Holcomb coal plants and their proponents

Originally posted 2008-05-02:

Wow. I’m shocked. I’m ecstatic. The Governor’s veto of the “Holcomb bill” stands! For those who don’t know, Sunflower Electric and many in the Kansas Legislature have spent much of the last months attempting to ram through one of many different versions of a bill intended to “put in his place” the Kansas Secretary of Health and Environment, and to enact a law specifically to allow Sunflower to build two large coal-fired generators. To read a blow-by-blow account of the sordid story, read a couple months of history in CEP’s blog. The drama isn’t over yet, but does seem to have taken a very positive turn!

On the issue itself, I laud the legislators who chose to “do the right thing” and vote either against one of the “Holcomb bills” or against the override of the Governor’s veto of said bills. Coal, with proper management of its emissions, will likely need to be a part of our energy mix in the near term, although energy policy must soon turn towards sustainable sources and efficient uses for our long-term well being. An excellent summary of the issues is available from CEP.

For what it’s worth, for some time I’ve taken the position that, though it seems as though the weight of credible scientific opinion is that we’re dealing with substantial anthropogenic global warming (AGW), I don’t know enough about the subject to make any bold comments. I’m still not a climate scientist, but after reading The Hot Topic I do feel comfortable saying that some of the most credible arguments against AGW have been considered, and have been adequately refuted–it’s a very readable, practical book that gives an excellent survey of the science, looks at some of the costs and benefits of adaptation and prevention (and of doing nothing), and dispels myths of both the “there’s no problem” and the “there’s no hope, the sky is falling” varieties. But, the take-home message is: we do need to act wisely for the future. The pigheaded insistence that these plants must be built, essentially as planned, no matter what, does not strike me as an especially well-considered approach to planning.

Finally, I’d sort of forgotten the kind of pressure that people voting against forcing the coal plants through might face. I’m guessing that some of those advocating for the plants do so because it seems like “the least of evils”, and though I disagree strongly with them on the wisdom of that move (and plan to use that as a negative criterion for political support), I can generally respect them nonetheless. On the other hand, Speaker of the House, Melvin Neufeld is leading the charge for the coal plants–read the linked case for a window into the methods he’s used in the past. To those standing up to the pressure…thank you!

More on sugar alternatives

Originally posted 2007-09-29:

In an earlier post, I provided links to some credible sources of information on the physiological effects of artificial sweeteners. I recently gleaned a couple more relevant links from a list to which I subscribe.

One: yet another meta-review that, based on numerous studies, found aspartame to be safe. Note that, apparently unlike some other cases, the study does follow best practices of disclosing funding.

Two: The FDA sent a warning letter to Celestial Seasonings about using the “unsafe food additive” stevia–a plant-based sweetener which many promote as a “safe” alternative to oh-so-toxic synthetic sweeteners. MSNBC talks about the letter:

It also said “literature reports have raised safety concerns,” including those “about control of blood sugar, and the effects on the reproductive, cardiovascular and renal systems.”

The original letter may be found here, and the resolution here–apparently, it’s fine to sell stuff with these safety concerns, as long as it’s labeled appropriately. Oh well…I suppose you can’t blame the company too much for supplying what the market demands.

Health Effects of Artificial Sweeteners

Originally posted 2007-09-02:

I’ve had a number of encounters over time with horror stories about the ill effects of aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, and other artificial sweeteners. I’ve done some searching for hard facts regarding such sweeteners, and came up with a few links that seem fairly helpful.

First, an excellent speech on “Poisons of the Mind”, a good “backgrounder” in evaluating claims such as those above.

First, here’s a review of reports that aspartame becomes toxic when stored at temperatures exceeding 85 degrees Fahrenheit (conclusion: the reports are false). The list of references at the bottom may be helpful.

Next, a couple of seemingly fairly authoritative publications: a position paper from the American Dietetic Association, and the “Sugar Substitutes and your Health” booklet from the American Council on Science and Health (click on “View PDF Version” below the image of the book to access the free online version). (Update 2008-09-19: Although it doesn’t necessarily invalidate the ACSH booklet, it seems that there may be reason to question their commitment to sound science; see the update at the end of this post.)

Next, the FDA’s evaluation of “the Ramazzini Study”, a study often held forth by anti-aspartame advocates as evidence of aspartame’s deleterious effects (for the “mental antidote” to citation of this study, see the papers listed above). Also, the European Food Safety Authority’s evaluation of same.

Finally, a guide to “deconstructing Web pages” to determine their credibility; this is probably unnecessary for most readers of this blog, but is interesting nonetheless in providing a bit of a “critical thinking” checklist for readers.

