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Privacy violations anyone? Neutronexpress doesn't want YOUR business

isohunt.com — Neutron Express violated customer privacy and then after prompted by the customer, demanded a copy of the customer's driver's license emailed to them.

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  • Sevenseeker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+17You must give me your credit card info so that I know this story is real! :P
  • machriderx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8I think I'll stick to using NewEgg.
  • njschwinn, on 10/11/2007, -2/+2I love how they are trying to take away the privacy of someone purchasing a product for isoHunt, which is a large advocate of privacy for all of their site's
    users.
    Crazy Irony FTW
  • Omega50, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1We have the mpaa wanting to take away our privacy, now neutronexpress.com. Maybe we should have a barcode tattoo on our foreheads, to make it easier for Wallmart. I despair of the direction the USA is heading down. Big Brother is here.
    • Akaji, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3In other news: the sky is falling, there's a wolf amongst the sheep, and there be monsters in these waters.
      • websuspect, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Bingo they want us all implanted with computer chips.
  • ploop, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Neutron Express is a fly-by-night anyway.
  • toiletwad, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10Being on the other end of retail, welcome to the world of fraud. They are only trying to protect their ass from losing $3800 worth of memory. Sure if you order 1 kit maybe that's ok, but someone ordering 14 kits? that would raise a red flag and I don't blame them for their caution. They also need to understand that you have the same lack of trust for them (by giving them your drivers license) as they do in sending you all that product. PERHAPS you should send them a copy of your licence with your license number whited out, and your address. Just have visible for them your picture and name? WELCOME BIG BROTHER. It's only going to get worse.
  • Error601, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1Link to some forum...lame.
    • belthesar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Yeah... the link to the forum for ISOHunt, the site in which the SysMin works. And if you even took a second to look, phpBB is how they do their news feed. Try not being a Digg r-tard and actually look at the content before you judge.
  • dougkff7, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Sorry, this is silly. An order for 14 kits of memory, totaling nearly $4000? And you're wondering why the retailer got suspicious? Anyway, as said before, whitepages.com is public record, and you can ask to be removed from it. Also, when you purchase online, generally, your address is matched to your credit card billing address. Anyway, if you think your privacy has been violated by placing an order for a product that requires an address and phone number, good luck in this world. I'm afraid you'll find you won't be able to do much without giving *something* that might be able to identify you.
  • codemang87, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4Obviously if he already gave them his name, shipping address, billing address, and credit card number, they have enough information to charge his card and get there money BEFORE they send $4000 worth of merch. Why do they need more info? 4k is enough now?
  • 9000desu, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Privacy advocate and torrent site administrator gets second-rate, sluggish, privacy-invasive treatment from business when he attempts to order memory for the site's resources.

    LOL IRONY.

    I hope they take a lot of ***** for this one, if that is in any way representative of their standard operating procedures.
    You'd think a business like that would want money, especially on a business account. Apparently not. Shop at neutronexpress.com, receive abysmal service. I'll have to remember that.
  • toiletwad, on 10/11/2007, -2/+0Alrighty gang, let me tell you how it works in retail. Person A uses a stolen credit card to order 4000 widgets. Store B takes the order, charges the card and all is good. NOW being the good customer service store that we are, store B ships the memory out in a couple of days. NOW 30 days later victim C screams that their card was stolen with unauthorized charges on it...60 to 90 days later store B gets a letter saying the monies that were charged on that card for that sale are being revoked. Hmmm you're now out the money and the memory. Sorry gang, my vote is the store did the right thing.
    • deptstoremook, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1A presumption of guilt does not a successful consumer-retailer bond make.
    • Miril, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Monies isn't a word.
      • boredofitall, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Yes it is ! It's the plural of money, funnily enough.
  • infowolfe, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4toiletwad: When a person places a legitimate order, using their own credit card, shipped to the address on file for said credit card, with the CCV, Expiration date, etc all matching, to be SHIPPED to the consumer's home address, generally, these things do not scream 'fraud.' They simply say that the consumer is a first time customer of store B, and happens to want to get a good amount of ram while the prices are < $300 for a 4GB Kit ;-). The only thing I could have asked for was a bit more transparency with regards to why my PII was submitted to a 3rd party without my consent or knowledge and why exactly they thought I was being fraudulent in the first place. Instead, I was treated as a criminal ;-)
  • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Its more about the rights of the company than of yours. They need to guard their stock fron fraudsters. Just give them the info they need or go else where.Its that simple.Would you sell your car to someone who offered a cheque as payment ? i guess you would want assurances before you handed the keys over. Just grow up and stop acting like a spoilt child.
  • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -5/+0Grow up you DICK. Its more about the rights of the company than of yours. They are simply guarding their stock against fraudsters. If you dont like it then go else where instead of moaning like a big girl.I would not care but the ram is for your illegal (exept canada and other third world countries ) torrent site anyway. I guess they know who you are a have chosen not to do business with a criminal (exept in canada and other third world countries ) Wanker.
    • ZinjaShike, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I'm sorry to inform you but, torrent sites aren't illegal in the USA, Canada, UK, etc. The torrents themselves aren't even illegal. The material you DL with them MAY be illegal, but even then it depends on a country's jurisdication.

