Credit card fraud not something new to IS

[cathyslife]

Maybe they didn't know about it? Just because Kelly says they knew about, doesn't mean I believe him. Like you said, doesn't make sense then to announce no ones home and send everyone off for the holidays. Who knows. 

The thread you linked to has people calling Istock about large amounts (in the thousands of $) of credit card fraud in November.  Surely that escalating fraud was a red flag? 

I know. You would think that would be a red flag. I am giving up on trying to understand what's happening. It makes no sense whatsoever to me.

[ShadySue]

I don't understand how it's possible that iStock supposedly paid back some scammed victims' money directly...
Once I had my CC info stolen, I was reimbursed by the CC company and not the retailer where the card information was (ab)used.

Did you contact the retailler? It looks from that site as though a few scammed people contacted iStock directly and were paid by them (at least, that's what they say). Whether they would also be paid by their cc company, I couldn't possibly say.
What one retailler does and what another does is totally disconnected, therefore irrelevant. Most companies may tell you to sort it through your cardholder, doesn't mean all will.

My credit card company protects me from ID theft and therefore I don't have to jump through hoops by dealing with those companies that encountered fraudulent charges with my stolen CC info.

I simply give my CC company one phone call and all is settled: I get my unauthorized charges voided and a set of new credit cards. Done.

I consider it "more" inconvenient if I have to find out where my card was used, contact all of those retailers and explain to them that my card was stolen so I can get my money back from them...

That's no problem. You did seem to be questioning the veracity of what people had said on that site when you said: "I don't understand how it's possible that iStock supposedly paid back some scammed victims' money directly."

[click_click]

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That's no problem. You did seem to be questioning the veracity of what people had said on that site when you said: "I don't understand how it's possible that iStock supposedly paid back some scammed victims' money directly."

I see. Again, English isn't my native tongue so sometimes during my in-brain-translation-process some parts may be left out, so I assume you'd understand what I'm saying but in fact I didn't even write it... 

What I originally was wondering about is that iStock would even offer to pay back that money right from the beginning without filing a claim/complaint with the credit company in question.

Not to sound rude but people could file a complaint with their credit card company and get their money back this way anyway, then on top of that they call iStock who would then also send them another check for the same fraudulent amount.

That's what I was surprised about. Usually it takes several days/weeks to investigate such matters on the CC side at least.

Of course it's good that the fraud victims get their hard earned money back, don't get me wrong.

[donding]

...
That's no problem. You did seem to be questioning the veracity of what people had said on that site when you said: "I don't understand how it's possible that iStock supposedly paid back some scammed victims' money directly."

I see. Again, English isn't my native tongue so sometimes during my in-brain-translation-process some parts may be left out, so I assume you'd understand what I'm saying but in fact I didn't even write it... 

What I originally was wondering about is that iStock would even offer to pay back that money right from the beginning without filing a claim/complaint with the credit company in question.

Not to sound rude but people could file a complaint with their credit card company and get their money back this way anyway, then on top of that they call iStock who would then also send them another check for the same fraudulent amount.

That's what I was surprised about. Usually it takes several days/weeks to investigate such matters on the CC side at least.

Of course it's good that the fraud victims get their hard earned money back, don't get me wrong.

The money that is refunded is credited back to the credit card company which holds their account. They don't write out a check to the person.

[click_click]

The money that is refunded is credited back to the credit card company which holds their account. They don't write out a check to the person.

Yeah, makes sense.

[cathyslife]

The money that is refunded is credited back to the credit card company which holds their account. They don't write out a check to the person.

Yeah, makes sense.

And yet this:

I have received a fair amount for illegal usage of images from various agencies over the years.i.e. the agency collects on my behalf.  I never get any real details, just a cheque in the mail. I've not gotten a cheque from Getty but I believe they would send it if they collected money for such a thing.

If you don't mind would you share with us which agencies did pay out any recovered money to you?

In Microstock I'm only aware of a case at Shutterstock where a company "unknowingly" used regular RF licensed images for merchandise that requires ELs. The company did eventually pay for the ELs and SS handed down the appropriate amounts to its contributors.

Who knows how often the agencies do recover any money and if they honestly hand it down to us?

I'm not sure what the legal terms are but you can sue for what is lost by way of the sale and also for damages. The damages, whatever they are called, can far exceed what was lost in unpaid goods. I can't really say which agencies I have received money for this but not micros. I don't expect much from them in this regard. But I think they could if they wanted to. I have received substantial payment for infringement on an RF image.

From this thread:

http://www.microstockgroup.com/istockphoto-com/looks-like-getty-has-some-problems-of-their-own/msg177292/?topicseen#new