MERCHANT ACCOUNT FRAUD the silent killer
 

This post is to shed some light on a very sinister and disturbing epidemic that is intensifying and effecting small businesses every day.

The reason I draw attention this is because many newbies in this business and even veterans are being advised that the answer to all your 3rd party billing woes is to get a "merchant account" and be done with 3rd party billers and pseudo banks!

NOTHING COULD BE FARTHER FROM THE TRUTH

Now I am qualified to speak about this as one who has been burned by the same exact merchant account scam.

The long story short is this.... it does not seem to matter if you are small business or big business but small business merchants make an easier target for fraud.

What happens is you get set up for a merchant account so you can accept credit cards.

You begin accepting credit cards and getting a few small settlements sent to your account. Now sooner rather than later your business grows and your generate double or triple your sales, and you wake up one day and find your settlement funds have not hit your bank.

So then you call your merchant account bank to find out where your funds are....then you get transferred to the "NOTORIOUS and MYSTERIOUS RISK DEPARTMENT"

You get asked to see invoices to prove validity of a few charges...NOW THIS IS KEY TO UNDERSTAND... the charges most often have not been reported fraudulent or suspicious, and are seemingly 99% of the time valid charges.

Merchants are then asked to fax copies of invoices which is a catch 22 and a bear trap!

Because the moment you send your clients personal and private billing and transaction details to a parasite in risk management department you have violated your clients privacy, and can be liable and lose your account for that.

This is understood by the clever and devious risk analysts/ risk managers/account managers/ there are many terms for them but they all act and conduct themselves with the same devious,arrogant,all knowing,all powerful attitude...see this recent quote from one of them to me...

"We do not need to make any excuse to take your money...we reserve the right as a bank to do what we want with your money"

Now that is the mindset of not just a criminal...but a psychopathic criminal as well hiding behind banking regs/rules/and red tape, and sitting in a comfortable secure office many thousands of miles away from you the victimized merchant.

Now before I go any further with this expose' we are going to provide a simple link with many many instances of this happening to normal everyday small business owners,not necessarily adult merchants either...it really does not matter what industry you are in high risk or not...the con and scheme works the same..

view this link for the very same horror stories...

http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/merchant-account.aspx

So my main goal here is to show newbies and veterans alike that when you see advice being given here to get a merchant account, and when you see ISO company sales men and women coming in here to offer you a merchant account, you better know who you are dealing with, and you better get full names, and brick and mortar address as to where your money goes...

They all tell you we heard stories like this...you don't have to worry with our company we deal with LEGITIMATE BANKS, we been in business for 30 years...blah blah blah...trust me, and the thousands and thousands of small business people like me who have had this happen multiple times!

Now I will get flamed,blamed, by keyboard warriors, and keyboard comedians, but be that as it may, you the merchant should get the good understanding that the presence of crooks lurking in GFY masquerading as professional business men and women are very real and commanding.

So lets recap...

1.Many Banks worldwide and domestic are insolvent and in desperate need of funding..

2.processing payments for clients does not pay as well as JACKING a clients settlement funds...

3. If I am a merchant and I pay you 5% transaction fee, then you are only making 5 bucks for every $100.00 bucks that I make.... see you the merchant account reps cannot compete with me, and before long you will want to know how I am making these transactions, and how you can seize my funds...

4. The game is tightening up, we have had account after account closed,seized,intercepted,payouts delayed, promises made, excuse made, and through it all the only motivation is from the fans who say please don't stop your wonderful work..

We are proven cash cows, and the banks and finance companies are proven liars con artists and thieves...

5. Just ask yourself if you are addicted to gambling,money,drugs,...what better place to land a job then in a financial institution...to be where the money is..

It does not take skill to use red tape to steal other peoples money and to steal whats not yours, it simply takes raw will, and the ability to sleep at night stealing food from children.

Clearly I don't care about insults as they have no effect on me and do not in any way change or alter the truth that I speak.

I am still a very small fish, and am only out of about $35,000.00 cumulatively, there are others who have lost more, even there entire business so I am somewhat fortunate.