      Your lack of perception and knowledge shows your gross misunderstanding of the situation at hand. If anyone's the wanker, it surely is you.
      • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -3/+0Then i guess they should delete all the torrents that they know are copyrighted. Do they do that ? ***** off you knob head. They promote illegal activities and that is wrong. Ive seen the lists of films they offer through their site so you and they have no excuse.
        • Vecusum, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Everything promotes illegal activities in some way, just because people using torrent sites don't know about the laws that they are breaking doesn't mean they are breaking them on purpose.
        • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Criminals promote illegal activities. Just cos they do it dont mean we all have to. Everyone who downloads from these sights know its illegal...the sight even tells you it is.
  • Buzzbox, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0Privacy? More like protection... This has emo writen all over it *heres a tissue*
  • zrulli, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1I don't see why they need to look you up. As long as they get there money, everyone wins. If its an illegal source of cash, the original provider has insurance against fraud. They may lose a little, but at the same time gaining millions of profit. So if the credit card is bogus but still allows funds to be withdrew, then who cares. Isohunt rocks. Money is money plain and simple.
  • gwheelus, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0stores have insurance for fraud. so why the harassment. ship the stuff and if there is a problem let visa take care of it thats what every one pays them for.
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I hope you have your own company.Can i order £10,000 worth of computers please. My number is 123456789. HONEST
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I hope you have your own company.Can i order £10,000 worth of computers please. My number is 123456789. HONEST
      • Kristofer0, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0He gave the credit card information to verify his name and address account number etc. It's not a question of honesty or not, the company has the information to check already, doesn't need to check with a public database where you may request to be removed from.
  • vrillco, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1This kind of behavior is typical of business newbies. They're too small to afford a decent merchant account, and probably aren't paying for fraud insurance. They make people jump through hoops due to their incompetence.

    This may be illegal depending on where you live, but the best thing to do against these small timers is to buy something small and argue the charge. With some types of merchant accounts, all it takes is 3 to 5 chargebacks before the account is suspended, the dollar amount doesn't even matter. Show these small-timers how much you despise their lack of professionalism.
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0WHY. How is a small company ever going to grow if people like you want to harm them. You make no sense.
  • foodlover58, on 10/11/2007, -1/+0So you want to support only the largest internet retailers? You can to put the small companies out of business for not wanting to be defrauded? Yes, if a company gets too many chargebacks their account will be cancelled. THAT'S EXACTLY WHY THEY VERIFY INFORMATION TO PREVENT FRAUD - IF THEY GET A CHARGEBACK DUE TO THE FRAUDLENT PURCHASE, THEY DON'T ONLY LOSE $4,000.00, THEY MAY ALSO LOSE THEIR MERCHANT ACCOUNT AND AS A RESULT THEIR BUSINESS AND THEIR LIVELYHOOD. Credit card companies offer NO protection to retailers if merchandise is shipped to anything but the customer's billing address. Using cell phones as contact information is exactly what fraudsters do. They steal credit card information and target the smaller companies with limited resources to protect themselves. Yes, small online retailers may use publicly available information to try to verify the legitimacy of their customers. Checking a phone number to see if it actually belongs to the customer - is that unreasonable? They're supposed to send you $4000 worth of merchandise and just trust that the text on their screen isn't one of the hundreds of fraudulent orders they receive every day? And consumer electronics is the prime targets of fraudsters - it's like gold, it can be resold anywhere for a good price.

