Microsoft review: fraudulent charges 4

3 charges to our checking account on the same day totaling 75$. We do not have xbox

Microsoft told me this evening, after I discovered 3 unauthorized charges on my account that were made today, that they would not reimburse the money to me and I quote the CSR: "Microsoft's policy is that they don't reimburse for fraudulent charges because you should keep better control of your card number." Um...yeah. Okay. There are so many things wrong with that statement on so many levels that I'm not going to start. When I requested that Microsoft remove my card number from their files they refused - apparently it's not their policy. The CSR found the fraudulent account and even slipped up and gave me the last name of the "girl" (she said it was a girl) in whose name the points were purchased. She said she couldn't close that person's account, but could disable the use of my card on that account. I'd already closed out my card so it didn't make any difference at that point, but what galls me is that Microsoft knows they have funds that were stolen. It is not my bank's fault that someone stole my identity, although I can envision situations where this might be the case. It is not MY fault, to my knowledge that my card number was stolen. It is solely the fault of the individual who stole the number and in turn, stole my money, and gave it to Microsoft. Microsoft is in receipt of stolen money, yet it is their "policy" not to return it?

There's a lot wrong with THAT on a lot of levels and if y'all can't see what those wrong things are, then my pity is yours. This is a case of ethics. I notified the police. This is theft. This isn't a small thing. I'm unemployed and a total of $70 was stolen from my bank account and given to Microsoft. Microsoft expects my bank to shoulder the burden of reimbursing the money to me, yet they wont' reimburse my bank.

I don't care WHAT Federal law requires my BANK to do. This is a case of Microsoft aiding and abetting thieves. If I hadn't cancelled my card (it would be incredibly stupid not to do so, but I can imagine scenarios where people might not do it) my card would be on file with them and the thief would then be able to use it again, simply by opening a new account.

Microsoft. A multi-billion dollar organization that spends astronomical amounts of money on anti-piracy software sits back and attempts to point their well-oiled finger of blame at ME for not keeping "better control of my card number." Right. Maybe they'd like to give li'l ole me a few of the millions they spend on anti-piracy software and then I could afford to have all the identity theft mechanisms in the world in place...which still wouldn't protect me from identity theft.

Someone needs to knock Microsoft's overwhelmingly self-satisfied ego back down into reality. As far as I'm concerned, they are in receipt of stolen money, which makes them just as culpable as the thief.

I would like to note the following: THIS IS NOT MICROSOFT'S FAULT. THEY DO NOT PROCESS RANDOM BANK ACCOUNT INFORMATION. THEY CAN ONLY BILL BASED ON THE NUMBERS THAT PEOPLE ARE ENTERING INTO THEIR SYSTEM. 9 TIMES OUT OF 10 THESE CHARGES APPEAR BECAUSE YOUR DEBIT OR CREDIT CARD NUMBER HAS BEEN STOLEN. I am currently going through the same thing. Within an hour, 2 seperate $74.99 charges appeared on my bank account. The first thing I did was call my bank and have my debit card # listed as stolen, coincidentally, as I was on the phone with the telebanker, another $74.99 charge hit my account (bringing the total to $224.97). She immediately listed the charges as invalid, but because they were still pending transactions, they couldn't do anything about them until the actually hit the account.

I called Microsoft's XBox Live Support desk and the lady I spoke to was extremely helpful and apologetic. She said that the charges usually appear because people end up entering your bank card # somehow (either malisciously, or just accidentally mistyping their own numbers). She also said that oftentimes multiple charges appear within a short span of eachother because the person is trying to have multiple accounts opened or paid for before the card is closed. That way, if only one account gets reported, they will have "back up accounts" that have already been paid.

The best thing to do is to first have your bank notified of the charges and close out your card (they'll mail you a new one). Then, call Microsoft and give them the card # that was used (it won't matter that you are giving them the card # now because it is inactive and can't be used). They can run a search on all accounts that used that card to pay for things and will close them out. They CANNOT give you any information on the account owner, but did say that they use the information they have to file a complaint with the local authorities. They will also give you a reference # for your call which can be passed along to your back if necessary. If they cancel the account on time, then the pending charges against your bank will drop after a few days and no overdraft chrages will apply. If it doesn't get cancelled in time, then the pending charges will hit and you will have to have your bank file a claim and return the charges to your account. Federal law REQUIRES your bank to return any fraudelant charges and any overdraft fees incurred because of them within a business day.

I had the same thing happen on my Discovercard. 3 charges. 1 for 49.99 and 2 for 74.99. Never had an Xbox before. Only used my Discovercard at a few locations (Amazon.com, target, Dell). So I'm not sure how they got my info. I assume it's a 3rd party pretending to be Microsoft. Others have mentioned that they have contacted Microsoft and have no reference to the order or account information. Link: Xbox live online charges — Fraudulent charges