GENES REUNITED UK WEB SITE - FRAUD

Below is a copy of an e-mail I sent to Genes Reunited this morning

GENES REUNITED

UNITED KINGDOM

Dear Sir / Madam,

FRAUD

In all good faith I upgraded to a year's membership for a cost of R89.95 and I quote from your 2 e-mails -

28/07/2006 -

"If you’d like to upgrade and get full access to all Genes Reunited features, you can – securely and in seconds – for just R89.95. Upgrade Here"

04/08/2006 -

"Welcome John,

Your payment has been received and you are now a full member of Genes Reunited.

Your receipt details:

GC6169150_0_201526"

You used the word "securely". Well that is not the case. I now find my Credit Card has been debited with R809.00 with the details of the debit: MFI* Ancestry Subs YR 800-2

I have only authorised 2 Internet transactions on my Credit Card in the past 6 months - both on your Website. One for R89.95 and the other to purchase credits - R45.45. Below is an extract of my Credit Card Statement:.

Statement Opening Balance

2006-08-14 GENES REUNITES/1901 CE INTER R 45.45-

2006-08-24 S*GAME VEREENI UB6235 VEREE R 608.13-

2006-08-25 MFI* Ancestry Subs YR 800-2 R 809.00-

You will note there is no debit for Genes Reunited for R89.95

You need to explain to me how MFI got hold of my credit card number.

You need to refund me the sum of R719.05 immediately, as I hold you responsible this incident and I can assure you that, if this is not done within the next 7 business days, I will proceed to sue you for fraud.

I have searched the Web for MFI and found the following:

I did some searching and found multiple reports of credit card fraud involving MFI*myfamily/ancestry. How are these people allowed to remain in business? ...

HYPERLINK "HYPERLINK "www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm"www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm"www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm"www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm - 8k - HYPERLINK "HYPERLINK "http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:gJXA_z4vdZUJ:www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm+MFI*+Ancestry&hl=en&gl=za&ct=clnk&cd=1"Cached" http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:gJXA_z4vdZUJ:www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm+MFI*+Ancestry&hl=en&gl=za&ct=clnk&cd=1"Cached - HYPERLINK "HYPERLINK "http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&lr=&q=related:www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm"Similar" http://www.google.co.za/search?hl=en&lr=&q=related:www.complaints.com/directory/2005/september/14/12.htm"Similar pages

You will understand that I am extremely irate and will do whatever it takes to make an example of your dishonesty.

Your reply by return is awaited.

Without prejudice.

Yours faithfully,

John L

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Comment On This

I have one withdrawal from Genes reunites/1901.

and afterwards for 1500 euros worth of airplane tickets untill the card was blocked

Before the deduction from Genes reunites/1901 I had one real deduction for an internet payment to wp-hostelworld.com

Anybody made the same payment?

Comment On This

I am withdrawing my earlier post as I have, with I must admit, very great difficulty, just found out from Genes Reunited that their payments are taken by their sister company, and what will appear on the bank statements is - "genesreunites/1901 CE" . it is a pity people are not told this, and that it takes so much asking, like getting blood from a stone, before the relevant information is produced.

Regards,

P.

Comment On This

I too have this problem and was definitely on the correct Genes Reunited website. I made the payment for a 6 months membership. Then I read this page and immediately checked online with my checking account. Sure enough, although I was 100% def. on the right website the payment pending was from Genesreunites CE1901 !!!

I have immediately transferred all the money from my checking account into another account, and informed my bank to block my card and send me a new one. I am now just about to contact Genes Reunited to tell them that their site and/or their software is not secure.

I'm just glad I saw this website and had online banking so that I could do something about this.

Comment On This

Same here:

29th June 2009, £5, GENES REUNITES/190 followed by larger transactions.

I am a (free) member of Genes Reunited but I've never given them (or Friends Reunited) my card details, but as another poster says, I think genesreunites is a site parked there to cash in on people getting the URL wrong and probably makes people miss the fraudulent payment in their statement because they mistakenly recognise it as genesreunited.

To the previous poster, surely if someone bought airline tickets, they would have to provide passport details and would be easy to catch - but I have no idea if these things are ever followed up and dealt with. Is it really a crime that carries such little risk?!

Comment On This

Me too - 2 £5 charges to Genes Reunites in May 09 before the card number was used to buy expensive items such as airline tickets in early June

Comment On This

I too feel Genes Reunited is not responsible for the fraud, but Genes Reunites could be cashing in on the familiar name ... I have had a £5 deduction from my bank account by Genes Reunites 190 on 9 June 09 (presumably testing the use of the debit card number) followed by further deductions for sales by other apparently genuine websites of £295, £503 and having reported it to my bank further deductions of around £170 were blocked. I reiterate warning above - check your accounts daily!!

Comment On This

I'm not sure you should be too hard on Genes Reunited. I had five payments to GENES REUNITES/1901 CE taken from my card over six days this month. I had no dealings with Genes Reunited. My message to all is check statements carefully and watch the web sites you visit.