The Energon Pub

Earlier today, I took a few extra measures to help protect myself in a world where it's us against the stupidity (or naivety) of others and cyber crime. In light of the extremely unfortunate and dire situation with Fun Publications' Transformers Collectors' Club, it is very important that all of you take some extra pre-cautions with your accounts online. In addition to our earlier suggestions that you cancel your current card numbers and change all of your account passwords that share the same password that you used at Transformers Collectors' Club, I wanted to inform all of you, as a community service type thing, so that all of you can help protect yourself online. If you don't use Paypal and if you also don't use Gmail or Google Apps, then this topic does NOT apply to you. If you do use Paypal, Gmail or Google Apps, then please continue reading.




If you use Paypal, it's time to upgrade your account with this free feature that Paypal offers. It's called "Paypal Security Key". The PayPal Security Key creates random temporary security codes that help safeguard your PayPal account when you log in. It comes in 2 types, each with different advantages:

• Security key: You carry this small credit-card sized device with you. It creates a unique security code on the go.
• Mobile phone security key: You can sign up to get security codes sent by text message to your mobile phone. (recommended)

If you use Gmail or Google Apps (this includes all Seibertron.com staff members with official Seibertron.com email addresses), you should enable Google's two-step authentication process for your account(s). 2-step verification drastically reduces the chances of having the personal information in your Google account stolen by someone else. Why? Because hackers would have to not only get your password and your username, they'd have to get a hold of your phone. For further information about Google's 2-step verification, please click here.

If you have any additional tips that you would like to share with the rest of the Seibertron.com community, please feel free to post your suggestions in this topic on our forums.

Thanks for the advice! I'll have to upgrade my PayPal account.

The worst part of this security breach is the total lack of accountability. I'm registered for Botcon, I got my club exclusives and renewed my club membership (with a very expensive money order via overnight, secured, tracked and signature required Fedex parcel) but I'm done. I will not expose my family to the dangers of financial ruin over this hobby of mine. I'm done with the Club, and as long as Botcon is run by Fun Pub, I'm done with it too.

I didnt happen to read about their security problems earlier... but I dont understand why they still let me place an order for the membership on February 14... Was there a new "security system" in place, or am I in as much danger as everyone else? Im going to have to wait till tomorrow to cancel my card.

r3devi7 wrote:I didnt happen to read about their security problems earlier... but I dont understand why they still let me place an order for the membership on February 14... Was there a new "security system" in place, or am I in as much danger as everyone else? Im going to have to wait till tomorrow to cancel my card.

Anyone who has used their credit card with the club in the past day, week, month, quarter, year, 5 years ... should immediately call the phone number on the back of your card to cancel the card number and have them send you a new card. Simple solution, will take ten minutes of your time and only a few days of inconvenience to rid yourself of this problem.

No, the problem has not been fixed with their website, which is why the whole thing is down currently.

GetRightRobot wrote:The worst part of this security breach is the total lack of accountability. I'm registered for Botcon, I got my club exclusives and renewed my club membership (with a very expensive money order via overnight, secured, tracked and signature required Fedex parcel) but I'm done. I will not expose my family to the dangers of financial ruin over this hobby of mine. I'm done with the Club, and as long as Botcon is run by Fun Pub, I'm done with it too.

Pretty hardline I must say my friend. Just curious, will you buy their exclusives through e-bay or is this a total boycott of their figures ??? And no more Botcons, ever ???

Rated X wrote:

GetRightRobot wrote:The worst part of this security breach is the total lack of accountability. I'm registered for Botcon, I got my club exclusives and renewed my club membership (with a very expensive money order via overnight, secured, tracked and signature required Fedex parcel) but I'm done. I will not expose my family to the dangers of financial ruin over this hobby of mine. I'm done with the Club, and as long as Botcon is run by Fun Pub, I'm done with it too.

Pretty hardline I must say my friend. Just curious, will you buy their exclusives through e-bay or is this a total boycott of their figures ??? And no more Botcons, ever ???

