Author Topic: Jan/Feb fraud - reduction of royalties coming (Read 64798 times)

ShadySue · « **Reply #225 on:** March 13, 2011, 17:49 »

Quote from: Phil on March 13, 2011, 17:05

I always find it strange that someone would bother with fake credit cards to buy photos. I think of many other things I'd grab first, especially when you look at the number of pirate sites full of stock photos. last time I look Heroturko was pushing the big 4 for traffic. why not just grab a pirate copy if that is your inclination.

There's always the 'disgruntled employee' or 'pissed off contributor' theories.

djpadavona · « **Reply #226 on:** March 14, 2011, 10:57 »

Quote from: click_click on March 10, 2011, 23:32

Quote from: caspixel on March 10, 2011, 23:22
...What I also find interesting is that many people are saying this time it was more than the last, only iStock is claiming it wasn't as much. Hmmm...

Are you insinuating that iStock may not tell the truth? How dare you

In my personal experience, there was more supposed fraud this time than last. Obviously on a much smaller scale than a black diamond. I'm really sorry to hear this Sean. I hope you can mitigate some of these losses with legal backing, and perhaps an independent audit.

elvinstar · « **Reply #227 on:** March 14, 2011, 15:14 »

If everyone that has a 5D Mark II interviews a contributor about this whole fiasco, I'll edit all of the footage into a documentary! Maybe if we're on TV iStock will pay attention!

lisafx · « **Reply #228 on:** March 16, 2011, 16:21 »

I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

Risamay · « **Reply #229 on:** March 16, 2011, 16:24 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21

I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

Ugh. Sucks you can't just be happy, huh? But very. I'd be very worried.

lisafx · « **Reply #230 on:** March 16, 2011, 16:26 »

Quote from: Risamay on March 16, 2011, 16:24

Ugh. Sucks you can't just be happy, huh? Yep.But very. I'd be very worried. I am.

jamirae · « **Reply #231 on:** March 16, 2011, 19:13 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21

I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

Dont worry! They got it fixed now. Tomorrow is the last clawback. Right?

caspixel · « **Reply #232 on:** March 16, 2011, 19:16 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21

I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=314612&page=1

nruboc · « **Reply #233 on:** March 16, 2011, 19:36 »

Quote from: caspixel on March 16, 2011, 19:16

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=314612&page=1

You gotta be kidding me,...AGAIN.... well at least they get to keep them this time, the Admin said no more clawbacks...

Susan S. · « **Reply #234 on:** March 16, 2011, 19:58 »

Quote from: nruboc on March 16, 2011, 19:36

Quote from: caspixel on March 16, 2011, 19:16
Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=314612&page=1

You gotta be kidding me,...AGAIN.... well at least they get to keep them this time, the Admin said no more clawbacks...

Actually admin said no more Mass clawbacks. Nothing to stop them doing it on an individual basis.

caspixel · « **Reply #235 on:** March 16, 2011, 20:02 »

Quote from: Susan S. on March 16, 2011, 19:58

Actually admin said no more Mass clawbacks. Nothing to stop them doing it on an individual basis.

They said they had *no plans* for anymore mass clawbacks. Of course, they are probably not planning on anymore mass fraud either.

vonkara · « **Reply #236 on:** March 16, 2011, 21:04 »

So we got royaltee cut, now we have to wonder if our XL downloads are legit. "They" have done a good job at making people believe that being paid in microstock is wrong

jsmithzz · « **Reply #237 on:** March 16, 2011, 21:07 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21

I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

I don't understand why people keep posting these threads in the forums like a lighting rod. Why not just keep quiet rather than draw attention and give them yet another excuse to investigate more deeply and take more money away.

Pixel-Pizzazz · « **Reply #238 on:** March 16, 2011, 22:03 »

Is there GST / HST or PST collected when credit packages are bought?

Pixart · « **Reply #239 on:** March 16, 2011, 22:41 »

Yes, proper Canadian taxes are added to Canadian purchases.

