The Energon Pub

vectorA3 wrote:I've been trying to remain neutral on this, but can no longer turn a blind eye to this. In the last 15 posts, two more people reported they'd been hit, including Counterpunch. What more proof do we need? I've checked my Amex again, and no suspicious activity. I should probably cancel/change my # before anything goes down. While TFSource can say they were not hacked directly, the 3rd party company they use had to have been. Very bad business to not acknowledge for the customers, even if the neither of the sites were hacked. Bestbuy/bestbuy.com sent me an email this year warning of a potential breach to Epsilon. Fortunately no suspicious charges. I think I got a similar email from Chase when they were hit too. The least Tfsource & vendor could provide is a warning. Wth?
If they're not careful both of them are gonna wind up in some nasty lawsuits.

Counterpunch also acknowledged his card was used with the Sony Playstation Network. Considering the scale of that ordeal that brought down the Playstation Network for several weeks, I'd assume that his card was hit due to that situation and not TFsource.

As someone mentioned above, if Authorize.net was hacked, this wouldn't be limited to just TFsource.com. Authorize.net is HUGE. Massive. It's one of the two biggest players in the credit card processing field (the other being Verisign). Verisign and Authorize.net are like the Walmart and Target of the retail scene in America. Massive stores. One is bigger than the other but they both have a huge presence. And not just in America, but the world. Wikipedia cites them as the world's largest credit card processing company.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorize.net

Authorize.Net is a payment gateway service provider allowing merchants to accept credit card and electronic checks payments through their Web site and over an IP (Internet Protocol) connection. Authorize.Net claims a user base of over 305,000 merchants, which would make them the Internet's largest payment gateway service provider.[citation needed]

I have worked on many e-commerce websites over the years that utilize Authorize.net, and am familiar with how Curt explained their system works which sounds just like how we used to integrate Authorize.net and Verisign.

Ok. But how does this explain the fraudulent card hits that were only used for TFsource?? I'm not accusing them of foul play btw.
Regardless of the situation, Curt/tfsource need to publicly address this. Playing the silent card only makes them look worse.

I can't believe I forgot to post that here, lol. I got hit with fraud on May 11th. First Itunes confirmation, then a charge to PlentyofFish. Don't use either one, so it was a dead giveaway.

Got the card cancelled and the $30 refunded.

I'm not quite sure if it was the TFSource breach or the PSN breach though. Had that card on both.

Won't be making that mistake again. I'll pick up the PSN cards at Walmart or use Paypal on TFSource to avoid this debacle again.

More and more people keep coming forward, and still no word from TFSource. Tomorrow will mark June 4th, a full month from May 4th when Soundwave2 first noticed charges on his account, notified them, and bumped this thread subject on TFW2005. More people have come forward on the threads on TFW2005 and Seibertron, too. I've been warned by the administrators of each of these sites not to talk about or threaten the status quo, so my involvement in this is more or less at an end.

I urge the TF fan community to at least attempt to hold TFSource responsible for their (repeated) mistakes/misdeeds. At this point, the only way we can hope to make a difference is to cut into their financial bottom line by shopping elsewhere. It'll take a major word-of-mouth push to make up for the positive portrayal of TFSource given off by the enormous advertising presence on the community sites, but maybe we can keep at least a few people from making the same mistake those of us who have been burned this latest go-round have made.

darkwingduck13 wrote:More and more people keep coming forward, and still no word from TFSource. Tomorrow will mark June 4th, a full month from May 4th when Soundwave2 first noticed charges on his account, notified them, and bumped this thread subject on TFW2005. More people have come forward on the threads on TFW2005 and Seibertron, too. I've been warned by the administrators of each of these sites not to talk about or threaten the status quo, so my involvement in this is more or less at an end.

I urge the TF fan community to at least attempt to hold TFSource responsible for their (repeated) mistakes/misdeeds. At this point, the only way we can hope to make a difference is to cut into their financial bottom line by shopping elsewhere. It'll take a major word-of-mouth push to make up for the positive portrayal of TFSource given off by the enormous advertising presence on the community sites, but maybe we can keep at least a few people from making the same mistake those of us who have been burned this latest go-round have made.

I'm not on the side of TF Source and I'll openly admit they are my least liked online retailer due to several bad impressions I have had with them personally.

