The Energon Pub

The Transformers Club Store is currently being upgraded. This shouldn't be an unusual event; after all online stores must make updates occasionally to reflect changes in market or technology. However what makes this event unique and interesting is the text that is seen if an item is attempted to be purchased:

Your security is important to us. We are busy upgrading the store for your safety and will be back up shortly.

This upgrade follows a rash of credit card thefts that have circumstantially linked to The Club following the rush to buy Over-Run and Shattered Glass Drift and their accompanying T-Shirts. Are the events related? As of yet The Club has yet to comment.

Keep an eye on SEIBERTRON.COM for any updates to this or any other story.

So who else had a charge out of Mumbai? I bet I'm not the only one.

jimclancy wrote:So who else had a charge out of Mumbai? I bet I'm not the only one.

Mine was somewhere in New York and didn't happen until this morning. I had thought I had escaped unscathed, I guess everyone who bought from The Club should cancel their Credit Cards.

The collectors I've spoken with have had charges ranging from Wal-Mart.com to American Express to Google. Laptops being sent to New Jersey seems to be popluar with this particular breach. Out of precaution, I recent my card information and have had no problems, but it seems no one has escaped truly unscathed as the fraudulent charges have hit people that ordered pre-shutdown, post- shutdown and any range of items.

That's good to hear. I have to renew soon, so hopefully when they have it back up, they won't steal my credit card.

I had thought that I had been unscathed, but I found out about two weeks after purchase that I had been hit. Having only used my credit card twice in three months when the card was issued, I was a bit peeved. Especially since I'm in college, and everything is still getting sent home, so I don't have access to my new card.

This week, though, Brian at FunPub contacted me asking for clarification on the details of the fraud that I reported to them, so hopefully my info was able to help them make this change.

WeatherManNX01 wrote:I had thought that I had been unscathed, but I found out about two weeks after purchase that I had been hit. Having only used my credit card twice in three months when the card was issued, I was a bit peeved. Especially since I'm in college, and everything is still getting sent home, so I don't have access to my new card.

This week, though, Brian at FunPub contacted me asking for clarification on the details of the fraud that I reported to them, so hopefully my info was able to help them make this change.

Good of them to make an inquiry. Unfortunately, there are far more people who have been hit that did not report it. I'm certain Funpub would not want to invite reports, as they would be dealing with a bogged down website again.

GetRightRobot wrote:

WeatherManNX01 wrote:I had thought that I had been unscathed, but I found out about two weeks after purchase that I had been hit. Having only used my credit card twice in three months when the card was issued, I was a bit peeved. Especially since I'm in college, and everything is still getting sent home, so I don't have access to my new card.

This week, though, Brian at FunPub contacted me asking for clarification on the details of the fraud that I reported to them, so hopefully my info was able to help them make this change.

Good of them to make an inquiry. Unfortunately, there are far more people who have been hit that did not report it. I'm certain Funpub would not want to invite reports, as they would be dealing with a bogged down website again.

I was pleasantly surprised. And it was outside normal business hours, too, which also impressed me. And after I responded, I got another email thanking me for my help, which for me goes a long way to showing how much they care.

Credit cards getting stolen when your choice of involvement is either a Decepticon, an evil Autobot, or a t-shirt (perhaps the most evil form of clothing imaginable)? Not surprised. They're probably working in cahoots! Cahoots, I tells ya! >_>

Mkall wrote:

jimclancy wrote:So who else had a charge out of Mumbai? I bet I'm not the only one.

Mine was somewhere in New York and didn't happen until this morning. I had thought I had escaped unscathed, I guess everyone who bought from The Club should cancel their Credit Cards.

I thought I was lucky enough to have eluded the thieves but alas, I Was hit 2 days ago from someone in Washington. Bought $400 worth of Sephora stuff...lame! Luckily I caught it the same day it happened so I got i taken care of with my bank. TFCC needs to respond and give us a little something for our trouble.

This shouldn't be an unusual event; after all online stores must make updates occasionally to reflect changes in market or technology.

Or in this case, they update their store every 20 years or so. Seriously, going to their website is like stepping back in time to the early days of the World Wide Web.

After I endured my fiasco yesterday, Im not sure if Im going to renew next year. I ordered after they had switched companies and still got hit but like a week later. Unless the company they used in repleacement was just as bad or this was a inside job. Either way , I think I might be able to live with out their little exclusive from now on..

I got hit with an attempt that my GM card blocked, it was 76 bucks for some online account sign up service. I tried using that card during the crash, but did not try and use it once the pre-orders were set up again a couple of days later.

So not only did I get locked out of the system trying to make the purchase, but my card numbers got swiped at the same time.

At least they are doing something about it, but an appology from them, even if it technically wasn't Funpubs fault, would go a long way.

They won't, but it would be nice to say sorry to all of us who have to take the time to sort this out with their credit card companies.

--B-- wrote:At least they are doing something about it, but an appology from them, even if it technically wasn't Funpubs fault, would go a long way.

They won't, but it would be nice to say sorry to all of us who have to take the time to sort this out with their credit card companies.

I dunno, I wouldn't bet my collection on it, but they seem like a fairly straight up bunch. I think they'll make an announcement of some sort. They're at least being more upfront about it than another unnamed TF retailer. They never took any accountability for their incidents and we have no idea if they've done anything to shore up their ****. But at least those guys take paypal, I guess.

form-letter-to-hasbro-concerning-funpub-credit-breach-t84652.php

These form letters are easy to print, sign, and send, and will let Hasbro know that we are very unhappy with the situation so far.