SNP · « **Reply #240 on:** March 17, 2011, 01:33 »

Quote from: nruboc on March 16, 2011, 19:36

Quote from: caspixel on March 16, 2011, 19:16
Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=314612&page=1

You gotta be kidding me,...AGAIN.... well at least they get to keep them this time, the Admin said no more clawbacks...

the thread you posted isn't an official confirmation of unusual dls. they also did a search/best match push of some kind, which could explain increased sales. I have had my BWE by far and felt very concerned. but I've opened a support ticket just in case.

lagereek · « **Reply #241 on:** March 17, 2011, 02:27 »

Yeah I had quite a few XLs dls myself yesterday and its worrying. However this Heke guy told Sean his XLs, were OK, so I hope mine are.

there is always a silver lining!

sharpshot · « **Reply #242 on:** March 17, 2011, 04:17 »

Quote from: caspixel on March 16, 2011, 20:02

Quote from: Susan S. on March 16, 2011, 19:58

Actually admin said no more Mass clawbacks. Nothing to stop them doing it on an individual basis.

They said they had *no plans* for anymore mass clawbacks. Of course, they are probably not planning on anymore mass fraud either.

I don't believe anything I read from admin any more. I'm sure they will do whatever it takes to maximize their profits. If they are still receiving fraudulent payments, I will be shocked if there isn't another clawback.

chrisboy2004 · « **Reply #243 on:** March 17, 2011, 08:21 »

finally got a reply to the email I sent to contributor relations (I emailed directly as opposed to going through the iStock webform)....rather strongly voiced my dissaproval over the clawback of earnings a second time...and the fact that it happened again. My reply? well to me its all a bunch of spin.....shouldnt have expected much less I suppose

Hello Christopher,

Thank you very much for your message and sorry for the delay in response.

We are currently taking many precautions protect your files and to ensure that our Contributors files are not being used illegally online or elsewhere. Kindly note it is in your best interest as well as iStockphoto's that we do this. We continue to draw on both our own knowledge and help from outside sources to develop new solutions. We continue to draw on both our own knowledge and help from outside sources to develop new solutions as well as improve old ones.

Christopher, if you do see any files being used illegally online please e-mail our Compliance Enforcement Team at [email protected]

As per your message, if the amount withdrawn is going to affect you negatively you can e-mail [email protected] and have the royalty removal broken up over a 6 month period.

With your request to only use PayPal or restricting purchases to Direct Deposit or Payment Card Transfer – via credit card this would be nearly impossible as many of our buyers are worldwide. There are certain countries that do not have Interact or PayPal placing these restrictions on buyers could impact sales.

In iStock’s original e-mail we state that iStockphoto is responsible for refunding any full purchase like this to the card holder's financial institution; therefore iStock does foot the bill. The refund issued is the full amount that was paid out to iStock – a portion of which was paid out in royalties. Kindly note that we cannot pay out royalties from funds that did not exist in the first place. We are not issuing this royalty removal to penalize artists within the iStockphoto site.

To clarify the fraud on the site occurred in the following manner: Someone uses credit cards to purchase credits on our site. These purchases are authorized by the credit card company, but not authorized by the credit card holder. The Fraudster then downloaded images using the credits. We actively find these fraudulent purchases and close the accounts. At the same time, customers discover charges on their credit card that they did not authorize. The customer notifies the Credit Card Company, who then in turn removes the transaction amount from iStockphoto because it was a “card not present” purchase. This is what was occurring. As there has been some confusion regarding the word “unauthorized” we want to make it clear that the Credit Card transactions were authorized by the bank, but were not authorized by the actual card holders themselves. There is no typical insurance that will safeguard against this type of fraud.

We understand the disappointment and frustration this has caused. It is not an easy time right now. We are working hard to safeguard the site from this kind of problem.

Ordinarily, iStock does not take back royalties after verifying a fraudulent download. However, because of the scale of this fraud, we have to take the unfortunate step of removing royalties. Any royalties attributed to your account from verified fraudulent downloads will be removed March 17, 2011.

I apologize for any inconvenience this causes.