However, no one on Staff is doing anything to make people be quiet or to suppress them from making statements on the matter. Where this site is concerned and where its Staff members are concerned, please refrain from painting us in any kind of unfair light. We simply don't censor this kind of stuff unless it becomes obvious beyond doubt that someone is fabricating a story or their own "facts".

We're an honest broker in all this.

Counterpunch wrote:I'm not on the side of TF Source and I'll openly admit they are my least liked online retailer due to several bad impressions I have had with them personally.

However, no one on Staff is doing anything to make people be quiet or to suppress them from making statements on the matter. Where this site is concerned and where its Staff members are concerned, please refrain from painting us in any kind of unfair light. We simply don't censor this kind of stuff unless it becomes obvious beyond doubt that someone is fabricating a story or their own "facts".

We're an honest broker in all this.

I'm glad to hear it, Counterpunch, especially since someone over on TFW messaged me and pointed me back to the TFW thread...which the admin has now closed. The closing post is really nice, too, where he's talking about how there are still people coming into the thread to post about having their info stolen, but it's not enough to bother with, apparently.

I can only hope that there will continue to be sites for the fandom to enjoy where the site's relationship with its users is deemed a higher priority than the site's relationship with its irresponsible sponsors.

Did anyone use their $5 off a $100 purchase from TFSource at Botcon??

I checked out their booth for the MP starscream coronation kit but they were out

I posted this on TFW2005 thread, too. I was also hit with fraudulent charges on a credit card of mine. But instead of Itunes, they decided to open up a fedex account with my credit card and then proceeded to send out multiple checks from a bank based in washington dc. Luckily, it wasn't from my bank, but I kept getting multiple phone calls from the people that received these checks asking what they were for. I was able to get the fedex account closed, closed out my credit card, and will not do business with TFSource again. It was the first time I had ever done business with them, too.

SmokeStack wrote:I posted this on TFW2005 thread, too. I was also hit with fraudulent charges on a credit card of mine. But instead of Itunes, they decided to open up a fedex account with my credit card and then proceeded to send out multiple checks from a bank based in washington dc. Luckily, it wasn't from my bank, but I kept getting multiple phone calls from the people that received these checks asking what they were for. I was able to get the fedex account closed, closed out my credit card, and will not do business with TFSource again. It was the first time I had ever done business with them, too.

Nice. I ended up with a grand total of 3 different cards that were compromised, since my wife had bought gifts for me from TFSource on the last two gift-giving occasions (plus my own card that I had used there). We're still dealing with the fallout, but it's slowing down, at least. The TFW2005 thread is locked now, in case you hadn't seen. It was too "off topic" for the admin's taste.

No, I didn't know that it got locked. I would assume that this one will eventually, too. Nothing against Seibertron or TFW2005, mind you. It is a sponsor and they wouldn't want someone bashing them. I just wish TF Source would have sent out emails or something about the issue. That is my main gripe. I had to find out from the six phone calls I received. If they ever change who deals with their transactions, I might go back, but I doubt it.

SmokeStack wrote:No, I didn't know that it got locked. I would assume that this one will eventually, too. Nothing against Seibertron or TFW2005, mind you. It is a sponsor and they wouldn't want someone bashing them. I just wish TF Source would have sent out emails or something about the issue. That is my main gripe. I had to find out from the six phone calls I received. If they ever change who deals with their transactions, I might go back, but I doubt it.

It's just getting worse and worse over @ TFW. Now they're deleting peoples' posts that reference anything negative about TFSource...I guess they don't want to try to call people out for breaking the rules (because they aren't breaking the rules) and doing so would expose the corruption...so they're just phantom-deleting posts without saying anything. I've had 2 or 3 people in the past few days PM me and ask about it, as well as having it happen to my own posts. And people wanted to tell me I was being paranoid about nothing before?

Wow. That's bullshit. That's just as irresponsible as Tfsource not warning people. Even if you suspect a hack -you must warn your customers, even if it didn't happen. To remain silent is just negligent. Terrible

about a 2 years ago i ordered the wst snarl not long after i noticed an itunes charge on my account.i emailed them got no reply then proceeded to cancel my preorders about 300 dollars worth and told them in an email that i would no longer do business with them not due to the charges but their lack of concern for their clients. no anger or rage just a personal decision regarding my information. i informed my card company and got refunded my money from tfsource. on the down side i missed out on shadow scyther but even an exclusive isnt worth the risk.

alternator77 wrote:about a 2 years ago i ordered the wst snarl not long after i noticed an itunes charge on my account.i emailed them got no reply then proceeded to cancel my preorders about 300 dollars worth and told them in an email that i would no longer do business with them not due to the charges but their lack of concern for their clients. no anger or rage just a personal decision regarding my information. i informed my card company and got refunded my money from tfsource. on the down side i missed out on shadow scyther but even an exclusive isnt worth the risk.