I don't understand why you're giving some of us a hard time that are fed up with all of this. It seems like this is usually the type of thing that you'd get behind. This whole situation is extremely serious. The never ending stream of problems with the club, including minor issues with Drift's guns, are all just indicative of the bigger problem ... that things are constantly overlooked, blame is placed elsewhere, taking accountability doesn't happen, they won't listen to fans, they run an archaic website that was obviously riddled with severe security flaws, and their whole business model seems fairly flawed.

I ask this simple question ... how is it that after almost 7 years of having the Transformers Collectors' Club (a Club that has been advertised on the bottom of EVERY Transformers package around the world, with the exception of Japan where only some of the products have the ad) that there are only approximately 4,000 Club members? They should be adding that many per year. At least. And if they're not, something is drastically wrong ... especially having gone through 3 HUGE blockbusters. The pricing structure is wrong, the website itself scares people away, the lackluster bi-monthly club magazine isn't enough to keep people enticed ... who knows what the problem is, or maybe its just everything combined. Bottom line is this club should be MASSIVE with that kind of advertising.

They're doing something wrong. Enough's enough. I draw the line at February 2012. Time to fight back, take it to the top, and get things changed. We. Deserve. Better.

This is bad. Seriusky bad.

It easy to say the Credit card system you use has a breach, but the whole website means they were hacked from the get go. It was never the credit card company, it was their website and servers that got hacked.

I have a degree in Computer/Network Security and management. When you're dealing with credit card numbers you should be using 128-bit SSL secure and probably use a company like Verisign. What type of encryption were they using 32, 64bit? My wireless network is more secure than the damn whole website.
What is crazy is many sites like the TFCC site are very unsecure and think they won't be hacked. You need to have some sort of computer knowledge to understand hackers are lurking 24/7 and use any loophole to get in. When you don't have a full staff, you need to secure credit card numbers with the highest priority like they should be, shrouded in secure secrecy.

We have been waiting weeks for toys and they are bs'ing around. I am pissed.

I have been moving away from transformers for a few months to the pint where I really don't want them anymore. So now we are royally screwed. Damn and it would have to happen the year I decided to sign up again.

One thing I have is multiple passwords using lower-upper case letters, numbers and symbols. Hard to guess passwords that aren't dictionary or names. In fact I have so many passwords I forget them. I use different passwords all the time. I change them periodically because hackers like to nitpick.

People they need to sue the TFCC. You don't have to agree with me but this will teach them a lesson.

Being a former member of the Hot Wheels Red Line Club, they always got the orders straight. You had to sign in twice just to place an order. Unless there is a serious backorder, you would get your club gift right away. usually within two weeks of ordering or if you were already a member about a week. You order in February and you get your club gift in June. Why are some people getting there club toys and others have not even an idea of when they will get theirs.

They need to take responsibility now before they drown any further and get slapped with multi-million dollar lawsuits.

Seibertron wrote:

This whole situation is extremely serious. The never ending stream of problems with the club, including minor issues with Drift's guns, are all just indicative of the bigger problem ... that things are constantly overlooked, blame is placed elsewhere, taking accountability doesn't happen, they won't listen to fans, they run an archaic website that was obviously riddled with severe security flaws, and their whole business model seems fairly flawed.

I ask this simple question ... how is it that after almost 7 years of having the Transformers Collectors' Club (a Club that has been advertised on the bottom of EVERY Transformers package around the world, with the exception of Japan where only some of the products have the ad) that there are only approximately 4,000 Club members? They should be adding that many per year. At least. And if they're not, something is drastically wrong ... especially having gone through 3 HUGE blockbusters. The pricing structure is wrong, the website itself scares people away, the lackluster bi-monthly club magazine isn't enough to keep people enticed ... who knows what the problem is, or maybe its just everything combined. Bottom line is this club should be MASSIVE with that kind of advertising.