2008-09-19: Since posting this, I’ve come across a couple of links regarding the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) that concern me. If the assertions in the links are true (note that I haven’t “fact-checked” them at this point), this would be reason to read the ACSH booklet very critically, and to check the cited studies to ensure that they are credible and support the conclusions being drawn. Also, of course, links to the critics shouldn’t be taken as implying that I fully endorse their agenda or credibility either. Mainly, since I quoted ACSH as a source and found somewhat-credible articles questioning ACSH’s credibility, I thought it would be fair to include links to the critiques for aid in a fair evaluation.

(I’m not unaware of the irony of, in a post encouraging critical thinking, referencing a questionable source as a supporting document. However, it does provide a great opportunity to develop critical-reading skills! Also, it seems that quite a bit of independent corroborating information exists. It’s true as well that in this case, as well as others, true information can be presented by people whose motives one has reason to question.)

The critical pieces are:
“Confronting Pseudoscience and Threats from a Corporate Front Group: The American Council on Science and Health”
“Corporate Front Groups and the Abuse of Science: The American Council on Science and Health (ACSH)”

Blogging and privacy

Originally posted 2007-08-11:

I’ve just been engaged in a bit of a “cleanup” operation of my online profile. There’s nothing really bad out there, but I have a fairly “searchable” name, and occasionally find myself in situations in which a fair amount of discretion is advisable.

I hope my friends, relatives, acquaintances, etc. read Blogging Basics 101: Privacy–and, please, don’t use my family name! In the meantime, I’ve found several ways to increase your online footprint:
* Leave comments in guestbooks (d’oh!) I have a few of these from my young-and-stupid days (that time which preceded the current iteration of said state). Fortunately, all are in very innocuous locations.
* Participate with organizations with misconfigured servers. I found that one (I thought closed) list server apparently at some point made its archives searchable by Google. Another rather frightening find was that the server which my school used for online classes last semester apparently had *all* of its internal contents available to the Internet at large without authentication, and indexed by Google. These contents included a few papers written for classes. I’ve alerted the school and received a response (some personal information of my contact is indexed as well, so he has some incentive to get it taken offline (or at least behind walls) and removed from Google’s index as well). However, when I checked today, the server’s still up. I don’t have anything extremely confidential on the server, but…yikes!
* Have relatives and friends who blog. The number of vectors for information leaks is amazing…but is made all the worse by having a searchable name. I’m trying to mitigate this by asking said relatives and friends at least to use a truncated version of the name, decreasing “searchability”.

Simply in self-defense, I’m thinking I should perhaps start building an online profile, to crowd out some of the less-controlled search hits on my name. In the meantime…back to the Google patrol…

More on Accelerated Mortgage Payments

Originally posted 2007-07-17:

I did just a little more digging on the uFirst Financial Money Merge Account (MMA) presentation that I saw last night. It seems as though my initial thinking was close, but with one major flaw: though a little benefit (in terms of mortgage payoff time, not necessarily net worth) might come from depositing your check directly in the HELOC, most of the accelerated payoff apparently comes in the old-fashioned way: brute-force paydown, with–literally–every spare cent not otherwise used going to the mortgage. As noted in my prior post on the matter, I don’t necessarily see this as a good thing–the opportunity cost can be quite high, and your net worth will most likely suffer for it (though admittedly, situations will vary).

While I can’t claim to have fully reviewed these sites, I think you’ll come away knowing a lot more about the issues involved in payoff-acceleration schemes.

First, a site that looks like a great resource–though they could probably have benefited from a little help from an editor. Integra Mortgages describes what they see as “financial voodoo”, and offer worksheets that they say will walk you through what’s really happening with an MMA. Since they specifically refer to a $3500 fee, I’m guessing that they have uFirst in mind.

For a wealth of information (along with a lot of noise), check out FatWallet’s forum discussion pertaining to these and a host of related subjects. For a starting point, check out drosengarden’s posts; from what I picked up, he’s a mortgage broker who almost got started selling the product–until he figured out the same thing as the site above, that the magic is basically in throwing all your discretionary income at the mortgage. Though you’d be crazy to do that, by doing so you could achieve the same results as uFirst’s program fairly simply without spending the $3500. I haven’t spent much time with FatWallet, but it looks as though they aren’t lacking for smart “financial optimizers” in their online community.

Jack Guttentag, “The Mortgage Professor”, offered faint praise for a similar scheme:

Well, it is neither illegal nor absurdly illogical, which is more than can be said for most of the quick-repayment schemes I come across.

Finally, there’re some semi-favorable comments about similar schemes elsewhere in FatWallet’s forums. These’re from early 2006, when rates were quite low; apparently, the chance to arbitrage rates was at least somewhat attractive at that point.

