I was just reconciling my latest Visa statement, and found a fraudulent charge for $4.99 from “Bestsmartstore Com Llc” from February 14. I checked out the company’s website, and learned they are supposedly an “e-book” vendor but we haven’t bought any e-books from them. I googled the company and found that the only hits were people talking about fraudulent credit card charges. So I called our Visa company and disputed the charge. Of course, they closed the account immediately, which means I will now have to change over all our automated billing (stuff like the monthly Netflix bill) to a new card. Yuck. The amount of time it’ll take to deal with the fallout will end up being worth way more than the five bucks of the fraud charge, but what can you do?
My wife and I were charged $4.95 by “BESTSMARTSTORE.COM LLC”. Also we were charged $6.95 by “PROFFESSIONAL ADMIN SERVICES”. These theives need to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Yeah, and to add insult to injury, the credit card people didn’t seem to give a damn that this is known to be a fraudulent company. Just do a web search and you’ll see how many people have been screwed by them. But Chase’s Visa department acted like I was smoking crack when I mentioned that this company is a repeat offender.
I just got hit by them too for $4.95. This was on my checking account visa. I had this happen once before from a different vendor and my crdit union said they don’t do anything about charges for less then $10.00 per some regulations and that they couldn’t do anything about it. Now this is the second one. These crooks know this and keep doing it.
Here is the information of the site owner:
I think we should all file a group lawsuit against this company.
BEST SMART STORE LLC
Norman Bower (supernorster@gmail.com)
+1.3094227043
Fax: +1.5555555555
2355 E. Wild Horse place
Chadler, P 85249
US
Google bestmartstore you will see many messgae boards concerning this scam
I was hit by them too on March 1, 2008 for $6.95. What the hell is wrong with people now days? Did their parents not teach them anything about hard work?
I just got a charge from this bogus fraudulent company. I have no idea how they obtain my information.
i was charged 4.95 for nothing
They hit me on the 18th. I’ve dealt with a couple of “companys” like this in the past. I’m going to file complaints with their local BBB and Attorney Generals office, my states Attorney general and the federal office that deals with this kind of thing. Most people would just accept the loss and that’s what they’re hoping for. If they only hit a thousand people a month worldwide, they’re making a whole lot of money and it’s my guess they’re doing a WHOLE lot more.
I just checked my account and had a charge of $4.95 from bestsmartstore also. I’m calling my bank today and asking them what can be done. I called the contact number on the website and I got a message saying that the number has been disconnected.
I’ve filed complaints with the following agencies:
http://www.azag.gov/ (Arizona Attorney General)
http://www.arizonabbb.org/ (Arizona Better Buisness Bureau)
http://www.ic3.gov/ (Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center)
and my states Attorney General.
They are in the process of investigating these people. The more people that file complaints, the more likely they’ll catch hell for stealing from our accounts including a possible class action suit. The following is what i was able to find out about bestsmartstore.com:
bestsmartstore.com
(Norman Bower)
2355 E. Wild Horse Place
Chandler, Arizona 85249
Ph:623-242-2557 (arizona)
309-422-7043 (illinois)
I always review every charges on my account. Any charges I do know, I investigate. Of course I will
not pay a cent, I will get reabate from my credit card company and put a block so they will never charge my account again.
The question that begs me, is how did get my number? I review my payees, for the past few months, and I paid via this credit car, this is what I came up with: Health supplies from my insurance, children camp from our church, and a pamphlet from the IRS. Non of these are high risk group. Grrr.
This stinks I got charged for $4.95 From (BESTSMARTSTORE COM LLC 623-2422557 NC) Typically I wouldn’t even notice one that small but I happended to be out of town that day and was checking all my charges related to the trip. If we all listed things we bought in the prior 5 – 10 days from the charge we could prolly figure who’s giving out our Number…
Hello this just happened to me and i googled BESTSMARTSTORE COM LLC what should I do????
do I get an new account? do I change everything out?
Help
-Meranda
Well, Meranda. The only option my credit card company gave me was to cancel the card. They issued me a new one with a new number. And then the fun began, since I had to change over all my recurring charges to the new account number – stuff like my web hosting fees, my Comcast cable bill, my Amazon.com account, and so on.