Sincerely,

Alyshia

Contributor Relations

iStockphoto

Toll Free: 1-866-478-6251

PH: (403) 265-3062

lisafx · « **Reply #244 on:** March 17, 2011, 11:27 »

Quote from: jsmithzz on March 16, 2011, 21:07

Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?
I don't understand why people keep posting these threads in the forums like a lighting rod. Why not just keep quiet rather than draw attention and give them yet another excuse to investigate more deeply and take more money away.

Yes, right. Because if we ignore it then it will just go away.

chrisboy2004 · « **Reply #245 on:** March 17, 2011, 11:34 »

Quote from: lisafx on March 17, 2011, 11:27

Quote from: jsmithzz on March 16, 2011, 21:07
Quote from: lisafx on March 16, 2011, 16:21
I just got a whole series of XL sales in a row at Istock. How worried should I be?
I don't understand why people keep posting these threads in the forums like a lighting rod. Why not just keep quiet rather than draw attention and give them yet another excuse to investigate more deeply and take more money away.

Yes, right. Because if we ignore it then it will just go away.

Very simply.... now we all dont know if a sale is genuine or not, more so when we see a spat of sales like that which in the past two instances have turned out to be fraudulent sales. Of course one is going to worry... how long can we afford to have income generated from these sales clawed back.

Do people honestly think that if we dont mention anything about large sales trends on a forum that iStock wont notice? that they're not (we hope) watching and verifying that the sales are genuine....

Ironically, although I take Lisa's reply to be a somewhat sarcastic comment, I think it reflects how many of us think iStock seems to have been dealing with this to date

nruboc · « **Reply #246 on:** March 17, 2011, 11:36 »

Quote from: lagereek on March 17, 2011, 02:27

Yeah I had quite a few XLs dls myself yesterday and its worrying. However this Heke guy told Sean his XLs, were OK, so I hope mine are.

there is always a silver lining!

Do you think they would tell the guy who was nominated to represent the community that there were more fraudulent downloads the day before the big call?

If it was fraud, I think they're going to cover it this time

lisafx · « **Reply #247 on:** March 17, 2011, 11:40 »

Quote from: chrisboy2004 on March 17, 2011, 11:34

Do people honestly think that if we dont mention anything about large sales trends on a forum that iStock wont notice? that they're not (we hope) watching and verifying that the sales are genuine....

Ironically, although I take Lisa's reply to be a somewhat sarcastic comment, I think it reflects how many of us think iStock seems to have been dealing with this to date

Yes, I was being sarcastic

. And you make an excellent point about how Istock is dealing with these problems.

click_click · « **Reply #248 on:** March 17, 2011, 12:12 »

Regarding this reply I wonder what other security measures they take besides card number, card holder's name and the 3-digit security code on the back of the card.

Since the criminals obviously don't have the physical card (most likely), wouldn't that be just an open invitation for credit card theft?

At the gas station I have to enter my billing ZIP code to authorize the transaction. Why couldn't there also be a pin for credit cards like they use on debit cards?

Sure, I assume that lists of stolen credit cards contain even the billing ZIP code information, it would just make it a bit harder and also the price higher for criminals who want to purchase such stolen information.

I understand you can't stop it from happening just make it a lot harder so there are less cases of this happening.

The credit card system now is so weak, the credit card companies should eat their own losses and not the companies that delivered goods or services. If goods or services haven't been delivered, then they can take it back IMO.

gclk · « **Reply #249 on:** March 17, 2011, 12:26 »

Erm... isn't the call happening today? I thought it was starting at 7am Calgary time today but maybe I misread. Or maybe the five shop stewards are giving the management a hard time

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Author Topic: Jan/Feb fraud - reduction of royalties coming (Read 64798 times)

ShadySue

djpadavona

elvinstar

lisafx

Risamay

lisafx

jamirae

caspixel

nruboc

Susan S.

caspixel

vonkara

jsmithzz

Pixel-Pizzazz

Pixart

SNP

lagereek

sharpshot

chrisboy2004

lisafx

chrisboy2004

nruboc

lisafx

click_click

gclk

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