Mass credit card fraud on the GTN

[kcwin]

I've seen a few threads about this in the past but this has really gotten ridiculous. The AH on Harbringer and I'm sure most likely other servers is filled with credit card fraud items. Credit sellers use this as a big source to get their credits to sell and it seems Bioware has no intentions on stopping it. This is ridiculous that if players actually support and spend money on cartel items they have to compete to sell it with credit card frauders. Not only is it a pain to sell because they log on either by hand or bot and constantly undercut. They also drive down the price so people will end up getting less out of their cartel purchases.

 

For anyone who wasn't aware of this or doesn't know what to look for. These frauders will have long gibberish name with accents. For example Hägerçiugÿo (this is not an actual name of one of them just an example so not naming and shaming). They make names like this to make it difficult to report them. Not like it matters if you report them because they will be right back at it with another account. The items I see the listing most recently are level 60 tokens, hypercrates, and gold packs but I'm sure they list other items as well. Level 60 tokens on Harbringer right now are almost all completely from 2 credit card frauders.

 

I hope this thread will at least spread some awareness. Tell your friends, guilds, other players in game not to buy from these scumbags. Buy from the next best seller who doesn't appear to be a frauder. Support your fellow players and not credit card fraud credit sellers.

 

EDIT: Of course the fanboy army comes running defending this credit card fraud because they think I'm saying something bad about the game. You want proof? Add them to your friends list if you can catch them online or type their name. They will be a low level character and they will log on/off every so often all day to undercut. After a while you will never see them again because Bioware eventually bans them. They then make new accounts with long accent gibberish names and repeat so they are always there. It is pretty much common sense. Also players that make names with accents look nothing at all with how the frauders do it. The fact that people who have no idea what is going on will come here and defend it is sickening.

 

EDIT-2 Let me explain how credit card fraud is used and why since some people are confused on this. The person or people will either use hacked accounts or use financial information that is floating around the black market. They then buy stuff and sell on the GTN until the account gets banned. They then make another account and repeat over and over. They do this in every MMO where is it possible for them to do it. They do it because they are basically PRINTING MONEY. They easily sell all game currency they gain from this and they make a lot of real life money. As a rough example say they get 50 million credits per server a day. Then looks at the spammer's price in game and you'll see the huge amounts of real life money they make doing this.

 

Also I don't expect Bioware to do anything to stop it because they most likely can't since its been going on for years now. The whole point of the post is to make people aware of it so hopefully it prevents some people from buying from these credit seller frauders. If you see someone with a gibberish name with many accents or possibly not. If they have a ridiculous number of level 60 tokens, hypercrates, gold packs, leveling bundles, etc.. Just buy from the next person who looks like an actual fellow player.

Edited November 8, 2015 by kcwin

[Theeko]

Yeah its fishy just like all the adaptive circutries being sold every second, and also the completed bounty contracts. Also the level character unlocks the 60 ones 7 pages of them by the same person and weird name as well.

[Jerqa]

How do you know this is fraud?

 

Just because someone names their character an odd way ( with ascii letters ) does not mean they are doing illegal activity. I see plenty of names like the example you gave running round killing mobs and doing missions on a daily basis.

 

Some of people that play this game have a lot of real life money and high incomes. This allows them to spend at leisure where others can not afford to do so. If you read the "over 50 club" thread a lot of folks are doctors, business owners, ceo's and so forth.

 

Anyhow I have no way of knowing either way but I would not jump to conclusions like you seem to be.

 

Have a nice evening

[TTGolding]

Your opinion is not proof. Edited November 4, 2015 by TTGolding

[Theeko]

Big quantities as in over 5,000 completed bounty contracts, 500 level 60 tokens, and 500 hypercrates?

[TTGolding]

Big quantities as in over 5,000 completed bounty contracts, 500 level 60 tokens, and 500 hypercrates?

 

I currently have almost 100 level 60 tokens in stock, not so many BH contracts because I sold hundreds a couple weeks ago during the event and I dont have any hypercrates currently. However I do have more than 30 Reven Holostatues and probably a hundred Satel Shan ones, Black/black and white/white dyes up the wazoo

 

and

 

due to the fact that I am going f2p in a week (if I play at all)i have ridiculous amounts of unlocks and am selling off my gear and getting out of the game. Its been fun but isnt any longer.

[Theeko]

Yeah just seems almost impossible to have everything like that constantly every week though I know iv'e poured nearly 2b into my strongholds, obtained every Cm vehicle, have about 900m credits, and tons of stuff selling atm just seems like nothing compared to what these guys list every week

[kwongwah]

I look at this thread cause of the title and find the whole thing very misleading to the point I feel like reporting the thread!

 

I was half expecting something related to ACTUAL credit card fraud, but all I find is conjecture and a severe lack of proof actual credit card fraud is happening... i.e. someone stealing your financial details, address details, security number then applying for and using a credit card with the stolen details.

 

Instead I find some thing related to (in-game) credit spammers! Two totally different things!

 

Undercutting is not anything new to any MMO with a form of auction house, it's not anything new even in the real corporate world. Regardless the point of the matter it is not limited to any particular individual, group or organisation.

 

Regardless credit spammers have many ways of obtaining credits and under cutting is unlikely to be one of them, it's actually more likely they are the reason prices on the GTN are driven up! They buy low and sell high, if they have enough resources, they can easily corner the market on a highly desirable item!

[Theeko]

If they buy low and sell high how is it most of the time the weird names always undercutting by atleast 2-3m from the lowest price? IE: they list hypercrates for 3m while they are sitting at 5-7

[Pscyon]

So what you're saying is, there's currently a lot of good deals on GTN on The Harbinger?

