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Author Topic: Hungarian Law  (Read 6278 times)

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« on: January 07, 2007, 23:25 »
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Since Scott is a very reliable photograph, and that he mentioned that the conversation can be copied on another forum, I thought that I would mention the link here:

edited - the link has been deleted.  Here is the 1st post from that link:

"lumaxart2d
Posted: Sun Jan 07, 2007 5:08 pm
Hungarian Law & Accounting at a micro site we will name "x" Requires the answering of a identity security question in the U.S. that is used almost exclusively for Identity in credit verification process?????????
And the site is willing to bribe you for it by paying $20usd for that answer?
I am going to promptly delete my entire portfolio there if it is required to be in their database.
Your Thoughts?"
« Last Edit: January 08, 2007, 16:27 by berryspun »


« Reply #1 on: January 08, 2007, 11:03 »
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As the post was rather vague, and quickly grew into an argument over 'third world' and "US' and other things that had no bearing on the discussion of security issues with microstock sites, maybe you should post more info on this.

I caught StockXpert and StockXChange being named.  I think a finger was even pointed at Dreamstime as one of the culprits.

What's the deal?

« Reply #2 on: January 08, 2007, 11:05 »
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Since when Hungary is a third World country??

« Reply #3 on: January 08, 2007, 11:08 »
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OH man.. here we go again   ;)

I agree, it's not, but we can save that for another thread.  Not sure about everyone else, but it's certainly more important to me what kind of fraud I may be letting my guard down to than someone else's opinion of my country or what to call it.


« Reply #4 on: January 08, 2007, 11:24 »
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After I posted the link (which I did before the 3rd word unjustified comment...), the discussion moved to another forum site mentioned in the same thread.  DT is from Romania, and was just mentioned by another photographer regarding his own experiences.  The site lumaxart2d refers to is SX which is based in Hungary.

There are more details there.  The main reason why Scott pulled out is, and I quote:

"Wasn't my SSN they wanted... but one of three I.D. questions which is almost exclusively used only for credit verification approval.(at least in the U.S.) and then to top it off with a bribe of $20usd for the answer?"
« Last Edit: January 08, 2007, 11:28 by berryspun »

« Reply #5 on: January 08, 2007, 12:29 »
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So much confusion on this matter.  Hopefully I can give more information to explain the origin of the whole debate.  Apparently some photographers (why not everybody I dont know) received a request from Stockxpert to provide certain personal information for accounting/legal reasons.  Very strange.  Here is the full message.  What to you think?

"Happy New Year!

We are contacting you because we need a little help. We are a Hungary based company and like all the other countries we have some very strange laws, especially when it comes to accounting.

In short, we need to have your birth location, birth date and mother's maiden name for accounting purposes. Don't worry about it, it's just a technical issue, nothing more. We know it sounds stupid, but unfortunately we cannot do anything about it.

We hate to waste your time and understand that things like this can be very annoying, so in return for your help we will credit you $20 on your account after we received all the data. Since this issue only affects some of our users, you may even consider yourself lucky to get a $20 bonus! :

To provide the data, please log in and use the form on the My account / Profile page titled 'Important!'.

Thank you very much for your help, and if you have any questions about this matter, please contact our customer service.

Best regards,
Peter Hamza / Stockxpert Crew"

« Reply #6 on: January 08, 2007, 12:32 »
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I never got the email, so thanks for posting.  It makes a little more sense now.  I agree i would be a little sceptical if i got it though.

The $20.00 bonus doesn't make me any less sceptical either.
Istock changed it's keywording system and expected everyone, for free, to go through their thousands of images and fix them... over 1,000,000 images for their users to fix.

Stockxpert wants you to fill in 3 blanks and will fork over $20.00.
hmmm

would be nice to have some input from them.

« Reply #7 on: January 08, 2007, 13:02 »
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An admin answered about this issue on StockXpert forum :
http://www.stockxpert.com/forum.phtml?f=showtopic&n=1934

It seems it affects only contributors who are paid from their hungarian paypal account for some strange hungarian law reasons.

Though I personally didn't receive the email, I sure wouldn't feel confortable giving such personal (and somewhat sensitive) informations.

Erick

« Reply #8 on: January 08, 2007, 13:50 »
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First thing I would suggest is... pay the * fine.

Makes one wonder how large the fine is to make them consider shooting themselves in the foot.

« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2007, 14:13 »
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From what they posted in their forum, I'd suggest giving them a fake information. They say than no one will be verifying the information.

« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2007, 15:14 »
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from another forum

Quote
Hi Guys, it's Peter (admin) from StockXpert. Please don't worry about this
request. It's not a phishing scam or anything like that. We really
need those details for accounting purposes. We are obviously unable to
verify them and nobody else is going to take the time to do it, but we
are required by law to ask for them. It's nothing more than stupid
paperwork. If you have concerns about the genuinity of the message you
got, please contact our customer service and they will tell you that
it's real. Thanks for your understanding!

dbvirago

« Reply #11 on: January 08, 2007, 15:24 »
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From what they posted in their forum, I'd suggest giving them a fake information. They say than no one will be verifying the information.

*. It's always the simple answer. Good one YY. I didn't get the email either but would not have provide the info, even though I stopped using mother's maiden name years ago. What good is a damned security question when everyone has the same answer. That's as dumb as using the same password on every site you belong to.

« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2007, 16:46 »
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Maybe simple, but not honest  ;)  I wouldn't do it.

Not knowing whether I would stay or not with SX, I asked a paypal transfer for the balance due, and everything went well.

I am relieved that I didn't received the SX email with that suspicious request.  When Scott received it, he contacted their customer service, waited, and didn't get any answer.  That's why he emptied his SX portfolio.

« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2007, 17:15 »
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No email here... but I can tell you right now... there's no way I'd go for it... I hate to be paranoid, but there's been too many  'funny'  things going on in this business.   Rather than give that data out,  I'd pull my account too.
I don't get a warm and fuzzy feeling from  ....
 
 "   this is Johnny from admin, it's okay, don't worry about it......  "   

Yeah, okay,  here's my amex, mc and visa and while I'm on line,  here are the pin codes to my bank accounts too.

Just too many scams out there and no sooner than one is uncovered, another pops up to take it's place.  I'll pass on this one.

« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2007, 17:37 »
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Maybe simple, but not honest  ;)  I wouldn't do it.
Honesty is relative. I have no problem giving people fake information if they don't actually have a need for the information. Not to mention that there is no way for the company or government to verify the information, therefore it is useles. In case you're interested my phone number is 641-985-7888 (in the US), give it a call  ;)

« Reply #15 on: January 08, 2007, 19:09 »
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Well, YY, thanks for giving your phone #.  Sorry I didn't phone you, but went through that link instead:

http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/

Honesty relative ?   mmmhhh....  you must be a lawyer then  ;)

Well if this compromising info is useless as SX admin says, then why do they ask for it?  Anyway, I would prefer to erase my 'relatively' small portfolio rather than giving them some fake info.  But that's just me.

« Reply #16 on: January 08, 2007, 19:19 »
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Honesty is relative.

Honesty is only relative for people that don't believe in an absolute truth.

« Reply #17 on: January 08, 2007, 19:43 »
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Honesty is relative.

Honesty is only relative for people that don't believe in an absolute truth.
And that absolute truth is?

« Reply #18 on: January 09, 2007, 03:48 »
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Wonder what will happen if I just ignore the request.  Will they close my account? Send me to Siberia?

« Reply #19 on: January 09, 2007, 07:51 »
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Honesty is relative.

Honesty is only relative for people that don't believe in an absolute truth.
And that absolute truth is?

I am not trying to get into a philosophical or religious debate, but since you asked...

For those that believe, God is THE absolute truth.

For those that don't believe, there is usually no such thing as an absolute truth.  "To each his own" is a common motto (or something similar).  Some people believe that there are many paths to God.  That is, everything leads to the same place.  For them, truth is relative.

My belief (as a Christian) in absolute truth is as follows:

- God exists.
- God is perfect and sinless.
- A lasting relationship with God requires us to become perfect and sinless.
- Humans are imperfect and sinful creatures, thus cannot have a lasting relationship with God (on their own merits).
- Jesus the * was crucified to "bridge the gap" between humans and God.  His blood "covered" our sins.  His blood didn't MAKE us perfect, but it TREATS US as if we are perfect (the term used in the Bible is that humans are "justified" which you might appreciate as a lawyer).
- Humans can therefore have a lasting relationship with God if they accept the sacrifice that Jesus the * made.

There is more of course, but those are the most important points.

I hope that I was able to convey them in an easy to understand manner.

Now back to our regularly scheduled program...


 

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