In a sad way I feel sorry for the risk analyst/risk managers/benking reps/billing reps/ for it is they that demonstrate there desperation, and you see the consequences of their actions everywhere...

there is a direct correlation to the occupy movement and the global outrage that is intensifying everywhere with anger and hostility directed directly at the bankers

Word to the bankers the powers that be can only protect you for so long...as you can see they have there hands full...the people are not falling for tricks, and are starting to see right through your web of lies and fraud!

I have already seen how this ends and I know you have already lost! Take that to the bank!

Why would you trust the lifeblood of your business to someone you do not know personally in the 1st place?

You said you had problems over and over? We've had no problems with First Data in fourteen years. I'm sure things do happen from time to time, but if it keeps happening to you it might make sense to ask "what is the common denominator?"

Remembered me to get one.

Banks are always a scam, this is nothing new. What you need to know is all the scams, that requires someone who has a lot of exp. in merchant management to avoid the pitfalls of day to day operation.

It makes me laugh when people say the are going to build their own sites and get their own merchant accounts.

gotta watch out for them bear traps

I've never had a problem with my own merchant account.

Makes me wonder what you're doing to get the attention of the fraud department.

I can add this about Zombaio's decision to close my account, they wrote this in their last message:

"Any pending payouts will be processed as normal, we will not hold any funds". My payout preferences were so that they did a payout every time a $1000 limit was reached. On the day they closed my account, there was a $843 balance and there should be a rollback reserve of about $500, so that's $1300 in total, which can't be specified as "pending payouts". But they wrote they won't hold any funds, so they should wire this to me sooner or later. My first reaction was... shove it up your ass, but then I thought... WTF, these members are still downloading content from my site so I want my share for that. I asked them by e-mail how this is going to be dealt with and didn't get a reply so far. Not saying they are screwing me, just reporting in here what's going on and what's around the corner for you if they ever close your account for whatever reason. I'll keep you posted, here or elsewhere.

And Swirlsgirl... if you are sure about your case, and the company that screws you is in the USA, get a lawyer. Don't put your energy in venting frustrations but do something about the problem in an effective way and don't wait too long. Or set up a www.****sucks.org domain and name and shame them on there, but do it in a brief, effective way, because most people won't look longer at a site like that than for 10 seconds and they can't be bothered reading long stories.

I'm now talking to a new processor for one of my snuff sites that holds payouts till the 27th of the next month, AND a 10% rollback reserve. Yummie :)

Although what you described is pretty fucked up, it should not really be any surprise. There are scammers in every industry around the world. The thing is, if you can get one merchant account, it's easy to get 10 more. Throw your transaction around them evenly if you have the volume to do so, if one of them gives you shit, close them done and push sales to the others.

Ditto what others are saying. The issues you're having seem abnormal unless there's more to the story...

What types of goods / services are you selling?

Had many chargebacks / given many refunds this year?

Dramatic change in transaction / dollar volume lately?

Do foreign buyers comprise a large percentage of sales?

Ron

cash is king! :thumbsup

just speed things along and die

Always try as much as is possible to find someone who needs you just as much as you need them. When someone acts as if they are doing you a favor by doing business with you that is when you should be making your swift exit away from them. Even if it's something small. Small things soon turn to bigger things with time.

one more reason why the scammers have hundreds of MIDs, its less painful when one gets "lost".

WOW many many thanks guys for the input and comments, I can't describe the feeling I have now knowing that clearly many of you do get it, and repsect my efforts to warn others about the ever growing scamming nature and increasing desperation of finanical companies sucking the life out of small biz merchants!

Many of you give great advice and have my quiet respect, some of you regurgitate the same old "it must be her fault, cause a biller,bank,or pseudobank would never engage in chicanery!

You think you are making a joke of me, but you really show your disconnection from reality.

If you have time to read my long posts, then take time to read the stories of some of those small biz merchants that were posting on that link I provided here it is again...


http://www.ripoffreport.com/Search/m...t-account.aspx

Now before you stroke your keyboard and reveal yourself as a bank worshiper, or syncophant just read the heartbreaking stories of good americans running small biz who followed every rule to the best of their ability only to be cheated and defrauded by an asshat

its heartbreaking and it hurts even more when it happens to you and ultimately your kids are effected because they are the bottom line

good point I have tried to spread myself around offer different services and products have different billers as backups...all that was fine until the global economy started to tank, then and now you really see the desperation accelerating with banks...

