Alert - STC SAWA Credit Card Fraud

[recoletaynot]

An update. I logged into my Paypal.com account and like you all. I had 2 more charges today from the same company. I'm really surprised that Paypal.com doesn't have a flag on this company and just automatically reject all the charges from them. It's so obvious it's fraud.

I'd definitely say these databases were stolen or hacked into. I don't think you can trust even your banks these days. I read in the newspapers about even top governmental agencies that have employees take laptops home that have secret or confidential information and then they get stolen and OUR information is compromised.

Of course we will eventually get our money back but the problem is many of our bills are on automatic debit and now I have to cancel all of them. Very frustrating experience.

[recoletaynot]

.

[CharityAngel]

My husband went to our bank this morning. The Charges that PayPal had said were completed had not been charged to our bank account. The teller took the affidavit for Pay Pal and made a copy of it, as well as faxed it to Pay Pal for us. He told my husband that he would be his witness that he came in before there were any charges on the account from this "company", and that he should come back on Monday and see a manager so that if it does show up, they will just reverse it. So at least we will not really have to pay the $160 or the international fees, or the "overdraft" fees that would have resulted from this, because we do not keep money in the bank except for a specific planned purchase. We never trusted the electronic monetary system for reasons just like this, as well as for the possibility of over zealous creditors that could drain you of everything that you have and then you are left desolate.

So, I guess that my Pay Pal account will be a mess as they sort that all out, but at least I will not have the bank fees and have to pay $160 into a negative account to make it current.

I have been posting bulletins about this on my Myspace page, I have 26000+ friends/fans, and I am hoping that we can get the word out so that people can stop this before it actually gets any worse.

[kem327]

Originally Posted by Sheriff553

Hello everyone,

My name is Investigator East and I am with the Goochland County Sheriff's Office in Virginia.

...

- Victim's location
- Name of bank/type of card used
- # and amount of each charge
- Date of each fraudulent charge
- Name of company spelled exactly that the charge was made to
- If any online shopping is done and what companies used if you can remember
- Any past history of ID theft (just yes or no)

They got me too.

- Location: Westchester, NY
- Bank/Card: Citibank Dividend MasterCard
- #/Amt: 2 x $80.00 charges
- Date: 14-Jul-2007 on both
- Company: STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYADH SAU
- Online shopping: card was approximately 6 weeks old. Online stores: mlb.tv, RANDOMACCENTS.COM, amazon.com, Banana Republic, Blockbuster online, Lands End, Planet Shoes, Epocrates, Linens N Things.
- Past History: No

Even though this card was only 6 weeks old, it's our main card so there are tons of restaurants, gas stations, etc. Nothing sticks out too much unfortunately.

**it was also used at Quest Diagnostics & Health Check Systems (since you mentioned your victim charged some medical related items)

[dezignsolutions]

I just came from the bank... closing my account, doing paperwork, ordering a new debit card, you know the drill "sigh"

I went online to check my account this morning. Guess what?... I'm BROKE!! I was hit a total of 9 times in the amounts of $80.63 & $80.79 just over this past weekend! I recently moved so I'm playing catch up in the funds dept. so this couldn't have come at a worse time! All the charges appear as the STC SAWA Recharge crap. I'm starting to see a pattern here just reading "some" of this post and from looking online. The things I find in common are Paypal, Go-Daddy, and even registerfly. I use them all, well I did until this. Now I'm trying to figure out alternatives for my hosting needs.

I only hope (for all our sakes) that this person will be stopped and soon! Good luck to all those effected.

dzs

[The Merg]

This is definitely getting interesting. Never in a million years would I have expected this thread to be as big as it is when I started it as a simple "warning" thread.

