credit card number - I hardly think the bank are stupid enough to supply a replacement card with the exact same credit card number on it

Chris

[SaN-DeeP]

Zach what site did you made your transactions with ?

[filburt1]

Originally Posted by Chris M

It should stop it if the information they have on record is the credit card number - I hardly think the bank are stupid enough to supply a replacement card with the exact same credit card number on it

Chris

Ditto...how can they charge you again when your number changes? The only time it says the same from card to card is when it automatically renews itself. When I reported mine as stolen as a precaution, the last four digits changed.

Pretty interesting reading about how credit card numbers work if you get around to it. There's built-in error protection, country information, etc.

[Tony G]

I'm suprised your bank so willingly accepted those charges weren't yours.