Topic Wiki

https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/dark-side-earning-credit-card-points-psa-dont-swipe-others/

https://www.mixcloud.com/zev-brenner/talkline-with-zev-brenner-on-credit-card-scams-affecting-the-orthodox-jewish-community/

http://podcast.headlinesbook.com/e/31616-credit-card-miles-and-points-swiping-for-rewards-buying-and-selling-miles-is-it-assur-and-a-chillul-hashem-or-a-great-way-for-a-side-parnassah/



BEFORE SWIPING FOR SOMEONE READ THIS: (first hand story)

https://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=36812.msg2062371#msg2062371
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/dark-side-earning-credit-card-points-psa-dont-swipe-others/#comment-1399884


Dan's warning to DDF:
I hope people realize that any buying group or anyone else that gets merchandise in advance of payment can go south at any time. That's even if you get a check at the time of delivery.
X-posting as I don't want anyone to say that I never put a warning here.

A story that ended up in court - https://iapps.courts.state.ny.us/nyscef/DocumentList?docketId=iRcRHuyZUdOIx69D00a5XQ==&display=all&courtType=Kings%20County%20Supreme%20Court&resultsPageNum=1


I am one of the biggest buyers for buying groups, I have done millions in transactions and have sent to every group there is over the past 3 years. Most buying groups are okay, some scan in slower than others, some pay slower than others - most will lose a few packages over the year. You can research and find which are better for you.

However there is a bigger problem now with Amazon itself.  Amazon in the past has been great with any problems always ready with a refund for lost packages even if it was thousands of dollars. Lately Amazon has clamped down and has tagged these buying groups addresses  in their systems as "freight forwarder" and now no longer will fix any problem you have whatsoever. Doesn't matter what the problem is, even if it shows the package was never delivered, amazon will not help you in any way. Their copy and paste response will always be "this item was sent to a freight forwarder and we're unable to replace or refund the item. We recommend contacting your freight forwarder for more details, as we don't have any more insight or information regarding this matter, For more information about sending items via freight forwarders, please visit our Help Pages: https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=201117950." As well the amazon drivers either must know this or have been increasingly bad at delivering packages because the numbers of packages missing has gone up astronomically. Previously you would have very few packages missing, now the past 3 months I have had 59 "lost" packages. I now have over $15,000 of loses and some guy in Delaware is probably living the life with all the stuff he stole from me. I will survive, I have made a lot more than $15,000 over the years however just a warning to others here that things are not as they used to be and it really is no longer worth doing buring groups with all the loses piling up

« Last edited by Yo ssi on July 24, 2023, 06:47:26 PM »

Author Topic: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others  (Read 1183493 times)

Offline churnbabychurn

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2440 on: February 24, 2019, 06:42:48 PM »
The problem with talking explicitly about buying groups is that so many people do it that it may just weaken the message as a whole, not to mention that it's far less risky than letting your card be swiped by someone.
Maybe a separate section that makes people aware that by buying for a group, they are essentially lending cash to a business unsecured with no recourse.

This is something that many many people can't seem to grasp.

Offline mmgfarb

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2441 on: February 24, 2019, 06:43:47 PM »
Maybe a separate section that makes people aware that by buying for a group, they are essentially lending cash to a business unsecured with no recourse.

This is something that many many people can't seem to grasp.
Well that's not really true, you are selling them goods, that has very different legal ramifications.
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

Offline Dan

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2442 on: February 24, 2019, 06:43:51 PM »
I won't hide behind a new name. I will just post my story.

In short, when I was a bochur I was approached by a friend of one of my siblings who asked me for my CC. He already used my brothers' CC and always paid on time. I later found out he would buy electronics, smuggle them into a certain country, sell them to a local distributor and then pay back. For over 2 years it worked fine. On average he swiped about 18k a month and then paid back after the CC closed.

Came the day when one of his containers was seized by customs, and he lost a lot of money, and didn't have how to pay back.

I was stuck with 18k CC debt, none of it my own spending. I was paying minimum payments (had no money, kollel salary), and waiting to see what will happen.

The guy never ignored my calls, but he also did not have money. He also got married, got a job and barely made ends meet.