There's no guarantee you would've received Shadow Scyther anyway. They pulled a con with that as well. Long story short, they had a "rainy day" assortment of rare items such as Shadow and jacked up the prices to make money. Loads of it. At the expense of canceled orders and not coming through for others.

vectorA3 wrote:Wow. That's bullshit. That's just as irresponsible as Tfsource not warning people. Even if you suspect a hack -you must warn your customers, even if it didn't happen. To remain silent is just negligent. Terrible

No kidding. Guess what? Now you can't even ask for feedback about TFSource over there.

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-general-discussion/419200-how-safe-tfsource-currently.html

According to Tony, the best thing to do when you're curious as to whether a business is safe to order from is to ASK THE BUSINESS DIRECTLY whether or not you should give them your money.

Now this is getting ridiculous. I have entirely lost all respect for them and will never order from them again. I won't go so far as to report them to BBB, but I am extremely disappointed in their handling of the matter. Hello Bigbadtoystore!!!!!

I've never used TFsource, but I've been following this issue for some time both here and on tfw2005. I wasn't going to say anything, but I just want to comment that I agree with all the concern regarding TFsource. I think that when something appears to be wrong we all have the duty to warn those around us about the issue so that people may avoid the same trouble, both the people who had the problem and also the store in this case if they see something is happening even though they're not sure or they think everything is ok. It wasn't a single report, I've seen quite a lot, and quite a few stated they only used the cards on this particular store.

I'm sure at least some people saved themselves from the same risk of having to cancel their cards by seeing these reports. At least by seeing that something is happening people will then be informed and use PayPal instead as a precaution. If I didn't see the reports from various people I too could have used my card on TFsource and possibly get into trouble too. Now at least I'm informed and if I buy from them I'll use PayPal. But I just knew about it because I was subscribed to the thread of these previous happenings on tfw2005. Those who weren't wouldn't know until their cards got hit. Even though there were/are no certainties, I think there should have been a talk with TFsource about posting a warning to users on their site and on the sponsored sites alerting that cards were being hit and the source was unknown, but that the use of cards should be avoided in favor of PayPal until the issue was/is resolved.

It's not about damaging a store reputation, on the contrary, it would show concern from everybody to everybody. And would avoid trouble with more people.

Just my opinion. And I must say I too am disapointed with how all this has been handled in general (not poiting the finger to anyone, I'm speaking in general).

Agree 100%. What they're doing doesn't deserve respect. Begging for a lawsuit. Maybe then they'll wake up. I'm fortunate my card wasn't hit, but this the first time I've ever had to change a card number.

People are still coming forward (click the link in my sig for the TFormers thread to see the latest victims), and still no public (as far as I know!) announcement from TFSource. On top of that, for someone who pays attention, TFW2005 starts to look more and more like a willing accomplice in just feeding off of its community - forsaking the safety of its members in the name of profit. There's apparently been some controversy between TFW and another one of their sponsors, Kapow Toys. There's some small mention of TFSource in there, where Tony Bacala admits in a roundabout way that there's a "situation" with TFSource which is as close as he's come to saying publicly that there's even anything wrong. You have to read closely to find it, but it's there. The really great thing about this is that Tony posted it himself, and it basically just confirms that everything they do on the site is geared toward getting the sponsors maximum exposure, even at the cost of giving recognition to the community members who work to do reviews/pics/newsgathering. It makes sense now why some of us on the site have seen "first review of figure X" go up then get deleted so that one of the sponsored reviewers can post their reviews and be front-paged as "first review of figure X! Thanks for the figure, TFSource!"

Here's the link to the thread I'm referring to:
http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/tfw2005-tech-support/426927-my-statement.html

that happened to my dad & Grandma!

I stopped using them every since they double charged me for my Munitioner and Explorer set. When I called them about it, they said they didn't see it and then charged me a third time. Took 4 days of emailing to get it set straight......