Author Topic: Credit card fraud refunds: Why do we pay? (Read 18948 times)

peep · « **Reply #25 on:** November 22, 2008, 05:34 »

Quote from: helix7 on November 21, 2008, 20:11

Quote from: le_cyclope on November 21, 2008, 20:09
I had a couple from iStock also.

Ok: The list is now:

DT
BigStock
FT
IS

Any others?

I think it should be stated more clearly. Only the pages where they take money from your account for "card fraud" - which they should not. I had one from IS too - but it was obvious and I did not complain - the same customer downloaded the same file accidentally for the second time within minutes from the first download. So I suggest making a list only of those agencies where they refund "card fraud" - which in fact is stealing from us as this should be their loss. They take a great part of our money as it is so they should take the risk.

Sean Locke Photography · « **Reply #26 on:** November 22, 2008, 05:40 »

BTW, did you read this thread from a while back?
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=74099&page=1

shank_ali · « **Reply #27 on:** November 22, 2008, 07:10 »

I often check what images have sold on istock and a number of times the sale disappears within 24 hours.I always presumed the buyer had made a mistake.Glad the two extended licences stayed put as paying back $70 would be harsh.

jsnover · « **Reply #28 on:** November 22, 2008, 11:51 »

I had a couple of credit card fraud reversals (around 3 months after the sale) at FT, but never anywhere else. No notification from FT. I just happened to notice my balance go backwards, then started doing screen captures until it happened again. Contacted support - usual nothing response and then Chad posted in an off-site forum that it was reversals. Fussed and said they need to provide records of this for contributors. He said it was coming and in a few days the entry for the reversal was in the stats.

At IS I have never had a reversal for fraud. Once (long time ago) I notified them when one image sold six times within 4 minutes (same size) as I figured that had to be a buyer having trouble. It was and they reversed out 5 of the charges. One other time I got sales at two different sizes for an image and the smaller one was reversed - I got a note from IS about that.

helix7 · « **Reply #29 on:** November 22, 2008, 11:58 »

Quote from: sjlocke on November 22, 2008, 05:40

BTW, did you read this thread from a while back?
http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=74099&page=1

Got it. istock is off the list.

We'll just compile the list of sites that charge back fraud costs to us, which are currently DT, FT, and BigStock.

Does anyone know if it's possible to see refunds in my DT management area? I went through recent history and didn't see refunds listed.

Going forward, I will be protesting any funds removed from my account due to credit card fraud. If anyone else is so inclined to do this, I'd recommend it. Maybe if we dispute these refunds we can get the policies changed.

peep · « **Reply #30 on:** November 22, 2008, 15:06 »

How are you going to protest? Just by sending them an email?

hali · « **Reply #31 on:** November 22, 2008, 15:39 »

Quote from: le_cyclope on November 21, 2008, 15:29

Sorry but I can't imagine someone stealing a credit card to «buy» ..... stock photos...

Thieves are not that dumb! They could steal the images more easily from some sites than a card number somewhere!

And with a «valid» stolen card number they can buy much more valuables items!

So maybe we are asking the wrong questions...

Claude

or maybe they start their own microstock and ask for photo id like ss does,
then used them . maybe that too? what are the risk of someone working in SS getting all those photo IDs to misuse?
i'm not pointing a finger at SS, or any stock site, but there are cases of fraud committed by employees, ie . credit card stolen from banks,etc..
what precautions are there that sites like Shutterstock with all our photo IDs are doing to ensure
no one else gets our confidential documents, eg. passport, driver's license, social security ID,etc..
that any one of us wanting to submit to SS has to send an image.

as claude pointed out, maybe we are looking at the wrong end of the spectrum.

basti · « **Reply #32 on:** November 23, 2008, 07:02 »

Ad CC frauds: Here in Europe or in Asia are CC not much widely used but US is completely different market. Many dumb users, millions of CCs on the market. There are hundreds of specialists on stealing CC numbers. You think its difficult or expensive to get/buy CC number? Wake up... I just buy stolen CC number, register on agency under false name and buy thousands of pics in few days. How you think you can track me? I just login via some server in Africa or from internet cafe and you are out of luck...

Ad safety: Yes, internet safety is low. Photo or passport number on SS? Haha! You think its a big problem for experienced photoshop users (which we are) to tweak passport number, name and photo? How could anyone from SS know how does Burkina Faso passport look like? Its extremely easy to just steal dozens of pics on eg. Flickr or Picassa (where dumb ppl post even huge size pics), then built up portfolio under false name and passport and send it to paypal, where again is NO real personal ID unless you transfer more then $200/month. But you can have many paypal accounts, dont you? Is that scary?

Ad agencies policies: How you think you can push them? Just cry loud and your portfolio is gone, you are banned on every phorum etc. Theoretically we can make some union and try to push hard or withdraw from certain agencies. However its not likely to work because there is simply too many photographers and that also means thousands of ppl who care only about few extra $$. Microstock is a new and special type of market in photography, its hard to predict how it will evolve. But we can say that ALL agencies have agreements extremely unfair to photographers. You have nearly no rights, they can delete or ban anything anytime they like, take huge commisions and most of work and risk is on us. Its sad but the option is to shut up and adapt or give up and try different market (macro, contracts...). In case there is group of ppl trying to push Im in, but the chance it will change something is in my opinion pretty low.

helix7 · « **Reply #33 on:** November 23, 2008, 12:07 »

Quote from: peep on November 22, 2008, 15:06

How are you going to protest? Just by sending them an email?

I was thinking more of a formal letter or phone call. But email wouldn't hurt, either.

I'm not talking about just sending a whiny email to complain about the refund. Think of it more like disputing an incorrect credit card charge. Make a call, write a real (printed) letter, etc. Some CEOs are reasonably accessible to contributors, so if necessary I think it's worth contacting them as well.

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Author Topic: Credit card fraud refunds: Why do we pay? (Read 18948 times)

peep

Sean Locke Photography

shank_ali

jsnover

helix7

peep

hali

basti

helix7

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