Aliexpress or Thai Merchant Scam

[riclag]

 

Recently i bought a new Oppo phone for my step daughter at one of the

phone shops in Robinson! 8999.00 bht. $253.34 11/15/23.

Initially the sales girl had tried my USA credit card without success by inserting it into the terminal 3x with 

each time resulting in a error on the screen!

She tried another terminal and that was successful!  

I checked my transactions on my app,

when I got back home that evening and it showed up!

I checked my app transactions on 12/3/23 and noticed that I had 3 more transactions of $258.95 from the same phone store!

I called my Credit Card company  to tell them what happened! They said call back During business hours and suggested I go back to the shop and possibly they could rectify it!

I went and showed the girl at the shop 

My statement transaction's,she said she would go to the bank Monday to check on it!

I went back Monday to the phone shop sales clerk ,she said there was 2 merchant terminals that she used ,xxx bank terminal 3 errors & yyy bank 1 successful transactions!

Xxxbank 3 error transaction didnt show receiving any funds in phone shop bank account.

Yyy bank showed the 8999.00bht.

 

I came back home spoke to my card co. I made a dispute for 3 $258.95 charges and explained what I thought happened.They will investigate and it can take up to 2 billing cycles.Also the card company rep was a bit confused at what happened. Eventually she said it sounds like a triple overcharge and classified it that way ! She also asked if I tried to straighten it out with the phone shop ! I said yes they have no funds received for The disputed 3 charges.

The next day I see a $0 temp transaction for doordash.com immediately called the Credit Card company and disputed this they suggested to lock my card , i did.

One hour later I was curious where the 

doordash was transacting from ,they said they didn’t know but suggested that I cancel the card and issue a new one! I did.They are sending it to Thailand as i asked and told them I wouldn’t be back to the states until late 2024!

 

Heres where AliExpress comes into the picture . I bought a lawnmower part on October 4 with a delivery date no later than December 6 !

The seller sent a message(about the same time of my phone shop issues) through the aliexpress app , telling me to contact a number or go on the thaipost link he provides to check the tracking number. A couple of hours later I was curious if door dash.com was still there on the temp transactions, it was gone but

Paypal

alipay

aliexpress

amazon

airb&b

were recent transactions of $0 temp!

My wife told me aliexpress seller is performing scam's!

Your thoughts?

 

[BigHewer]

17 minutes ago, riclag said:

My wife told me aliexpress seller is performing scam's!

Your thoughts?

I’ve been using AliExpress for years, made probably 300 or so orders. Some slow deliveries, but out and out scams, maybe 10?

1. Fake order scam

For example, I ordered a football jersey but was sent a toy carrot. Delivery is still confirmed as sent by registered mail. Same thing happened a couple of other times. Always refunded.

2. Send me more money scam

I ordered the item, but the seller asked a few days later to pay more. 

3. Fake delivery scam

Item shows as delivered but it wasn’t. 3 times this happened, never refunded.

4. Currency scam

This is clever. I order an item, pay and a few days later the order is cancelled and the refund is issued. However, the refund is (coincidentally ?) processed on a day when the exchange rates are more favorable. Money for nothing.

Now I only order from sellers with a strong order history and positive reviews.

[QECE]

There are simple and logical ways to resolve all these unnecessary issues.

Stop pretending credit/debit cards are an evolved manner.

Stop this cult-like online shopping existence. 

Stop playing their game - over and over and over again.

Modify one's lifestyle to resist the above.

 

[Viggen840]

10 hours ago, riclag said:

Recently i bought a new Oppo phone for my step daughter at one of the phone shops in Robinson! 8999.00 bht. $253.34 11/15/23.

Initially the sales girl had tried my USA credit card without success by inserting it into the terminal 3x with each time resulting in a error on the screen!

I am always leery of using cash or credit/debit payments when I can either provide through QR Scan or direct debit. In the last five years I have only had one problem and that was sorted out by a phone call to my bank. Of course, that took time to come through, but I didn't have to wade through heaps of conversations and (I don't understand you) obfuscations.

[Vigo]

5 hours ago, QECE said:

There are simple and logical ways to resolve all these unnecessary issues.

Stop pretending credit/debit cards are an evolved manner.

Stop this cult-like online shopping existence. 

Stop playing their game - over and over and over again.

Modify one's lifestyle to resist the above.

You are tossing out concepts without considering practicality.  

Credit/debit cards are evolved. One just has to set up the security parameters. This means using cards with chips that require a pin, and transaction alerts. I receive an alert on my mobile for large transactions, and account changes. Signing into any of my FI  and CC accounts requires multi factor authorization with a code generated. Card users must take responsibility for their own basic security. It is far more risky for me to walk around with 50,000 baht  to purchase an item than to execute the transaction online.

Online shopping is not  a "cult like" existence. I don't have the time to chase after   many consumer items, nor do I wish to spend time going to retailers to collect heavy objects. It is  cost effective and efficient to have my heavy or bulk items purchased online.  I know what the cost of some items are, and if a  retailer has my size  and offers a competitive price, I will purchase online. My time has value.

I am not playing games with anyone because I only purchase form verified  sources such as the manufacturer or an authorized distributor. 

I don't have to modify my lifestyle to resist anything. I purchase online because it  is often easier, more cost effective and allows me to use errand time for leisure time. Yes, to using credit cards prudently, no to avoiding  online transactions outright.

 

[Viggen840]

32 minutes ago, Vigo said:

I receive an alert on my mobile for large transactions, and account changes.

My Thai bank notifies of ALL transactions and it is an immediate SMS to my phone. Happy with that!

[MrStretch]

On 12/9/2023 at 12:07 AM, Viggen840 said:

My Thai bank notifies of ALL transactions and it is an immediate SMS to my phone. Happy with that!

I recently engaged this feature on my Thai bank accounts, as well.  I don't have accounts anywhere else. No idea why I didn't do so before.  Instant notification of any transaction in my connected accounts.