Anyway…as one FatWallet poster said, if you’re selling a rubber chicken for $10K and it changes people’s behavior for the better, saving them $10,001, more power to you. However, I don’t expect to sign up in the near future to pay $3500 for software telling me how to follow a simple, and IMO foolish, system.

Update:Reading on through the FatWallet thread, I came across a linked BankRate article describing a couple of similar programs with “annual fees of $30 to $60″. If you really want to go this route, it’s worth checking out the article. (In case it disappears, it references the “Macquarie ‘Asset Manager loan” and the “CMG ‘Home Ownership Accelarator’ loan”.)

Update 2 – more links:
Jack Guttentag addresses the uFirst Financial plan directly.

Tony Rose (and no, I have no idea who he is) runs the numbers.

Paying Off Your Mortgage Early

Originally posted 2007-07-16:

I was at a meeting tonight (not a high-pressure affair, fortunately) where I saw a DVD presenting UFirst Financial’s miraculous (and $3500) software and system for paying off your mortgage in the shortest amount of time possible. From what I understand, it actually seems like a fairly reasonable approach, if you ignore the cost of the software. Basically, they have you take out a HELOC (they call it an ALOC, “advanced line of credit”) and then direct-deposit your paycheck into the HELOC–basically using it as a checking account, and writing out a check to your primary mortgageholder every once in a while. Although there may be more to it, I think the “secret sauce” is the direct deposit: by having your paycheck applied to a HELOC immediately, the average balance on which you’re paying interest should–all other things equal–go down by about half the amount of your paycheck (assuming that you spend/invest the entire check each month). More questions, of course, would include fees and interest rates on a HELOC, convenience, increased propensity to spend if you have all of the HELOC sitting available to you, etc. That, however, isn’t why I’m writing.

I was irritated this evening by something that’s annoyed me, almost without exception, by all of the personal-finance “gurus” I’ve heard of. It’s something that seems to be received wisdom by many at least somewhat concerned about their finances. On the face of it, it sounds like a “no-brainer”. It’s the usual story, something like this: “If you have a $100,000 mortgage at x% and you take 30 years to pay it off, you’ll spend $200K in interest. But look…if we pay just a few hundred more a month, we could pay it off in 12 years…and you’d spend only $40K in interest. You’d save $160K!” (Note that I made up these numbers; they’re probably internally inconsistent.)

Almost without exception, it seems as though people ignore the time value of money when they’re talking about mortgages. There are other factors to consider: it’s nice to not owe a bank money, to not have the hassle of sending in payments, to have some more free cash flow…for some, all rational arguments aside, they’ll simply sleep better at night with a paid-off mortgage. We aren’t emotionless robots, and our psychology should play a role in our decisions. Situations will vary a lot, and I don’t have a panacea. In most cases, though, I’ll argue that paying off your mortgage early is a lousy idea.

So…back to the time value of money. I’m going to use an extreme case: I will gladly offer to give you ten million dollars, in exchange for a mere $100K. It’s a no-brainer for you, a profit of $9.9 million! However, there is a catch: you’ll get your money in 80 years (or, in the likely event of both of our expiring before that time, my estate will give your heirs the money). It’s a no-brainer for me; if I can make 6% annually on the $100K you give me, I’ll come out about $500K ahead at the end of our contract (not that that’ll be worth a huge amount). If I can make the stock market’s average return of 11%, I’ll be approximately $420 million to the better. In this case, I’ve borrowed $100K from you, at around 5.9%. I believe I’d be a fool to pay you off earlier, especially if I could deduct the interest paid (reducing effective rates to perhaps 4-4.5%), especially with the upside I’m looking at.

So…that’s an extreme example. Here’s the thing, though: rate differentials, even small ones, even over only 30 years, can make a big difference over time. For another simplistic example, let’s say I just inherited $100K that I could use to cash off a house or invest in the stock market. I won’t even consider the tax effects (on either the mortgage or stocks), since mortgage interest deductions might be somewhat offset by capital-gains taxes (though see below). Investing that in stocks at 11% would turn it into approx. $2.7 million in 30 years. If I used it to pay for a house (for which I’d otherwise get a mortgage at 8%), I’d free up $734 per month. Investing that each month for the 30 years would give me about $2.1 million of investments, plus the then-current value of the house. If the house’s value goes up by about 6 times in that 30 years, I’d have been better off–from a net-worth perspective–paying off the mortgage early. Otherwise, in what seems the more likely case, I’d have been worse off. Ironically, I think this is one thing that Robert Kiyosaki may actually have gotten sort of right; if I recall correctly, he doesn’t have much of a yen for early payoff either.