I found an ad in one of the religious newspapers for "angels of debt", they took the case, told me what to do, I settled all the CC's for 25/30%, fried my credit for 7 years, I borrowed from my parents to pay it, and over the next 5 years I got paid back from this guy whatever the settlement amounts were (i was not going to charge him a penny more than i paid, nor was i going to dispute a charge which was legally made).

Today i still cannot open CC's with chase, Citi and Barclays, they have me blacklisted, only Amex and Capital One.

I wasn't scammed. But I learned my lesson. And I did not end up losing too much BH.
Crazy! Thanks for sharing.
Please share as a comment on DD also.
Save your time, I don't answer PM. Post it in the forum and a dedicated DDF'er will get back to you as soon as possible.

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Offline churnbabychurn

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2444 on: February 24, 2019, 06:45:08 PM »
Well that's not really true, you are selling them goods, that has very different legal ramifications.
Here we go. Rationalize all you want. One day lots of people will be left holding the bag.

Offline SBS

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2445 on: February 24, 2019, 06:48:10 PM »
Done.


Crazy! Thanks for sharing.
Please share as a comment on DD also.
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Offline mmgfarb

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2446 on: February 24, 2019, 06:48:32 PM »
Here we go. Rationalize all you want. One day lots of people will be left holding the bag.
I'm not saying it's safe, I'm saying it's different.
"JS [is] a fetid cesspool of unvarnished linguistic manure, with lots of useless drivel and post-padding." -Moishebatchy

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2447 on: February 24, 2019, 06:49:33 PM »
Well that's not really true, you are selling them goods, that has very different legal ramifications.
Considering that the odds of getting the goods back if c"v they go belly up are slim (especially if they "never received them") it doesn't have much a difference in practice.
Feelings don't care about your facts

Offline sky121

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2448 on: February 24, 2019, 06:56:19 PM »
I haven't read through this thread yet and I've been offline for the last few weeks really but I just read the post on the main site and my heart is aching for those out there.

My concern is knowing that sometimes people in situations like this that seem hopeless can sometimes do drastic things and I'm wondering if we can somehow offer a place for anyone who feels like they ate drowning to call and get support and guidance.

"Not all who wander are lost"

Offline Moshe123

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2449 on: February 24, 2019, 06:56:41 PM »
Dan, I liked the article, but I feel that you need to touch the specific stories, but very briefly. People should feel the reality a little better. You don't need to divulge many details.

Offline joey89

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2450 on: February 24, 2019, 06:58:28 PM »
Dan, I liked the article, but I feel that you need to touch the specific stories, but very briefly. People should feel the reality a little better. You don't need to divulge many details.
There are links to stories


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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2451 on: February 24, 2019, 07:01:54 PM »
How much money are you out? How long were you doing it for?
JJ editing Dan's posts! That's the first!
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Offline myi

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2452 on: February 24, 2019, 07:07:02 PM »
Dan, I liked the article, but I feel that you need to touch the specific stories, but very briefly. People should feel the reality a little better. You don't need to divulge many details.
Yes, Dan did a great job with that article on the MS.
 Making 100s or 1000s of dollars sound very cool to make with only a simple phone call and handing over your ss and DOB to a total stranger and not to forget all the buying groups.
 What ever a person does it needs to be done in moderation and not over the hill which you don't know nor keep track of what your buying and now the buying groups have the upper hand and will sneak a few dollars here and there.
 Get a real job and on the side if you know what your doing you can open new cards and max the 5x or spend on a day to day basis and maxing the spending by using the right cards.

 As always PGFHGS...
Better safe then sorry.
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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2453 on: February 24, 2019, 07:14:54 PM »
That's the first!
Not even close.
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Offline zale

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2454 on: February 24, 2019, 07:16:55 PM »
I won't hide behind a new name. I will just post my story.

In short, when I was a bochur I was approached by a friend of one of my siblings who asked me for my CC. He already used my brothers' CC and always paid on time. I later found out he would buy electronics, smuggle them into a certain country, sell them to a local distributor and then pay back. For over 2 years it worked fine. On average he swiped about 18k a month and then paid back after the CC closed.

Came the day when one of his containers was seized by customs, and he lost a lot of money, and didn't have how to pay back.