Mario Runner made it sound in his comment that his credit card company will just block a single bad vendor, without forcing you to cancel the whole card. My company didn’t give me that option, unfortunately.
I didn’t get the impression that my own credit card company was really going to investigate this or take it seriously in any way. So contacting the Arizona Attorney General seems like a good idea. But I haven’t done so yet.
ON MY STATEMENT
DEBIT AUTHORIZATION Apr11 05:21p 4417
AT 17:21 BESTSMARTSTORE.COM $ 2.95
hOW DID THEY GET MY CREDIT CARD INFO… WHERE IS THE LEAKAGE COMES FROM WE HAVE TO FOCUS ON THAT WEBSITE..
They got me for $7.90, filed a claim with my bank and internet crimes. How did they get my information??????????????
They got me for $4.95 and a charge pending for $9.80. I will dispute both charges and file a claim with internet crimes. Where did they get my number? I only use this card for one specific company and that is the Government of the United States!!!
They got me for $2.95
Debit on March 14th
How does this company get our credit card numbers? Obviously they hacked a database somewhere that all of us purchased something from and used the CC numbers. Unbelievable, I was charged $4.95 on 4/06/2008. Everyone should cancel their cards immediately!!
Looked at my statement this morning and got charged for 4.95 and did not buy a thing from these people. People like this are the scum of our society trying to screw over people that WORK for a living.
I was charged 6.95 on April 24, 2008 from Bestsmart and I had never heard of them before, let alone buy something from them. I had just filed a complaint with IC3 in which Russ had given us the information for (thank you). I can only hope they find these people and shut them down.
I too found a charge of $4.95 on my credit card and immediately telephoned the fraud department of my credit card company. They gave me the telephone number told me to call it and see if I recognized the company. I did not and immediately called my credit card company back, who fortunately is Chase. The fraud department has already instituted proceedings for fraudulent practices by this company and is taking care of the charge. It does not seem like a lot of money but THESE PEOPLE HAVE TO BE STOPPED. Then I called them back and told them I reported them. All you get is an answering machine but that’s good enough they’ve got to check it.
I got hit with the $4.95 charge on my debit card too.
They got me for $4.95. guess I will be going through the new card routine unless Bank of America has a better idea.
Just got hit for 2.95 on 5/4/2008. I too was required to cancel my card, a card I have had for 10 years and now must change my number on all my recurring (many). I find it really hard to believe that CC co’s can’t block individual companies. There are only 2 or 3 in the entire US with Chase being the biggest (and clearly and slowly buying all the others and adding fees and taking away and recognition of longevity). They just want to eliminate their exposure as we don’t have to pay these charges by law. What a pin this is.
They are still going…I was hit with a $4.95 charge on 05/05/2008. It was through Chase Visa. When I called Chase, they not only acted like they had never heard of the problem, but seemed to doubt what I was telling them…”Are you sure that you haven’t bought any eBooks in the past few days”. Chase gave me a courtesy credit for the amount stolen but mentioned that they were going to take the loss for it. I guess it is cheaper for them to eat the $4.95 than deal with trying to get it back. Bringing me to the REAL SUCK thing about the whole situation…BESTSMARTSTORE made their money in my case…they got their money from Chase. Why does it seem like nothing is being done about this???
I got stuck with this also, 5/7/08, and immediately reported to our bank, wiaiting for the pending to post.
Need to see just exactly can be done.
I got hit with the $4.95 charge on my HSBC MC on 5-11-2008 and disputing now.
thanks to all who posted here. My card is now blocked and a new card will issue. your prior posts saved me a lot of time……….
Same thing happened to me on my Chase card. $6.95 from Bestsmart.com LLC.
Quite a racket.
And they’re still getting away with it, nearly 3 months later. I guess it is the perfect racket. I’m guessing the charges are small enough that they stay “under the radar” of some fraud policy. Lots of small fish, I guess. And I’d sure love to hear how many people don’t even bother disputing it. Taken as an individual event, it’s not worth $6.95 of my own time to go through the hassle of changing out a credit card.
For what it’s worth, I sent this in as a tip to Consumerist.com, which is a consumer advocacy website. But I guess they haven’t felt it’s a big enough deal to investigate, just like Visa.