[Mahrdol]

If they buy low and sell high how is it most of the time the weird names always undercutting by atleast 2-3m from the lowest price? IE: they list hypercrates for 3m while they are sitting at 5-7

 

Just because you don't understand it does not make it FRAUD. I am not saying it is or isn't .

 

Maybe they buy 100s of crates when they are 50% off. I could also see people being paid to play in other countries that have very low wages and have someone selling the stuff making a tidy profit.

[kcwin]

Of course the fanboy army comes running defending this credit card fraud because they think I'm saying something bad about the game. You want proof? Add them to your friends list if you can catch them online or type their name. They will be a low level character and they will log on/off every so often all day to undercut. After a while you will never see them again because Bioware eventually bans them. They then make new accounts with long accent gibberish names and repeat so they are always there. It is pretty much common sense. Also players that make names with accents look nothing at all with how the frauders do it. The face that people who have no idea what is going on will come here and defend it is sickening.

[Theeko]

Just because you don't understand it does not make it FRAUD. I am not saying it is or isn't .

 

Maybe they buy 100s of crates when they are 50% off. I could also see people being paid to play in other countries that have very low wages and have someone selling the stuff making a tidy profit.

 

Even at 50% off they are nearly 5k ccs per hypercrate, so you would yourself buy 50 of them at that price and sell them for 4m in game?

[doublefreeze]

Glad a post like this was made because people should be made aware not to buy from these guys. It is really clear they are credit sellers committing fraud to get credits and they been doing it for years now. These threads always have morons in it though that are in denial and demand a police investigation report as proof.

[TTGolding]

Of course the fanboy army comes running defending this credit card fraud because they think I'm saying something bad about the game. You want proof? Add them to your friends list if you can catch them online or type their name. They will be a low level character and they will log on/off every so often all day to undercut. After a while you will never see them again because Bioware eventually bans them. They then make new accounts with long accent gibberish names and repeat so they are always there. It is pretty much common sense. Also players that make names with accents look nothing at all with how the frauders do it. The face that people who have no idea what is going on will come here and defend it is sickening.

 

Lowest on Harbinger currently at 2.99 million per 60 boost is me so thats not a credit card seller at all and Im far from a fanboy. I play this game because its Star Wars not because its any good to be honest.

Edited November 4, 2015 by TTGolding

[Theeko]

Ive bought 15 level 60 char unlocks just yesterday for 1.5m each off the gtn all from the same name

[TTGolding]

Yes thats the point if you think its too cheap then buy them all out and relist at higher prices.

[Theeko]

Yes thats the point if you think its too cheap then buy them all out and relist at higher prices.

 

But the problem is any sane person that would spend that amount of irl $ for that low of a return in game would not to do it ever imo.

[Myiven]

I make my living investigating credit card fraud in the criminal justice sector. I think your theory is plausible in that it's a relatively untraceable way to turn card numbers into assets that can be sold for cash, but it's hardly proof without actual card theft complaints or chargeback records from EA/Bioware.

 

Definitely a plausible theory though.

[Theeko]

I make my living investigating credit card fraud in the criminal justice sector. I think your theory is plausible in that it's a relatively untraceable way to turn card numbers into assets that can be sold for cash, but it's hardly proof without actual card theft complaints or chargeback records from EA/Bioware.

 

Definitely a plausible theory though.

 

I'm sure they do get credit theft tickets all the time, its just all under wraps

[branmakmuffin]

How do you know this is fraud?

Because they sell only items that can be bought directly from the CM at prices that make sense only if you are using someone else's money, coupled with the long, gibberish names. You gonna tell us that there are several legit players, across multiple servers, that name their characters long, gibberish names with multiple special characters in them and sell direct-from-the-CM-only items at ridiculously low prices? Or that one legit player, across multiple servers, has multiple characters like that?

 

[RogerApple]

That's why there's a wait time limit of at least one day before you can sell on the GTN. What else do you propose they do.

[ronaxxle]

I can confirm these guys are on my servers(shadowlands & jedi covenant). There is 2 of them on each with long gibberish names and a bunch of crazy letters. Looks like it is 2 different frauders competing with each other lol? It looks like one of them is using the same gibberish name for both servers and possibly all? Surely this can't just be a coincidence that multiple servers have 2 guys on them with long gibberish names and crazy letters filling the GTN with 60 tokens/hypercrates lolololol.

[Jerqa]

I'm sorry but your edit makes even less sense. I log onto my selling character many times every day to ensure I'm the lowest seller. If I'm not I cancel items and relist them. It only takes a few moments.

 

The gtn fluctuates so much in just a few minutes you almost have to if you play the gtn.

[Bachannal]

I'm sorry but your edit makes even less sense. I log onto my selling character many times every day to ensure I'm the lowest seller. If I'm not I cancel items and relist them. It only takes a few moments.

 

The gtn fluctuates so much in just a few minutes you almost have to if you play the gtn.

 

 

^ this. When I have tons of stuff to sell (typically just after buying a whole crapload of hypercrates), then I do EXACTLY that. I list high, then readjust prices as the market fluctuates. If an item is rare, oftentimes I can jack the prices up - if it's common, then I adjust low to undercut by just enough to get a sale but not so much I feel like I'm "losing" credits.

 

I tend to open all of my packs rather than sell them on GTN, but I have had plenty of times where I wound up with a whole mess of an item, so I list them all at once en masse - kinda like these folks seem to be doing.

 

While you may in fact be right that these people are scammers, you have zero proof, so this thread is pointless. I'm sure if there's a lot of CC Fraud going on, Bioware's finance team is dealing with chargebacks and disputes, and if it was super egregious they'd make damn sure they could stop the problem. I'd hazard a guess to say that it's not enough for them to go hogwild banning folks from the GTN.