As for places my card was used, I also have mine on file at Paypal, used it at GoDaddy in June, and had previously used it at RegisterFly (last time was in July of 2006). Here's the complete list of places the card was used at in May through July of this year:

Amazon.com
American Idol
American Tap Room
Anthony's
Applebee's
Armor Fence
ASCD
Beijing Gourmet
Birthday Keepsakes LLC
Blue Ridge Arsenal
Chipotle
Chrysalis Vineyards
Citgo
Citibank
City Tavern Grille
Coastal Flats
Compulabel
CVS
Dick's Sporting Goods
Domino's Pizza
Exxon
Fosters Grille
G&C Auto
GoDaddy.com
Harris Teeter
Home Depot
ichapters.com
iTunes
LeadSinger
Lifetouch
Lowe's
Mandarin House
March of Dimes
Panera's Bakery
Parrish Services
Philadelphia Tavern
Poolcenter.com
PoolPlaza.com
Qdoba Mexican Grill
Red Fox Inn
Red Robin
Redbox
Regal Theaters
Ruby Tuesday
Sears.com
Shoppers Food Warehouse
State Farm
STC SAWA Recharge
Sunoco
Sunset Pools
Target
The Barber Shop
The Washington Post
The Winery at La Grange
Walgreens Mail Service
Wal-Mart
WeightWatcher.com

- Merg

[DealerDave]

Now that you mention it, I have used mine at Registerfly also... this is probably the culprit. They are notorious for stealing peoples money.

[dezignsolutions]

What gets me is my bank. You think they would have a fraud dept. that would see all these charges and would have called me?.... Example, last night I was charged once at 9:14, twice at 9:15, and again at 9:16. That alone would have caught my attention had I worked at a bank. Then they were back at it this morning. The last time I was on the phone with the bank!

[chad81]

My wife and I too have been had by these people! On Aug 17th, 2007, we received a call from the fraud dept for our bank around 12PM. There had been 5 charges of $80.00 to our account from STC SAWA RECHARGE RIYADH. There were also 5 fee charges of $0.80. We had made purchases the day before to Pizza Hut and Ebay payment through paypal. Aug 15th used Debit card at TJMax Goodies, and places in the mall. The card we use is our Tyndall Federal credit Union Debit Check card. Its VISA! I've noticed that most of these cards being charged are VISA! maybe its something to do with VISA. I also have a question. How many people here are military or married to military? I am Military, and a friend of mine who is military had charges on his account from Mexico! People tried to buy a 50K cruise on his Debit card! These people need to be caught! The charges finally went through to our account today. My wife has to go to the bank tomorrow to file fraud charges! This is rediculous that its happening all over the world and no one is taking action! I will be pushing this with my bank as far as I can. Something has got to be done! I want to press charges to whomever this is! Lets see how he or she likes losing their money! Its not fun losing $400.00 to a punk across the world! If any of you reading this are apart of this, GET A JOB! We work hard for our money so should you! Dont steal from us! Oh and you WILL be caught!

[OHMassageGirl]

Hello all. It's unfortunate that we all have to be privy to this discussion....I too have been hit.

All of my charges (4 @ 80.63) occured yesterday on Sunday. I view my checking account everyday, so I noticed that I only had $20 left in it. I bank through a small credit union in Northeast Ohio, and my debit card is a MasterCard.

I do have a Chase MasterCard, but this card was not hit. I am quite the computer nerd, and I'm shocked my info got hacked!

I called PayPal after viewing this forum, and I didn't have anything transferred from PayPal.

I DID recieve a letter from my credit union at the beginning of the year saying my card was used at a merchant were CC #'s were being stolen! I didn't think anything about it, and at that time, you could have closed out your account and gotten a new debit/credit card.

This letter never said what merchant was hacked, or what type of charges other consumers rec'd.

I have filed a police report, reported to the BBB, the credit agencies, as well as my credit union. I also reprinted this forum and gave it to my credit union, as well as the officer that took the report.

It's a shame that out of 110 postings, there is no real common thread. I saw class action lawsuit for loss of money and time. Plus, I'm afraid that with the money being sent to Saudi Arabia, will we been seen as terrorists.