I was stuck with 18k CC debt, none of it my own spending. I was paying minimum payments (had no money, kollel salary), and waiting to see what will happen.

The guy never ignored my calls, but he also did not have money. He also got married, got a job and barely made ends meet.

I found an ad in one of the religious newspapers for "angels of debt", they took the case, told me what to do, I settled all the CC's for 25/30%, fried my credit for 7 years, I borrowed from my parents to pay it, and over the next 5 years I got paid back from this guy whatever the settlement amounts were (i was not going to charge him a penny more than i paid, nor was i going to dispute a charge which was legally made).

Today i still cannot open CC's with chase, Citi and Barclays, they have me blacklisted, only Amex and Capital One.

I wasn't scammed. But I learned my lesson. And I did not end up losing too much BH.

To be clear, you are still blacklisted by those banks even after 7 years and even though your credit report no longer shows that you settled?

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2455 on: February 24, 2019, 07:20:44 PM »
To be clear, you are still blacklisted by those banks even after 7 years and even though your credit report no longer shows that you settled?

Yes. As of two months ago. Hence I cannot take advantage of any of the ink offers, etc.

Those are the banks that I settled with. They have me flagged in their system for eternity.
« Last Edit: February 24, 2019, 07:25:08 PM by SBS »
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Offline Chevreman

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2456 on: February 24, 2019, 07:25:58 PM »
Dan, I liked the article, but I feel that you need to touch the specific stories, but very briefly. People should feel the reality a little better. You don't need to divulge many details.

I think Dan did a good job. I wouldn't get too specific, many of the people left holding the bag will have a much harder time recouping their loss if this story gets carried by a major news site.



Offline zale

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2457 on: February 24, 2019, 07:26:37 PM »
As of 2 months ago, yes.

This is significant. I think that some people are under the impression that after 7 years they have a clean slate. This is clearly not the case.

In hindsight (and as you know, hindsight is always a perfect 20/20), 18k is not worth killing seven years of credit for. I would try to slowly pay it off while simultaneously moving the balances around to 0% APR cards. But whatever happened happened and I wish you good luck from here onward.


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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2458 on: February 24, 2019, 07:39:09 PM »
Any critiques before I post?
https://www.dansdeals.com/more/dans-commentary/dark-side-earning-credit-card-points-psa-dont-swipe-others/

I will probably get some flack for writing this, but please cut me some slack. (Or is it the other way around with the flack and slack?).

While I think the post is well written, I think it's a drop too bland (maybe I feel that way because nothing is news and I might be aware of more details than posted there).

Here's what I think is missing/needs to be changed:

1. I propose the following edits (inserted here in bold) to the first paragraph:

Quote
Everyone loves earning points and miles, and they should as long as everything is kept in the right perspective and balance. It’s allowed me and many others to travel the world in first class and stay in five star resorts for free. The memories created from those trips as well as once in a lifetime moments like throwing out the first pitch of game 7 at the World Series in my hometown are truly priceless. But unfortunately, the unbalanced and/or unchecked pursuit of easy points and whatever comes along with them, have left some with memories and experiences seared deeply into their minds.

2. Right after that paragraph add something about things that are non materialistic that are priceless. Family, kids, אמונה, learning, etc.

3. Add something about how the banks pay for all the points they dole out - financed by the profits of fees and finance charges paid by most CC holders. Use the old saying that those that understand interest earn it, and those that don't - pay it.

4. I think your statement about a briefcase full of cash doesn't make it close enough for people. They think of that as a large sum of 100s of thousands. Make it more real by saying that whenever you give any amount to anyone, you should be ready to not get it back. Unexpected things can happen even the most honest guy with the best intentions. If you're not able to handle a situation of not being paid back, then you probably shouldn't hand over that amount (in cash or CC).
I've been waiting over 5 years with bated breath for someone to say that!
-- Dan

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Re: PSA: Don't swipe recklessly for others
« Reply #2459 on: February 24, 2019, 07:41:31 PM »
A school in Lakewood sent out a letter to all parents with a form to fill out. Their ss numbers etc and it says that they will be helping the school by allowing them to sell their points. Insane