[Duma]

Apologies if this is a really stupid question/paranoia...

Just tried to buy a laptop from Ebuyer. Never used them before - registered, paid, got an acknowledgement email... 7 minutes later got and email titled 'ID Request' - basically says my order's been cancelled pending ID confirmation:

Order Number:   XXXXXXXXXX

Dear XXXXXXXXXXX ,

Customer security is paramount at Ebuyer.com. Therefore, in order to maintain a secure shopping experience for all our customers, all our orders are subject to strict security checks.

Before we process your order we require the following information:

A copy of the picture page of your passport OR picture card of your UK drivers licence along with your passport or drivers licence number.

A utility bill that is at least two months old.

Please note: Non GB passport holders will also need to inform us of the issuing country of their passport. Acceptable utility bills are gas, water, electric we DO NOT accept telephone bills or bank statements.

Your order has been cancelled pending the information requested. Once we have received and verified your identification we will email you to confirm and all further orders will be dispatched without delay. Please allow 48 working hours for your identification to be processed and verified. In accordance with the Data Protection Act your details will not be stored or shared with any third party companies. All copied documents will be destroyed as soon as the identification process is complete.

Please fax your documents to 0871 528 5192 or email to fraudprotection@ebuyer.com. Be sure to head your fax/email as Security Check and include your Order Number on each page. The above email address is for identification purposes only and any queries sent to this address will NOT be responded to. If you have any questions about the identification process or general questions regarding your account, please contact our Customer Services Team on 0871 521 3300 or via the online Enote system.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused. This process is designed to benefit the customer and with your cooperation and help we can assist in the fight to reduce online fraud.

Kind regards,

Ebuyer Customer Support

Does this seem weird? Never seen anything like it before and smells dodgy to me. Anyone else used them and had this?

Cheers for any info

[Jaspersharpe]

Have you just moved house or are you using a delivery address that doesn't match your credit card's?

[Duma]

wanted it delivered to my work address, rather than the billing address. Had stuff delivered to work before with none of this faff though?

[slackline]

wanted it delivered to my work address, rather than the billing address. Had stuff delivered to work before with none of this faff though?

Doesn't surprise me, the crux is that you want it delivered to an address different to your delivery address, first thing you buy from eBuyer they want to send to your card/billing address, after that they'll happily dispatch to alternative address'.  This happens when you register a new card too.

Its one measure to prevent fraudulent use of cards.

I'd suggest ordering something small (but > £20 to get free delivery ) and getting it delivered to your home/billing address then go and order your laptop and get it delivered to your work (if you can wait that long on any offers etc.).

You can phone them and check whether this would be required if you were having it delivered to your home address, but I'm pretty sure it wouldn't be required.

[Duma]

found this thread:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/forums/index.cfm?action=showthread&threadid=373682&forumid=2&sr=61

not happy sending them paper copies of these details to be honest, I've got no way of confirming how they'll be treated, seems a way of opening oneself up to fraud rather than protecting from it.  don't want to wait too long so will be checking they've not taken payment and getting it somewhere else probably.

[slackline]

As a counter point there is a very salient point made in this thread.

Basically if you were in a shop and tried using a card and it was flagged as suspicious they would ask you there and then for additional ID, as it is the card company/bank asking for confirmation of who is using the card NOT the shop.  If you can't prove it to the shop assistant (who is effectively representing the card company/bank) then on instruction from the card company/bank they are within their rights to withhold your card and not allow you to purchase anything and potentially even call the police on you.

Check your machine for viruses and so forth that may be routing your attempts to view your ebuyer account to a proxy server which would make this look genuine.

Ultimately though its your choice.

[nik at work]

I've never had a card transaction be subject me producing further evidence of who I was to a shop assistant, that seems like a ludicrous system that would be entirely open to abuse. The shop assistant will want my money, they're hardly an impartial middle man are they?
I have had security phonecalls from the bank where I have spoken to a bank employee and each of us has had to prove to the others satisfaction that we are who we say we are, and then payment has been approved be this in a shop or online.
I wouldn't send information to an online retailer beyond the card information I need to purchase, equally I would not produce any further evidence of my identity to the staff of a shop, any further security issue should be between me and my bank. It is the bank who is administering my money and it is down to them to ensure that adequate measures are in place to prevent fraud. It is my responsibility to adhere to their conditions of use. The shopkeeper is just there to exchange my money for goods or services.

[Duma]

Saw that thread as well slackers - thing is, in a shop they could check photo ID by looking at me - and I wouldn't be giving them paper copies of anything. Also from the googling I've done this isn't a bank check - it's Ebuyer doing their own checks. The transaction went through fine - including the verified by visa thingie. Surely if they had worries they could suspend the order and check with the bank rather than demanding ID from myself. The least they could do is flag this before I put my payment details in! I've spoken to them and they say the moneys not been taken, so thats's good, but several of the older threads I saw were from folk who HAD had their accounts debited and had to wait for refunds.
I'm on a work PC at the moment that seems clean as far as I can tell.

[Duma]

Anywhere else good for laptops online?

[slackline]

Like I say, its up to you.

I might contact them and start giving them some hassle, if as suggested this is to be done incrementally to all customers as I've been buying stuff from them for years and as you say having a copy of passport/driving license without seeing what I actually look like means dick all.

[Duma]

Yeah I did say it was ridiculous when I rang to check they'd not taken payment. I think it's only done randomly + certain flagged transactions, ie high value, first order, delivery not billing address: like mine

[mikomon]

Following on from Nik at work, I work for a popular retailer in the North and sadly in the event of a fraudulent transaction the banks don't cop the loss: it's the retailer. We have often asked for a copy of a bank statement to be faxed or screen shot to us to verify customer name, invoice address and card details all match. They then sat in a secure file in an office. There should always be someone on the other end of the phone to call at these places though, even with a warehouse?

Same thing but different, the other week I got a very businesslike call from Microsoft saying that my laptop had been flagged up with a virus and they needed to access it to fix stuff. I told them to ring back the next day then went to get an anti-virus package. Neither computer shop in town had an off the shelf solution (thank fuck) as it gave me a bit of time to think. Got home, googled 'do microsoft ever call customers about a virus?' and discovered various people had experienced remote access of their computer during the call, passwords being changed and accounts being drained... How mad is that?

[Duma]

mikomon: really? Surely if you query suspect transactions with the bank you wouldn't be liable?

[Norton Sharley]

Why don't you just get it delivered to your home address?  Would surely be courierererered so if you are out you re-arrange delivery with them to your work address.

Having been the subject of online fraud I don't blame the sellers tbh.

[Duma]

Was hoping to get hold of it pre the weekend. Plus I'm working until tues now. Worrying about fraud is the reason I didn't want to send this stuff! Why can't they just check with the bank, who could call me and confirm ID??

[mikomon]

To Duma: the bank we used had a call centre in India. When asked to verify cardholder info they would either basically say 'yes, all the info matches' or 'some matches, do you want to process the trsansaction at your own risk'. either way we (the shop) would be liable if the card details (all correct) were being used, for example by someone who had just pinched the card.

When we were curious about stuff we would call the customer and ask them to confirm their delivery address, etc whilst getting a feel for if they sounded dodgy or not. Not at all scientific but never failed. Anyway now we use a paypal-type thing so the whole process is different.

But re. your laptop mate: ring the place and speak to a person. That might iron it out, put your mind at rest or confirm that you should cancel.