Readit NewsI had not considered this. My first thought is how technically and operationally complex it would be for an insurer to underwrite these transactions "on-the-fly" from merchants they don't know, but it is probably a great idea.
You get your card from your issuing bank, so the consumer’s last mile is the bank’s problem. The merchant get their POS/gateway from the acquirers. Your bank and the merchants acquirer don’t know each other.
Visa and Mastercard are intermediaries. There’s no way a NatWest card in the UK is connected to whatever POS is in Chile or whatever. They all route through the card brands.
This is why it’s so tough to break this monopoly.
The two that were most interesting were the travel-related (guided trips in exotic locales w/ profiles and resumes of the local guides), and oddly specific and highly-focused catalogs (gardening, specific types of home goods). The one that really stands out was a catalog with hundreds of different brushes-- each with a very specific purpose (and many with carrying cases and other accessories). I had no idea there were so many different brushes.
> I tried contacting every retailer. Try to reach out to the ombudsman (ouvidoria) and explain your case. Even if they don't actually solve the problem, you documented that you tried to friendly resolve the issue.
> I am expecting fallout from this.
Very worst case scenario, the retailers will send the fraudulent invoices to collection agencies and might report you to the credit bureaus. Don't ever pay any cent toward this fraudulent debt. Don't negotiate. The only option is the debt going away as it is fraudulent. It's their money that's on the hook and paying it shifts the responsibilities to you.
Once it hits the credit bureaus, as you already have a Boletim de Ocorrência, and proof of contacting the companies (protocol numbers + dates), i.e. documentation, sue them and ask for damages. It's a simple and common suit that both the credit bureaus and the retailers will want to settle. Make them pay for your time. They don't have any proof that it was your person that made those transactions.
> I am utterly powerless in protecting my identity.
Yeah, but the thing is, if the retailers, banks, credit cards, etc. really wanted to avoid fraud, every purchase/subscription would require the same level of protection as a real estate transaction. Everything signed, in-person meetings, upfront payments, banks, lawyers, notaries, cryptographic signatures (hey, we have e-CPF and nobody uses it!). But as you see, 100% fraud avoidance means friction, and no sane retail business likes friction. It's a business decision on their end. They accept risk so they can take your money easier.
If however it’s a credit purchase (personal loan, crediário, etc) then it might go to collections, then this advice works.
Online purchases though are 80% credit card and 15% Pix/Boleto so it’s unlikely they got a loan just to buy stuff. If they can get a loan, they’ll get the cash itself and run.
Edit: on a Credit Card transaction the burden of evidence is on the merchant. THEY have to prove it was you.
However, HIGHLY unlikely they issue a card in your name and purchase stuff in your name online. If they have a card with them, they’ll go to physical stores and leave with the product with them immediately.
Typically (as I said above) they have purchased a stolen CC number online and are using it until it gets blocked or run out of balance/limit.
In any case, there’s zero fallout for you, the victim. These retailers are used to this (0,5% of transactions turn into fraud), so they’ll eventually figure out it’s fraud and they know it wasn’t you. They know you’re a victim too.
[0] https://registrato.bcb.gov.br/registrato/
Edit with the link
Typically the item is resold for half the price and it’s spoken for. It’s not like they buy to resell later. If they make the fraud they already have a buyer
Dead Comment
We later opened two accounts in two different banks as a backup/failover strategy. One handled incoming invoices and accounts payable, while the other handled payroll, so we'd always have money flowing through both banks at all times. If one of them failed, locked us out etc. we'd have the other to fall back on. It actually happened once: due to an admin error one of the accounts was locked for 10 days. We just routed payments and receivables to the other bank and went on with our day.
But I also have no idea what to ask during them either. They always give their 10 minute spiel about what the company is, ask me to give my own 5-10 minute spiel about my work history, then ask if I have any questions. I give my 5-10 minutes of regurgitating my resume in sentence form, and then generally don't have any questions. what kind of questions would I have for HR during a first round interview that hasn't already been answered in a job posting or basic company research anyway?
This HR sniff test also serves to check for interest. When I interview, if the person has zero questions for me it means they don’t really care that much or weren’t paying attention. Questions mean you’re curious. A 10-minute speech about what the company is and the team does is not enough for you to understand the job and work, so follow-up questions are important. Also it lets the person know where your mind goes, what questions come up first, etc.
Just don’t brown-nose them and ask fake questions just to ask any :)
I think Valve could actually find a bank to work with to run a QR payments scheme for the gaming industry (SteamPay perhaps?) that’s “topped up” via ACH. Just ignore the whole card part, since it’s online you don’t even need it. Require biometrics and you can make the fraud burden easier.
Of course this would cost a lot of money, but it’s at least in the realm of possible versus a PayFac etc.