QLD Website Payment Fraud - Is This Blackmail?

Australia's #1 for Law
Join 150,000 Australians every month. Ask a question, respond to a question and better understand the law today!
FREE - Join Now

Mike132543

Member
18 January 2016
4
0
1
Hello,

I have made a payment to a website online via my debit care. The next day, my card was somehow used for payments that I did not do (eg. electricity bills in the US while I live in Australia). I called the bank and informed of my card being fraud. The bank also refunded me the payment I did online with the website.

Now I have been contacted via the website requesting me to contact my bank to cancel the refund.

The statement goes:

'We have today received a request from our financial institution for a refund (or charge-back) of credit card payment made for your Premium membership of (name of the website).

Should you not cancel your request for refund of this payment then we will be forced to reveal any and all information held by 'company name' to identify you to our financial institution as having actually made the transaction in question.

Some of the things we have to reveal are your email address, any photographs that will personally identify you, private messages sent and the IP addresses (your computer's digital address) that you have used to access (website) and particularly when you made your payment of $75 on 19/08/2016 at 08:02 pm AWST.

If you do not return an email response, we will have to look at forwarding your information also to our attorney for further investigation.'

They already have cancelled my membership. I sent a message back saying that the information was leaked when I used the website and what is their responsibility towards my card information being leaked.

It seems like a blackmailing the way they say 'If you do not return, or cancel payment we will have to give away you and your identity'. My question is what do you think and if I decide to not cancel the refund, can they go ahead with any legal action against me?
 

Rod

Lawyer
LawConnect (LawTap) Verified
27 May 2014
7,726
1,056
2,894
www.hutchinsonlegal.com.au
They appear to be saying they will send your details to your bank proving you made the $75 transaction. Nothing sinister there.

If the business is located overseas I don't think it is likely they will do anything. Did they address any of our concerns?

You might want to warn them they may be investigated for fraud/financial advantage by deception should they wish to proceed trying to recover their $75. Maybe mention the IP address of the person who made fraudulent transactions will have been captured by banks receiving your stolen money.
 

DMQC

Well-Known Member
29 June 2016
94
11
314
I agree with Rod, although be careful with having the payment to the website in question refunded. Although it does seem like a dodgy website to say the least, if you got what you paid for, then you should go through the proper channels for compensation/damages from having your card leaked - this should see you refunded the fees paid to the website at a minimum.

Just a thought, best of luck.