Anyway…just food for thought. A last word, though: I’m depressed when I see people encouraged to pay off a house early, without even a mention of putting money into an IRA. Your $4K per year opportunity comes once, and then it’s gone. If it’s in a Roth, you’ll never pay taxes on it again. Whatever IRA your money’s in, you won’t pay capital gains taxes, substantially reducing “friction” on your returns. So…if the decision is between paying off a house early or funding an IRA, it seems even more of a no-brainer. Again, I write from a pure long-term-net-worth perspective; emotional factors may legitimately play a part in your decision. Obviously, your assumptions about the future behavior of markets (and of your personal investments), your tolerance for risks, and other more quantitative factors may enter in as well.

So…that’s off my chest. If you’re still with me, I’m now returning you to your regularly scheduled programming.

Update: Also see the followup post, “More on Accelerated Mortgage Payments”.

Mannatech

Originally posted 2007-07-09:

It appears that the Texas Attorney General is no more a fan of Mannatech, a purveyor of glyconutrients, than I am. The linked WSJ article begins, “The Texas attorney general has asked a state court to bar Mannatech Inc. from allegedly illegal sales and marketing practices, saying the dietary supplement seller is falsely claiming its products cure, mitigate, treat or prevent diseases such as cancer, autism and Down’s syndrome, in violation of state and federal laws.”

The suit makes rather interesting reading, discussing the web Mannatech–their charity, their research institutes, their partners and associates–has allegedly woven to promote their system (I’ve refrained from over-using quotation marks in this sentence). It also includes other interesting tidbits: I’ve often heard the fact that several recent Nobel prizes have been related to glycobiology cited in support of the purported scientific basis for Mannatech’s products. For some reason, I haven’t heard quite as much from promoters about the cease-and-desist letter that Dr. Gunter Blobel (one of said laureates) sent them, or the complaint that Drs. Blobel, Paul Greengard, and Paul Nurse (two other laureates) filed with the NY State Attorney General against Mannatech over its use of their names. This information is included in the Texas AG’s suit.

Further reading here, among other sources.

Book Meme

Originally posted 2007-06-30:

I’m afraid I’m only partially participating, but Hans tagged me w/ this meme…

1. Grab the book closest to you
2. Open it to page 161
3. Find the fifth full sentence
4. Post the text of the sentence to your blog
5. Don’t search around for the coolest book you have, use the one that is really next to you.
6. Tag five people to do this meme.

The Daily Drucker by Peter Drucker:

There are answers that have a high probability of being the wrong ones–at least to the point where one does not even try them unless all else has failed.

That’s “the fifth full sentence” if you don’t consider a sentence beginning with “But” to be a full sentence. If you do, it is:

But I do not believe that there is “one correct answer.”

To learn how to run a business, a simple rec: read Drucker!

Virtual Credit Cards

Originally posted 2007-05-21:

Due to my recent experiences with credit-card fraud, I believe I’ll switch back to using Discover as my primary card. This is for one reason: Discover offers virtual credit card numbers that can be used for recurring transactions (i.e., auto-billing). Though you do need Net access to create the virtual numbers, they can then be used over the phone or over the web–wherever a physical card isn’t required (don’t use them to reserve tickets). The beauty of these virtual numbers is that each number is locked to the first merchant that uses it; so if it gets leaked, it won’t matter (unless the thief wants stuff from the relevant merchant, and knows which merchant that is). Highly recommended.

It is unfortunate that Discover isn’t as widely accepted as Visa or Mastercard; I’ll probably continue to carry a Visa as a backup. At this rate, though, just switching back to using cash for “real-life” transactions is starting to look more and more attractive (as a side note: on average, people paying with plastic spend more–another argument for cash).

IP-MYSTORE.COM

Originally posted 2007-05-20

Please note that the site referenced here is IP-MYSTORE.COM, not MyStore.com. MyStore.com is unrelated to this post, but due to the overlap in names this post turns up when searching on the company’s name. Note the response to this post by Todd Meagher, CEO of MyStore.com, below (bear in mind that you can enter any name you want when you post a comment, but I’m assuming that the comment is indeed correctly attributed). Ironically, this comment will probably make the post rank even higher in search results for an unfortunately-named company.

OK. I’m becoming convinced that I’m either an idiot with regard to online transactions, or something seriously weird is going on. My new card–you know, the one that I got after cancelling the previous one because of a fraudulent $429.99 transaction to IP-ECOMMERCE.COM? Well…I just got a $459.95 charge from IP-MYSTORE.COM on it!