They're doing something wrong. Enough's enough. I draw the line at February 2012. Time to fight back, take it to the top, and get things changed. We. Deserve. Better.

YES! Thank you, you have no idea how much better that made me feel after reading that. Those were thoughts I'd had myself in recent weeks regarding the site's layout and membership totals versus the advertisement and overall exposure that the club gets. As several of you may have noticed, I left a heated message on the" Funpub CC fraud" discussion thread on here, and I regreted it a little the next day because I felt that I may have failed to get my point across with all of the swearing that the post was laced with, so I went back and edited it a little. Anyway, I'm releived to see that there are some higher-ups on this particular website that are equally frustrated and not afraid to call FunPub out on it. Makes me feel like I'm not quite alone in my belief that FP needs to be held more accountable for whats going on, and that if real change is going to occur that it may take us (the centeral fanbase) to get involved to try and help move things in a positive direction. Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease so we may need to make sure that the wheel "screams" at Botcon.

And as far as boycotting Botcon....I will continue to go to Botcon for now, but that doesn't mean I have to support FunPub in the process other than paying an entrance fee. I go for the great people and rare opportunity to have a place for all of us to gather and revel in this hobby that were so passionate about. I have no doubt that if Funpub goes under it'll be by their own blatant incompitence and I believe in the old addage of continuing to give slack on the rope because eventually they'll hang themselves with that very same incompitence. And I'll even take it a step further, I firmly believe that even if Hasbro were to try and do away or consolidate Botcon in with their other franchises that we TF fans would still orchastrate some type of Botcon like event of our own. Now that we've gotten in the habbit of doing this annually I don't think Hasbro would be foolish enough to play some arrogant power game at the risk of offending its fanbase etc etc. Anyway, thanks for the moral boost Seibertron! I'm looking forward to getting to know everyone better in Dallas next month.

Seibertron wrote:

Rated X wrote:

GetRightRobot wrote:The worst part of this security breach is the total lack of accountability. I'm registered for Botcon, I got my club exclusives and renewed my club membership (with a very expensive money order via overnight, secured, tracked and signature required Fedex parcel) but I'm done. I will not expose my family to the dangers of financial ruin over this hobby of mine. I'm done with the Club, and as long as Botcon is run by Fun Pub, I'm done with it too.

Pretty hardline I must say my friend. Just curious, will you buy their exclusives through e-bay or is this a total boycott of their figures ??? And no more Botcons, ever ???

I don't understand why you're giving some of us a hard time that are fed up with all of this. It seems like this is usually the type of thing that you'd get behind. This whole situation is extremely serious. The never ending stream of problems with the club, including minor issues with Drift's guns, are all just indicative of the bigger problem ... that things are constantly overlooked, blame is placed elsewhere, taking accountability doesn't happen, they won't listen to fans, they run an archaic website that was obviously riddled with severe security flaws, and their whole business model seems fairly flawed.

I ask this simple question ... how is it that after almost 7 years of having the Transformers Collectors' Club (a Club that has been advertised on the bottom of EVERY Transformers package around the world, with the exception of Japan where only some of the products have the ad) that there are only approximately 4,000 Club members? They should be adding that many per year. At least. And if they're not, something is drastically wrong ... especially having gone through 3 HUGE blockbusters. The pricing structure is wrong, the website itself scares people away, the lackluster bi-monthly club magazine isn't enough to keep people enticed ... who knows what the problem is, or maybe its just everything combined. Bottom line is this club should be MASSIVE with that kind of advertising.

They're doing something wrong. Enough's enough. I draw the line at February 2012. Time to fight back, take it to the top, and get things changed. We. Deserve. Better.

And here i thought i was all alone, TFCC is one of the biggest shames to come out of the franchise. Oh and you forgot to mention that if they screw up and send your "free" figure to the wrong address or that if it fails to get delivered for some reason they make you pay more to get what is included in the subscription. Your already getting a hug amount of money for a halfassed pamphlet, access to a lame website and a repainted figure with little to no remolding, you can at least reship the damn figure for free.