I have at least 6 neighbors that are saying how no matter what they do their bank accounts are always overdrawn and stay in the negative... must be a coincidence

Amen and mad props for speaking it so matter of factly it is truly laughable when they say that, and that is why I am obligated to inform that that it is not as simple as they make it sound...and even with your own merchant account, you can be black mailed, and can be robbed blind ....PERIOD!

I know you never have any problems epitome of stupidity!, and I never said fraud, I said "risk" learn to distinguish between "fraud" and "risk"

I will help you just this one time.....

It is a risk for me to let your mom borrow my black veiny dildo, because the last time she borrowed it she promised to return it , but she enjoyed herself so much....she committed fraud in her promise to return the shiny black veiny dildo

I am trying to be serious but I get bank worshipping ass hats that always want to come in and dispute and challenge me...but have your fun...I got nothing left to lose, and I can return the bullshit

Euker I hear you but please keep this in mind this is very important....

When people are advised to just go get a lawyer...that again is easier said then done...

The scammers a.k.a. "risk analysts" "risk Managers" "billing reps" account reps Client analysts...they prey on small biz and remember they have access in a sense to your financials and credit report, they will prey on those with low balances, and almost render you incapable of paying retainer fees for expensive attorneys.

Now I don't mean to insult your intelligence Euker because I know you have been through it all, but I want people to understand that if you were waiting on a large merchant account settlement to cover your over head, and the settlement never comes....you now have to come up with over head money, plus attorney fees, plus food on the table, plus customer wanting their goods...

so it becomes a clusterfuck for the merchant and thats why so many small biz merchants get ruined and thats why not many lawsuits are being brought forward,and these companies continue to burn people with impunity and no consequences....once in a while you have an individual who goes postal and sprays up an office building...

I do not judge those individuals anymore...as I understand fully that when you have lost everything from a crook...most likely you have nothing left to lose

They all look smell and sound the same.....very arrogant...nasally...and full of themselves with a God Complex...thus is the nature and DNA of a pot belly banker bitch or Gentelmen

Hey Ron I am so very glad you questioned this...I appreciate constructive dissent ...food for thought zero charge backs....zero reports of suspicious or fraudulent transactions!

This is very critical to understand and if you take time and read the testimonies you will see clearly that many times its a small miniscule oversight or mis understanding, or bad information given to a merchant from his/her account rep....and to illustrate my point...

if your company is desperate you are acively scanning your clients accounts, looking for 1 i to not be dotted, or 1 t to not be crossed, so you can say this before you jack your clients funds...

"UMM well ahh it looks like you were only set up to process (remember this is being said with a disgusting nasal accent) you were only set up to do 1500.00 a month in processing however you did 1600.00 and because you went over we have to HOLD YOUR SETTLEMENT funds for up to 90 days....sorry it was in your CON-tract

You then say..."hey there was no fraud, no charge back, no suspicious activity...DAMN why you wanna stick me for my paper"

They say "well its really unfortunate that this happened but we have to make sure you FOLLOW OUR RULES because if you make one slip we have the right as parasites to kepp your family from eating this month....

got that bitch boy...good now who's your daddy...us we rule...don't forget it....we make the rules, and break the rules, and pass the bill and the buck to you...petty slave merchant

Now you might think that is extreme and me making fun...but that is no laughing matter and that is the way they think and operate...how could they not?

I've been screwed by more than one 3rd party biller, but we are going back to 1998.

Ahh Hahh now that makes sense!

Sounds like running paysites is more trouble for you than it's worth. :2 cents:

After looking at your site with all your traffic leaks i would not push traffic to you one bit till those were fixed. Shits broken all over your site and im just looking on the outside. Why on earth would you lead a surfer away from your site much less a surfer that a affiliate sent. After reading the reviews of your site by porn users i would suggest you go back and fix the negatives that are posted by people who joined your site. You should be happy you have any billing at all :2 cents:

Tampa I would say broken shit isn't relevant unless she had many members not getting what they paid for and taking it up with the processor... but that would result in a high amount of chargebacks first. Did you get lot of chargebacks Swirl?