Update 2
If any Web searchers for IP-ECOMMERCE.COM, IP-MYSTORE.COM, or any company located at 1058 The Amory Building in Basseterre find this site, please post any information you have as comments!

Not so good news. This was made to the new card!

I’ve given the new number to a number of automatic billers and used it in other transactions. Here are the organizations or companies that have had access to the new card and the old:
[I've since redacted this list]

Update:
Good news. The person I talked to in the fraud department said that there are ways that a recurring charge can go through even if the account’s been closed, so apparently this is probably still a result of the old account being compromised, rather than the new.

In the meantime, my “new nature” is gently reminding me that the perpetrators need salvation–prayer for that is probably a better idea than my initial reaction: wanting to get a plane ticket to Basseterre, find this guy, and…um…I don’t know. Something vile.

So…a whois on IP-MYSTORE.com gives this for an administrative contact:
Joseph, Jason josephcorp@gmail.com
1058 The Amory Building
Victoria Road
Basseterre, Basseterre 0000
KN
12063392680
Fax:12063392680

Rather interesting, as IP-ECOMMERCE.COM has the exact same contact info. Both have the same “purchase lookup” form on their front page, where you enter your name and credit card number to look up a purchase. Yeah. Sure (for that matter, they apparently already have the number!).

A Google search on IP-ECOMMERCE.COM turns up some links to gambling sites; per http://news.umailcampaign.com/message/23438.aspx (check the Amory Building address listed), they’re also a processor for porn payments. (For fun, try Googling “basseterre credit card”, putting quotes around “credit card”–seems they know what lines of business are profitable, esp. if you happen to be located in the Caribbean out of easy reach of U.S. law.

For anyone else searching, when I asked if he had a phone number associated with the transaction, the Chase guy (standard client service, not fraud dept) said that he saw the numbers 607-428-0039, but wasn’t sure if that was a phone number (hyphens are my inference).

Another interesting link, from a Google search on ‘Basseterre “credit card” fraud’:
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=477072

May these guys not get a dime…and may they be taken down!

comments from the prior blog:

Comment from: RCJ [Visitor]

I too was just hit with a $459.95 charge from IP-MYSTORE.COM. I only use my Visa card on line…and the last purchase I made was with CBD (Christian Book Distributors) six days earlier. Coincidence to the sites you visit? I called CBD, and they claim they just installed a triple firewalled server.

06/08/07 @ 16:43

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

It is an interesting coincidence…I have shopped at CBD before, and probably used the first compromised card (IP-ECOMMERCE.COM) to pay. However, I don’t think they ever had access to the second compromised card (IP-MYSTORE.COM). It seems most likely to me that it both cards were compromised through one of my automatic billers, who had access to both cards–but I can’t say for sure.

For the moment, I’m “hunkering down” and switching to mostly virtual card numbers for online transactions. (http://preview.tinyurl.com/yvhqrc)

Thanks for the response!

-atthecrux

06/13/07 @ 07:59

Comment from: Fraud Buster [Visitor]

I am a fraud investigator working on a case involving a $459.95 charge to IP-MYSTORE.COM. The cardholder victim in my also had a charge to Alltel about a month before the fraudulent charge. I am curious to know how long the Alltel transaction was before the fraud started.

Thanks

06/14/07 @ 11:52

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

I’ve been having Alltel automatically bill my card. Here’s a recent chronology of Alltel transactions and fraudulent transactions–hope it helps:

3/8 alltel – bill
4/5 alltel – bill
4/6 alltel – in-store purchase
4/18 IP-ECOMMERCE $429.95
4/28 changed Alltel’s auto-billing to replacement card
5/6 alltel – bill
5/19 IP-MYSTORE.COM $459.95

06/14/07 @ 12:53

Comment from: Bart [Visitor]

We too had a fraudulent credit card charge on our Chase card for $459.95 ($429.95 + $30 shipping) from IP-Mystore. I guess they don’t even bother to change the amount. Unfortunately, Chase has not been helpful in this matter at all (causing us to cancel our Chase cards). The “evidence” Chase has sent us consists of some amateurish webpage mockup that does not even tell you what the item you supposedly ordered is!

06/17/07 @ 13:45

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

Yuck. Chase was relatively helpful for me; it didn’t take long to cancel/re-issue the card (both times I had charges), although I had to call back and talk to the Recovery Department to get a credit for the IP-ECOMMERCE.COM charge posted to my account. Is the website to which you refer that ridiculous page where you enter your last name and credit card number “to look up your purchases”?

Interestingly, I just searched on the first sentence on IP-MYSTORE.COM’s “disputes” page, and came up with http://ac-support.com/disputes.php; looks fairly familiar. Although the post doesn’t give any backing for the assertion, http://antionline.com/archive/index.php/t-274364.html claims that the organization “may be connected to notorious spammer Alexey Polyakov (aka Paul Gregoire)”.