Kibble wrote:

--B-- wrote:At least they are doing something about it, but an appology from them, even if it technically wasn't Funpubs fault, would go a long way.

They won't, but it would be nice to say sorry to all of us who have to take the time to sort this out with their credit card companies.

I dunno, I wouldn't bet my collection on it, but they seem like a fairly straight up bunch. I think they'll make an announcement of some sort. They're at least being more upfront about it than another unnamed TF retailer. They never took any accountability for their incidents and we have no idea if they've done anything to shore up their ****. But at least those guys take paypal, I guess.

Fairly straight up bunch? I don't think so. It's like this:
club exclusives are sold out right? Botcon packages have sold to most people that are getting them. Not a lot of straggler traffic right? Not a lot of transaction on the site, fair to say? So they do this upgrade while no one is looking and it was only because Seibertron tried to make a purchase did the information of an upgrade even come to be known. They didn't post an announcement did they? I'm asking because I'm not aware of one, not because I'm being smart @$$.

GetRightRobot wrote:Fairly straight up bunch? I don't think so. It's like this:
club exclusives are sold out right? Botcon packages have sold to most people that are getting them. Not a lot of straggler traffic right? Not a lot of transaction on the site, fair to say? So they do this upgrade while no one is looking and it was only because Seibertron tried to make a purchase did the information of an upgrade even come to be known. They didn't post an announcement did they? I'm asking because I'm not aware of one, not because I'm being smart @$$.

We'll see how it plays out... If they don't say anything about it, then fine, f*ck 'em...although that they're doing something to their site shows they're at least doing something, but I think they still need to make an announcement and an apology yet. But TFcurse never said jack about their mishaps and they seem to be cool by most everybody again...

GetRightRobot wrote:

Kibble wrote:

--B-- wrote:At least they are doing something about it, but an appology from them, even if it technically wasn't Funpubs fault, would go a long way.

They won't, but it would be nice to say sorry to all of us who have to take the time to sort this out with their credit card companies.

I dunno, I wouldn't bet my collection on it, but they seem like a fairly straight up bunch. I think they'll make an announcement of some sort. They're at least being more upfront about it than another unnamed TF retailer. They never took any accountability for their incidents and we have no idea if they've done anything to shore up their ****. But at least those guys take paypal, I guess.

Fairly straight up bunch? I don't think so. It's like this:
club exclusives are sold out right? Botcon packages have sold to most people that are getting them. Not a lot of straggler traffic right? Not a lot of transaction on the site, fair to say? So they do this upgrade while no one is looking and it was only because Seibertron tried to make a purchase did the information of an upgrade even come to be known. They didn't post an announcement did they? I'm asking because I'm not aware of one, not because I'm being smart @$$.

Excellent observation. Even if it wasn't an inside job, which is the most likely scenario, they should at least have the decency to admit "Hey, we're having problems." and then say "We'll reopen once we get it fixed. Thanks for your patronage." They did neither.

I've noticed something here...

I know credit card fraud has been a long standing issue, it happens, but it didn't affect this fandom until recently. We went for years without problems. Then, all of a sudden we see TFSource get hit repeatedly. Now the club. For some reason, the fandom has become a target for these attacks...now.

My guess is that the thieves are seeing what we spend day in, day out, year by year and think "They spend that kind of money on TOYS? They can afford it. There we go. Next mark in 3...2..." People might say "Oh no. It's just a matter of the times catching up with us. We're finally popular and more of the public are buying these, so they've made us a bigger target." It's possible, but I doubt it.

We've all done e-store shopping since...well...the mid to late 90's. My first purchase was in 1996 (or 97...can't remember exactly). I might be wrong, but I don't remember Digital-Toys getting hit. BBTS? Nope. Hasbro's original toy shop website? Nope. Only now are we hearing about TFSource getting hit at least twice and now the club.

It leads me to believe that our fandom is being watched more, or it's an insider at the processor who knows the fandom well.

I mean, sure, it could be random chance. It just seems odd that we're getting hit now and in several places.

I think you're thinking about it too hard, A-032. Cyber thieves look for vulnerabilities and exploit them. I doubt we're being targeted any more than anyone else...unless maybe the POS doing it happens to be a collector or former one. But either way, I don't think these assholes really care whether their victims can afford it or not.

Well that was embarassing. I saw a transaction I didn't recognise, rang up my bank, waited on hold, and just before I got transferred to an advisor I remembered that I did recognise the transaction after all, and it was for Valantines lingerie. Thankfully I hung up before I had to speak to anyone

Well, this is bloody marvellous -

I was just trying to renew my overseas membership to make sure I get renewed to get this years exclusive, and have found the same thing -

Other members are complaining of the same thing (can't, or won't dial the US international number) on their page on Facebook, they're just referring everyone to the help email address - I've emailed, and waiting to see what comes back...

It'd be ironic if I managed to get Overrun, and miss out on Runamuck - I would normally presume online payments to ensure membership before 16th March would be up and running, but, the way this year has gone for the TFCC I'm not betting my life on it!

Statement and apology issued...

Kibble wrote:Statement and apology issued...

Well, I stand corrected. They actually stepped up to the plate and did something right for once.

Even TFSource refuses to do that. Amazing.