Seriously I can list thousands of emails from happy customers but I don't need to stroke my own ego you jealous dumb fuck... I know who the fuck I am....and so does the industry

I am a hit with my fans period end of story....I am a target for billing companies,banks, and crooks...my customers want to pay me for my goods and services and parasites want to take all I have....its that simple....you obviously side with the parasites

I know where you live. Its your neighbors, not the bank. I would say 30% of the foreclosures I've sold were in your area. How do you explain the tens of millions of people not overdrawn?

Make one more comment about a family member and I will do GFY a favor and make sure its bye bye for you. I overlooked it the first time and am this second time but won't a third.

running paysites is fine its collecting payouts that is troublesome.... its the wanton ignorance about how easy it is to get screwed in this biz...I am showing newbies that some one of my caliber whose content has generated millions of dollars can still be taken even in 2011 when you have been doing the same thing for 7 years...

there are crooks that have literally overun this industry!

The foolish webmasters and merchants will never band together to keep the crooks at bay, because like tampa toker...they know everything about everything

I am quaking in my thigh high boots, please do not throw me in that briar patch without first returning my dildo

LOL at millions of dollars made by you. Thanks for the laugh.

I look forward to you proving me wrong with screenshots.

I've seen you. I imagine the only action you're getting in that dildo and the nasty gangbangers paid to fuck your skanky ass.

Another great question Euker..... ZERO CHARGE BACKS...

ZERO FRAUD

ZERO suspicious activity

plenty of greed

desperation

insolvency of banks

thats the point I am trying to make here...they are desperate help me get them to snap out of the matrix...

I am hard working sincere...and would never burn any of you even my haters and attackers...but the bankers see it differently they laugh at us fighting with eacth
other all the way to the bank!

Just remember, SwirlsGirl has had some sort of problem with almost every processor she has ever used.

Never her fault of course.

Look i was trying to give you friendly advice your sites fucked up on the outside not only are you fucking yourself your fucking your affiliates. You been crying for months about processor this , merchant that there is always 2 sides to a story. The only one i see ripping off anyone is you ripping off any affiliates you have.

Look at some of your own members comments http://www.rabbitsreviews.com/s3510/Sara-Swirls.html

But since you since know it all hey handle your biz we all have seen how well its worked out for you over the years. Great job keep up the good work :thumbsup

Sales and profit are two different things :)

My sites generated millions of euros too in the past years but profit was only a small percentage of that, with production costs being high. I would say though that with a set-up like Swirl's, costs can be very low.

By the way, the Occupy movement was setup and is controlled by the globalist bankers, the same people who deliberately engineered the financial crisis

you sound nuts dude. Billing isn't that hard.

sara motherfucking swirls :)

i've had my own merchant account processing for paysites a few years back, I did my own CS and batched my own payments, it was nice and problem free for about 3 yrs straight, then exactly what you're describing happened. i was even shipping dvds and whatnot out in addition to processing recurrings and it doesn't matter if you've got the customers IP, address, and a UPS signature from them. if they want to can you they will do so, and at least in my case fined me $25k. I was using firstdata/linkpoint/cardservice intl if you care to know. its all part of the game and risk of running your own merchant account, not really much different than selling dope, so deal with the risk, minimize it, or get out the game and go back to 3rd party billing. realize you are likely on the visa/mc TMF/Match file and can't get another independent merchant account under your own name anymore so just go back to 3rd party billing, and use that like most other folks do to get your money

Same thing happens in my trailer park all the time, they even FREEZE totally illegally and fraudulently my benefit checks for 14 days just because I at one point made a couple of bad checks. which btw was not my fault but also because of the banks and the postal system.

They team up and delay my foodstamps on purpose to force me into making the bad check to repay my payday loan to get my car out of the impound so I can buy my groceries. They never clearly told me that they steal 35 PER INS CHECK and not PER OVERDRAWN account. What bullshit is that !

To me it sounds like some people have a hard time following PCI DSS requirements...