    I run a small online consumer electronics retailer. I have lost $10,000's of dollars due to fraud. You DO NOT have a customer's money when the sale is made - customers have 180 days to initiate a chargeback. I've given people the benefit of the doubt, I'm shipped orders without verified information - at least 60% of the time I get a letter 2 months later saying the credit card customer reported fraudulent charges on their card. The credit card companies have already taken the money from our account (the first thing they do is take their money from us, before asking any questions). If we don't send the credit card company proof that the merchandise was delivered to the customer's billing address, they won't give us the money back. Even then, they don't always side with us. We've lost it all. The credit card companies do NOTHING to protect you.

    I Googled neutronexpress and this thread came up as the second result (the isohunt posting was the second). This could really hurt this company for doing what any responsible business would do if they didn't want to be defrauded out of business within a few days. Go ahead, put all of the small companies out of business. Pay more to purchase from big companies owned by thousands of rich shareholders, run by a bureaucracy, serviced by unknowledgeable, uncaring, unprofessional, personnelle. Large companies - TigerDirect.com for instance - have incredibly advanced verification systems, and accounts with information brokerage companies that verify and prevent fraudulent order without the customer's knowledge. They have far more information about you than anyone else, they just don't have to ASK for it. And you pay more for it as a customer - both for the loss to the company due to the fraudulent orders and for the preventative measures.

    Why don't you instead start a new thread on preventing the fraud that causes situations like this to be necessary in the first place? Then maybe we could all live in a better world. But for now, welcome to the real world - people are trying to steal through the internet! And other people are bitching about a company trying to prevent it! For now, this is the reality and it's a disgrace this post even exists. I'm not saying this company (neutronexpress) is even good - I've never even purchased from them before - just give e-tailers some credit and understand what you're getting into when you're purchasing online.
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Well said sir.This would not be an issue with most people but there are the odd few who like to make a fuss.The guy at Isohunt is clearly of the opinion that he is special as he is involved with a torrent site with many members....(DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM) He is a joke.
  • ArchShanker, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I don't understand why people are bitching about that the ram is for isohunt, doesn't matter who its for, its still an invasion of privacy
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Can you not read?????? Its called MAKING SURE. No one makes you buy from them but if you do then just supply the material or go else where ......simple
  • Bozobub, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0I can see why this bugged infowolfe but I have to agree; small e-tailers just can't afford the complex infrastructure necessary to make this type of transaction verification transparent. Don't be fooled! The big companies (NewEgg, TigerDirect, etc.) violate your privacy just as badly and MORE OFTEN; they just do it out of your view..!
    • EOldBean, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0But not out of your view eh ? How do you know this ?????Oh yes its called a conspiracy and your a conspiracy theorist. or should i say IDIOT.
  • FourQ, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0As someone recently a victim of credit card fraud I can appreciate the merchant's point of view.
    As someone who doesn't want the world and his wife to know everything about me, I can appreciate the buyer's point of view very well indeed.

    Having worked for a major British bank I can see the fraud point of view, but as a great deal of fraud is done with existing fraudulent identification, it stands to reason that if you had a fraudulent credit card then a fraudulent driving license is not completely out of the question. Why are NeutronExpress happy to believe that, hypothetically, a stolen wallet would not contain a stolen credit card and driving license? It staggers the imagination that they're willing to accept one as suspect but the other as a foolproof method of verifying your genuine status.

    They'll be asking for DNA next!
  • TheBSG, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Haha, yet again, squirrel is a squirrelly bitch about something that doesn't agree with his way of doing things.
  • websuspect, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Hiel Hitler BUsh and friends. Good by privacy, hello real ID. next they will be sticking computer chips in your hand and brain. Fight back now sheeple or loose your lives.
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