A rather broad – and quite false – assumption popped up in this thread on SlickDeals this week.
If you can’t view the image above, user shakazoid stated the following:
“Rakuten is a reputable website that used to be called buy.com. Some folks are apprehensive about buyting there due to this thread but based on this other fraud thread it seems like the issue was never a Rakuten problem but a wbshop issue. As a matter of fact i still have about $38 worth of points from 10 yrs ago still valid on their website that I had forgotten about. So folks the site is safe and valid.”
Really? It’s absolutely due to wbshop’s fraud? I don’t think so. I’ve never shopped on wbshop and I’m certain I’m not alone. I’ve lost two cards to the fraud at Rakuten. The first was a brand new card with the very FIRST PURCHASE made at Rakuten. Less than a week later, the fraudulent charges hit. There seem to be many different ways this fraud occurs, but mine was an Ebay triangulation scam. Someone purchased an expensive item on Ebay, and my credit card/billing address were used to drop-ship this item from the retailer to the buyer. *I* spotted the charge – not Amex. I’m not happy with Amex for approving such an expensive item to be shipped to a third party address. The billing address was mine, but the seller used their own email address. The police were never able to track this past Ebay and I never did find out if the buyer was out the money/item. I am quite disturbed that my contact information was sent to a random stranger. Then again, I have HER information as Amex happily provided a copy of the order to me.
To shakazoid: it’s fine if you’ve never had problems buying at Rakuten, but don’t assume there is no fraud at all there. Well over 300 slickdeals users alone report fraud at that site. Yes, some of these users may have also shopped at wbshop, but that alone does not excuse Rakuten from any responsibility in this rampant fraud issue.
To Mr. Bernard Luthi: do you have any updates on your fraud investigation? It has been a while since anyone has heard any updates and too many of us still refuse to shop at Rakuten.