Rated X wrote:

GetRightRobot wrote:The worst part of this security breach is the total lack of accountability. I'm registered for Botcon, I got my club exclusives and renewed my club membership (with a very expensive money order via overnight, secured, tracked and signature required Fedex parcel) but I'm done. I will not expose my family to the dangers of financial ruin over this hobby of mine. I'm done with the Club, and as long as Botcon is run by Fun Pub, I'm done with it too.

Pretty hardline I must say my friend. Just curious, will you buy their exclusives through e-bay or is this a total boycott of their figures ??? And no more Botcons, ever ???

WHAT IS IT WITH YOU?! HUH?! THIS IS FRIGGIN' RIDICULOUS!

They shouldn't receive another cent of our money. (When I say our money, I mean the fandom's, as a whole.)

They do not respect US.
They do not respect the value of a dollar, especially OUR's.
They do not take responsibility.
They make excuses.
They turn you inside out over a stupid redeco.
They charge you out the ying yang and you still end up screwed with nothing to show for it.

Either you're completely oblivious or you're trying to troll us. I really do believe that. Absolutely. I want to give you the benefit of the doubt and say oblivious, but I think you're getting joy out of this.

They do not deserve another dime, another patron, another convention. Nothing from us except a smackdown.

Maybe when it affects you, you'll sing a different tune.

What is the worst they can do with gmail access? Because literally hours after FunPub got hacked a strange ip accessed my gmail. Luckily I logged in just shortly after they accessed it and changed my password and logged out all other sessions.

However gmail reported they had been muddling around in my account for 3 hours at least. They have not accessed it after I changed my passwords, but I am afraid of what they can do with what possible information they could gather from my rather large email count. Who knows what these aholes can do, because I am not even sure what they can do.

This type of crap really scares me. I do know they have this much info...

-My name, address, phone number, and alternative emails. "thanks to my google profile"
-All of the sites a frequent. "who knows if they know the passwords to, again I had alot of emails"
-All of my contacts emails, phone numbers for some.
-Possibly pillaged my picasa photos

I'm hoping that they did not actually do anything major, perhaps sent some spam, or was just testing if they could get in. But I have no idea what to do now, it doesn't matter how strong of a password I make now, I have already been raped by the hackers and they hold my life in their hands. All thanks to FunPub and their incompetency, lazyness, and horrible attitude.

I mean my god, they was running poopy ass forum software that was WRITTEN IN THE 90's! The hackers probably didn't really even have to do anything more than twitching their nose to get in.

At this point I dont need half ass excuses and finger pointing, I need freaking help and answers.

I NEED JUSTICE!

Yeah, I am absolutely done with them. I had been on the fence about re-signing up with them for a while. Like many of you, I've been trying to trim back my purchases over the last few years. Sadly, I impulsively bought Runabout the day the exclusives went on sale, when I had only been planning on buying Drift. I say sadly, because this basically meant that I had to re-sign up for the club. I wasn't going to have Runabout and not Runamuck.

But since then, I've changed my mind. I'll stick with one and not the other. These guys aren't getting another dime from me unless they find some way to make this right.

"Hey guys! Don't worry! You can still re-up before the deadline! Just use a check or money order!"

ARE. YOU. KIDDING. ME???? Here's a thought: EXTEND THE DEADLINE! My card has been shut off. BECAUSE OF YOU! I've had to contact my cable company to make sure my (and my roommates) cable isn't shut off. I have no idea whether or not my comics are coming in the mail from DCBS tomorrow. And I had to borrow $115 last week from my parents because I didn't bring extra money on vacation with me "because I always have my card, why carry more cash?"

But your solution is "Hey! Use a check!" No. No, I don't think I'll be doing just that. I think it's appropriate to say that I'll be gathering my toys and going home.