06/18/07 @ 09:45

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

More info on “Polyakov” from Spamhaus: http://www.spamhaus.org/Rokso/listing.lasso?-op=cn&spammer=Alex%20Blood%20/%20Alexander%20Mosh%20/%20AlekseyB%20/%20Alex%20Polyakov

06/18/07 @ 09:49

Comment from: Tia [Visitor]

I also got a charge for 459.59 from IP Mystore. After finding your thread I insisted to Bank of America THIS IS FRAUD and needs to be investigated. I did file a complaint with a government agency as well. Bank of America made me jump through a few hoops but supposedly it’s taken care of now. THANKS FOR THE THREAD. Hopefully with more attention these guys will get theirs….

07/24/07 @ 13:55

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

Also note Jon Schroder’s tale of fraudulent charges from (surprise!) IP-7STARSALES.COM, with the same contact info.

09/24/07 @ 21:08

Comment from: John Dicks [Visitor]

well they even hit us in England had to hits by IP-7STARSALES.com on the 20th and 21st Septmeber 2007,
the only site I use is paypal and never enter my details into any mail web page. Bank has cancelled the card and hopefully get the money back somehting needs to be done online transactions are not safe infact using a credit card nolonger seems safe.

10/04/07 @ 16:06

Comment from: JL [Visitor]

Jason Joseph also runs the IP-SALESBYWEB.COM site which charged my card $220. If you type in the web address it redirects to www.live-operator.com which asks you for your cc # and last name to report the charge.

10/20/07 @ 21:20

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

A few more sites linked with our good friend “Jason Joseph” at the Amory Building (bear in mind that this is just what the whois info says–who this person *really* is is anyone’s guess, unless he’s a complete fool). Some of these sites use www.liveoperator.com; some use the old scheme of IP-ECOMMERCE.COM.

IP-MYRXSHOPPER.COM
IP-GMSALES.COM
IP-RXCONNECT.COM
IP-CHARGE.COM

From searching on some of these, it appears as though they might be “legitimate” payment processors for some dodgy pharma sites.

To recap, previously known sources of fraudulent charges:
IP-ECOMMERCE.COM (see link to my post thereon in the body of this post)
IP-MYSTORE.COM
ac-support.com
IP-SALESBYWEB.COM
IP-7STARSALES.COM

Actually…here’s a current listing of a number of sites sharing servers w/ known sources of fraudulent charges. I don’t know that all of those listed below are scams, but I believe many of them are. I haven’t checked into all of them. If you own any of these sites and wish to explain why it’s not a scam or otherwise unsavory, drop a comment and I’ll remove it from the list. In the meantime, you should probably switch hosting companies or tell your hosting company to keep these scam sites off of their servers

CHINANAMESERVERS.COM
DONEDEALRX.COM
ECOMINTERNATIONAL.COM
FIXMYINVOICE.COM
GROUP-HARDCORE-SEX.COM
HOWTO-VCDS.COM
IPAYCARD.COM
IP-BLUEPREPAID.COM scam URL pattern
IP-DRUGS99.COM scam URL pattern
IP-EPILLSUPPORT.COM scam URL pattern
IP-EREPSUPORT.COM scam URL pattern
IP-GMSALES.COM scam URL pattern
IP-ONLINESALES.COM scam URL pattern
IP-PDGRX.COM scam URL pattern
IP-PREPAID.COM scam URL pattern
IP-RX4SALE.COM scam URL pattern
IP-SALESBYWEB.COM scam URL pattern
IP-SALESDIRECT.COM scam URL pattern
IP-SALESONLINE.COM scam URL pattern
IP-SALESSUPPORT.COM scam URL pattern
IP-SUPREMESALES.COM scam URL pattern
IP-WORLDPHARMA.COM scam URL pattern
IRINGTONEKING.COM Jason Joseph
ITRACKORDER.COM Jason Joseph
KYLIEFOX.COM apparent porn site, per a thumbnail image
LUXURY-WATCHCOLLECTION.COM Jason Joseph
MEDPRO-RX.COM
MYRXMARKET.COM
NATURASLIM.COM
PAY-ADULTSUPPORT.COM new URL pattern?
PAY-CHARGE.COM new URL pattern?
PAY-SUPPORT.COM new URL pattern?
RXMEDSTODAY.COM
RXOBSESSION.COM
TXLOOKUP.COM
YOURATMCARD.COM

Three sites located on these servers have names that look potentially legitimate, and the sites look as though they are probably “real” sites for legitimate businesses. It’s puzzling, though, that each has Jason Joseph listed in the contact info for the domain. Is Joseph simply someone who runs a hosting company? (If so, I think he’s still a legitimate target for complaint, as being complicit in the scam sites’ continued operation.)
RESTOREINTERIORS.COM
SOUNDVISIONSHOP.COM
ZIPZAPELECTRIC.COM

10/23/07 @ 12:23

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

There’s an ongoing discussion regarding IP-SALESBYWEB.COM at http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-650-249-5280. It’s interesting to note that one of the participants in this discussion also holds an Amazon.com visa card. It could be coincidence, but is…interesting.