They just got me on 5/13 to the tune of $4.95. I’m disputing it and reporting them everywhere I can.
I too have been a victim of these scum bags… and my financial institution is a small, private Credit Union (not at all a big bank like Chase). Looking at my April bank statement I found a charge on 4-30-08 for $4.95. Stupidly, I called the company thinking it was a simple clerical error. As soon as I got their voicemail I realized it was a scam. Cancelled my bank card… yada, yada. And I am reporting them to every organization I can find that will listen. Thanks for posting this blog. Surely I won’t be the last one who is victimized- thanks for putting the word out!
They got me on a card that I never even activated…just had it in a drawer for future use. $4.95 on 5/9/2008. I am going to have to contact my CC company and see what they are going to do about it!
I just got my Chase statement for a card that I have used for over 10 years and never had a fraudulent purchase made on it previously, and there it is…5/15/2008 Bestsmartstore.com for $4.95. I’ll call Chase and have it removed but it’s really freaky that these people can access our accounts like this.
June 2, 2008
I just got hit for $4.95 as well and filed complaints at all of the below agencies.
http://www.azag.gov/ (Arizona Attorney General)
http://www.arizonabbb.org/ (Arizona Better Buisness Bureau)
http://www.ic3.gov/ (Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center)
My visa debit card was hit for $4.95 on 6/4 by this company. I had to cancel my card, and B of A is reimbursing the charge because I reported it within 60 days of the theft.
We were all incredibly lucky, if you think about it. These crooks had access to every cent we had, and could have cleaned us out. I am still reporting them to the Federal Internet Crime Complaint Center. All of you should too.
I recently found this charge hit my account on the 9th and it was on my husbands visa debit card while he is in Iraq. I called Bank of America and they didn’t question me at all and cancelled the card, issued him a emergency one, put a fraud alert on the account, and told me to file a complaint as soon as it posts to the account and I will not incur any fees whatsoever to include overdraft fees.
Second time I’ve been hit for the $4.95! First time was in April. Disputed charge/closed card. Was sent replacement card with new number, didn’t use the card anywhere on-line and bam!! $4.95 charge on there yesterday from “BESTSMARTSTORE COM LLC”. Obviously no one is getting this stopped anytime soon.
Got hit for $2.95 on 6/17, did online dispute form with my bank, USAA, they haven’t responded yet, but did credit me $2.95
I just got hit for almost $5 and they have a phone number it sounds like a foreigner with a prepaid phone. if anyone wants to try to call the number is 623-242-2557
I just found a $2.95 on my statement. I thought it was odd and called the number on the statement for bestsmartstore com llc and of course it is disconnected. I called the credit card company and reported it. Wells Fargo told me I must of ordered a book online. Who can order a book for $2.95 online??? Anyway it is now with the fraud department, they’ll call and let me know. How many people out there do not check their credit card statements and just make the payment???
I found their charge for $4.95 and disputed it with them immediately, by phone and by e-mail. That was my May Chase M/C bill; they e-mailed me back and said they would issue me a credit. My June bill just came, and lo! there is a credit for $4.95.
They claimed I had bought a certain e-book, ahd I told them I had never ordered anything from them, in fact had never *heard* of them.
I *always* check my CC bill when it comes in, and match up receipts with the charges. However, I know my normal patterns and can spot anything different. Then I remember, Oh yeah I bought dinner at that restaurant (or whatever).
I found THIS web site because I Googled aphone number that I didn’t recognize on my LD phone bill, and it turned out to be the e-book place.
BestSmartStore LLC just got me, too. I went online to pay off my VISA balance at Chase and noticed that there was an additional charge of $4.95 on 7/2. Neither my husband nor I have used this account for quite some time. The Customer Service rep suggested I “contact the vendor”, gave me the phone # and told me what it was supposedly for. I did a quick Google while she was still on the phone and discovered that it was a fraudulent site. She transferred me to the fraud dept, where they issued a credit, closed the account and said “they would investigate” without questioning me any further about it. So they did not actually admit that they knew about it, but it seemed odd to me that they just took me at my word. Now I see that they have probably known about it for a while but just have a policy of not letting on.