I don't want to say I'm absolutely done, but the fiasco with the hotel room deposit along with the mostly lame BotCon set made me cancel my trip to Dallas. Also, today just to be sure I canceled the card I used to renew my Club membership. I haven't had any fraudulent activity happen to me (unless you count some of the crap FunPub tried to (and sadly sometimes succeeded in doing) shove into my wallet to replace the green. I'm not really interested in most things they offer, I think from now on my money will be better spent on 3rd party stuff. It's just disappointing how we the loyal fans sometimes get treated. I wonder how many of the FunPub people would be out of a job if the majority of the fans refused not only to attend BotCon but buy their "exclusives." I'm not as pissed as Autobot032, but I'm definitely jaded towards the product and customer service. And my wallet is all the better for it.

UPDATE:

As I was checking my bank account I got a $298.54 charge from Walmart.com

I was in the process of cancelling my card when I saw this. Talked to the bank rep and she told me there was a $1 authorization charge to my card account to test the card. They did that on the 2/29. Then either last night or early this morning the attempt to use the card was made at Walmart.com

Now my bank kinda sucks but they did proceed the normal way of disputing the charge and proceeded to cancel the card.

Then I decided to give Walmart.com a call, and believe it or not, I got top quality customer service over the phone than I ever did at the many Walmart stores I shopped in. I began to explain to "Kevin" that I believe my card was used without my consent for a purchase. Since I have a Walmart.com account I checked that and the last .com purchase I made was a TV back in 2010. "Kevin" asked me for the last 4 digits of the card and what the amount was. I gave him the information and he found the charge. It went through but he said Walmart canceled the charge because the address did not match and there was an account already in my name. So he said even though it was on my bank statement the charge would drop off in 3 to 5 business days. He also took it a step further and escalate the situation to the financial security department.

he couldn't tell me the entire address but the thieves were trying to purchase an iPod Touch and trying to send it to California.

So I have no card but I have some peace of mind that this charge won't stick as well as not having to fight it out with the bank.

MODS: I'm gonna post this in the threads related to the TFCC fiasco so people can have some hope if they visit one of the three threads.

Actually, the Security Key feature costs $29.95 to set up.

bvzxa wrote:UPDATE:

As I was checking my bank account I got a $298.54 charge from Walmart.com

I was in the process of cancelling my card when I saw this. Talked to the bank rep and she told me there was a $1 authorization charge to my card account to test the card. They did that on the 2/29. Then either last night or early this morning the attempt to use the card was made at Walmart.com

Now my bank kinda sucks but they did proceed the normal way of disputing the charge and proceeded to cancel the card.

Then I decided to give Walmart.com a call, and believe it or not, I got top quality customer service over the phone than I ever did at the many Walmart stores I shopped in. I began to explain to "Kevin" that I believe my card was used without my consent for a purchase. Since I have a Walmart.com account I checked that and the last .com purchase I made was a TV back in 2010. "Kevin" asked me for the last 4 digits of the card and what the amount was. I gave him the information and he found the charge. It went through but he said Walmart canceled the charge because the address did not match and there was an account already in my name. So he said even though it was on my bank statement the charge would drop off in 3 to 5 business days. He also took it a step further and escalate the situation to the financial security department.

he couldn't tell me the entire address but the thieves were trying to purchase an iPod Touch and trying to send it to California.

So I have no card but I have some peace of mind that this charge won't stick as well as not having to fight it out with the bank.

MODS: I'm gonna post this in the threads related to the TFCC fiasco so people can have some hope if they visit one of the three threads.

This seems to be the trend, because the exact same thing happened to me. Last Tuesday (2/21), I tried using my card but it was declined. When I called the company, they told me I had a suspicious Google charge that they flagged that morning. The amount was $1. They told me they were shutting off the card and I would be issued a new one.

Saturday (2/25), I received a call from my credit card company. They wanted to run some recent charges by me to see if they were valid. Among my cable bill and my charge at DCBS was one for Walmart.com for a little over $300.

Watch out for this guys. It's been a major pain not having a card and having to deal with this garbage over the last week.