10/26/07 @ 22:16

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

FWIW, a search on live-operator.com (http://www.google.com/search?q=live-operator.com&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official) seems to indicate links among some of the sites listed above.

10/26/07 @ 22:28

Comment from: Robin [Visitor]

I got screwed by ip-worldpharma not once but TWICE. I have no idea where they get their info from. Looks as if they bought it from another site. They referred to me as a “previous customer”. The first charge on my visa debit card was $379. but I was able to get it refunded 13 days later. THEN, not two days later, they charge me for $359! No answers to calls at 650-230-0539. I am emailing every day and it has been 22 days now.
Naturally, I started research on them and found ip-worldpharma.com registered by “Click n Go Sales Inc”, Sands Complex, Bay Rd, Basseterre. I looked up other companies in that bldg and no one has seen their office. (located in the toilet stall, maybe?) The contact name is Vincent Cheng at the same address.
It seems to be a big, related scam and I sent all my info to the feds.

11/10/07 @ 22:37

Comment from: Jim [Visitor]

I’ve also been the victim of “IP-WorldPharma.com” – same phone number as the afore mentioned post: 650-230-0539. My CC company says it’s a Kentucky #, but my dialer at work says it’s Mountain View, CA.

The only way to win is to dispute, dispute, dispute…and wait. They’ll get there’s eventually.

11/12/07 @ 11:45

Comment from: margaret [Visitor]

internetsales.com
i have been charged $21.90 and have no idea what is for

11/15/07 @ 19:02

Comment from: betsy [Visitor]

My card was charged $202 by SalesbyWeb. Fortunately, my bank caught it and called to see if it was a legitimate charge. I said no, and they canceled the card right away and reversed the charge. Thank goodness they caught it right away.

11/30/07 @ 17:59

Comment from: John [Visitor] · http://ip-worldpharma.com

I was hit for 239.95 bt workdpharma too. however, I had places an order for htat amount with a supposed Canadian firm. Call the challenge he CC bill yesterday, 29 days after they billed my card. Today, I recieved a product in the correct amount but it does not look at all like what I order. Came from India. Sent the company,
http://www.discountselection.com/
an E-mail to ask them what gives. SO far no reply.
650 phone number is a California, south bay exchange.

12/05/07 @ 14:44

Comment from: Sue [Visitor]

I was hit yesterday with a charge on my check/debit card for $220 from
ip-salessupport.com with the 650-249-5271 phone number …. no answer. I have canceled the card.
Is there anything that can be done about this guy …. interpol maybe?

12/06/07 @ 16:46

Comment from: stephanie [Visitor]

i have a charge also but from ip-worldsales.com not as much as everyone elses. but, i dont use that bank card for anything i googled the phone number and wound up at dollarring.net 6502495283

12/13/07 @ 09:00

Comment from: dlr [Visitor]

I also had a fradulant charge to my credit card 83.95 on 12-13-07. When I called the number on the detail of the charge (650-293-2758) i was referred to www.liveoperator.com.

12/16/07 @ 20:53

Comment from: Jeff [Visitor]

I’ve also had two charges from ip-worldpharma.com. A previous poster noted that the CC company thought it was in Kentucky (due to seeing KN on the charge) The KN is the country code for Saint Kitts and Nevis as well as being the state code for Kentucky that’s where the confusion is.
I am actually receiving a product that is similar to others that I have ordered in the past (but no longer do) from US BASED pharmacies. It comes registered mail but the return address is obscured. I have also called liveoperator once on it, and filed the web complaint twice. I will NOT give liveoperator my credit card number, there is a button you can skip that input with.

If I remember right they’ve processed on two different cards, but this time they hit my Wells Fargo issued visa, no problems reversing it and placing a block on the company.

I certainly didn’t order the product they shipped me as I’ve been turning down even US based pharmacies on calls to ‘reorder’ this particular drug for > 3 months as I don’t need it any more. Even if I still needed the drug I wouldn’t want this from a dubious source, which this is. I ONLY deal with online pharmacies that are US based (and fill via US pharmacies) there are two specific drugs (and two specific companies) I deal with as the total drug cost is lower than my copay for the same drug. The rest of my drugs the co-pay is cheaper.