I was also hit with a $4.95 charge from Bestsmartstore. My question….this fraud has been going on for months. In this day and age the credit card company computers can’t be set to pick up on the Bestsmartstore name and phone number and kick out the charge automatically? Come on folks this is the technology age 🙁
Yeah, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it? It appears these people have found the perfect scam, because our Visa companies don’t seem to give a damn about shutting it down. And I’m sure less than 1% of the people hit with this have posted anything on my blog, which would mean that bestsmartstore.com is probably making a thousand dollars a day from this. But because it’s all in tiny increments, no individual bank feels it’s worth it to go after them.
For what it’s worth, I mentioned this to the tips line at Consumerist.com. They expressed mild interest and then didn’t pursue the matter either.
It is pretty clear this one huge fraud. The problem is, people who catch it, call the company phone number and obtain a refund. The matter is not brought to the attention of your credit card company, who needs to know the details so they can keep it from occurring in the future. Please report all instances of fraudulent charges to your credit card company.
I too am a victim of this company and this is not the first time. Last year I saw a charge on my debit card at approximatley the same time of year as now (July)I didn’t know what the company was at the time and I am always ordering stuff online so I assumed it was something I had ordered until I thought about where I was when it happened I was out of town and did not have access to a computer. Needless to say I called the number and eventually got a call back from a woman that speaks broken English asking if I had ordered an ebook which I had not. They refunded my money and I thought it was over until this July 2008. Now I’m pissed and I am going to follow the links that Jeff provided and complain to whomever will listen.
This scam (and my original post) just got mentioned on Consumerist, a major consumer rights blog site:
http://consumerist.com/5025821/bestsmartstore-is-a-scam-check-your-statements-for-fake-charges
Is it just me or does anyone else see another common thread in all of this….CHASE BANK CREDIT CARDS????
As I read the posts it seems that the vast majority of them are Chase card holders. Just pointing out a common thread besides the fraud.
Best of luck to everyone.
Oh my, I’ve been hit by them too! I decided to google to get more information and this blog showed up.
The first time I saw it was in March…I thought maybe it was a charge I couldnt remember, but it has showed up again. I cant believe this is happening to so many others and Chase Visa is doing nothing about it. I will definitely complain, hopefully all of us together can put this to rest.
I work for a credit union that process fraud claims on credit/debit cards and prior to that i use to do credit/debit card disputes. From a financial stand point, our hands are tied because Visa/MC put regs and by-laws in place that the financial institution have to comply with. So when a bank/credit union closes your card for fraud. They take the lost for the amount and the cost to issue a new card and mail out. Most institutions 80% are not staff enough to handle the 10k-40k cards the institution send out. As a consumer be dilgient in reviewing your account history on your accounts, anything questionable do research and call the merchant. Alot of times you are able to get credit for the charge. We cant stop people from stealing merchant’s database information. Its the responsible of the merchant to protect it.
I also received a charge for $4.95 from Bestmartstore.com last month. Bank of America Visa credited the charge. Then again I received another charge this month. Called CC Co again, disputed charge and received credit again. B of A said it will take 6 to 8 weeks to resolve problem, but i will not have to cancel my card. I am also going to post complaints on websites mentioned on other posts. Thanks to everyone who have posted there complaints regarding this bougus company.
Glad this set of posts popped right up when I Googled “Bestsmartstore Com Llc.” Just saw the $4.95 charge when I downloaded my transactions and had no idea what this was. Haven’t seen – and hope not to – on our other Chase cards…I sent in an e-dispute form and hope all of these previous efforts will have alerted Chase and the others banks that this is just a fraud. Wonder whose list they got a hold of…
They got me on 8/25/08 $6.95. I have no idea where they got my info. Wachovia cardholder
Got me on 8/27
Chase card: $4.95
Die bitches.
My husbands card has been hit a couple of times now. Its through USAA not Chase.
Reading through previous posts and one possible connection is government. One guy said he’d recently got something from the IRS and someone else said they only use that card for Government and another person said it was their USAA card (USAA while not directly government is a bank/insurance company for military personel).
I’m hit too. Charge of $4.95 to my debit card. Also got hit by WWW INTELIPALM COM 434-336-4079 VA for $4.78. Cancelling now. Thx for putting this site up.