The last reversal wasn’t contested so I don’t expect this one to be either. I also didn’t get contacted back either, again I don’t expect ANY action.

I’m just going to have to keep an eye on all my charges for a while. I think the cc# ‘leak’ is due to the online pharmacies ’sharing’ their database which they do.

I’ve bookmarked this page to give to the fraud department. If the company contests the reversal, I will take action with the federal government.

12/28/07 @ 13:54

Comment from: Jeff [Visitor]

Oh also thanks user ‘atthecrux’ for the list of all the companies associated. It will be useful to match against all my cc billing.

12/28/07 @ 14:00

Comment from: Jeff [Visitor]

One clarification to my long post above. The phone number is to liveoperator in California.. but the KN is for the actual site in Saint Kitts.

12/28/07 @ 14:18

Comment from: Jimmy Barton [Visitor] · http://IP-WORLDPHARMA.COM

I ordered medicine from US Healthcare Inc. My order was confirmed the next day. Three weeks went by without me receiving my medicine. Then my 228.00 were drawn from my account by IP-WORLDPHARMA.COM. Ihave sent them numerous emails and have not received any response or medicine. This in my book is a ripp-off.

01/02/08 @ 21:04

Comment from: Kurt [Visitor]

I got screwed by these guys back in September. There were 5 separate charges of $200 on my Bank of America VISA card from “IP-7STARSALES.COM.” This happened to me when I was in Chicago on a trip and I wasn’t carrying a lot of cash. I found out my cc# was comprised after trying to pay for dinner at a restaurant. To my dismay, the waiter came back and explained to me that my card had been rejected. After about 4 days of dickin around I finally got this thing worked with BOA and was issued a new card. These a-holes in Basseterre really caused me a lot of hassle. Unfortunately, nobody can likely touch them on that island.
The authorities there are probably just as corrupt as these phony internet merchants.

01/05/08 @ 15:33

Comment from: Logan [Visitor]

on jan 5th my wife and I were checking out our bank online to check what’s been paid and what not and happened that my wife got charged first $1.51 and then the next charge was $309.11 out of no where, this happens to her and I sure enough got furious. Can’t do nothing but sit and wait till monday to go to the bank. the statement on the account was this 02JAN2008 GTSALESSUPPORT.COM. I checked it out from the website and got their number and it came to your site and I can’t believe that its the same number so I just did a whois and seem to be from the west indies.

Registrant:
Island Proxy Domains

John Gumbs Building
Bay Road
Basseterre, – -
Saint Kitts and Nevis

Registered through: 2 Get Domains .com
Domain Name: GTSALESSUPPORT.COM
Created on: 04-Dec-07
Expires on: 04-Dec-08
Last Updated on: 04-Dec-07

Administrative Contact:
Joseph, Jason josephcorp@gmail.com
Island Proxy Domains
John Gumbs Building
Bay Road
Basseterre, – -
Saint Kitts and Nevis
6509635506

Technical Contact:
Joseph, Jason josephcorp@gmail.com
Island Proxy Domains
John Gumbs Building
Bay Road
Basseterre, – -
Saint Kitts and Nevis
6509635506

Domain servers in listed order:
NS0.STKITTSDNS.COM
NS1.STKITTSDNS.COM

Registry Status: clientRenewProhibited
Registry Status: clientTransferProhibited
Registry Status: clientUpdateProhibited
Registry Status: clientDeleteProhibited

Unreal! they didn’t call or nothing just charged my wife’s card. I hope they get caught and put to jail!!!!!!!!

01/06/08 @ 00:27

Comment from: Patrick [Visitor]

I ordered A prescription drug from ‘Canadian Pharmacy RX’, and authorized $174.00 on my Visa. The confirming email never came, but my card was charged the next day, merchant name IP-WORLDPHARMA.COM. I emailed them after two weeks, no reply. finally, after a month, an express mail package came from India with the ordered quantity of pills, but they did not look like the prescription drug, and they did not work. (Don’t ask me how I know!) So I reported a fraud to my Visa account, they are sending me some paperwork to fill out. I’ve been through this before, so I am confident that I will get my money refunded.

01/06/08 @ 12:49

Comment from: Sherry Patterson [Visitor] · http://bell south.net

I placed an order with,noreply@bardo-payment.com
website name www.med-support.org/rx and the descriptor is EASYRXMEDSLIVE.COM. PPlease e-mail me if you can help me I still have not rec’d my order and nobody from this co. will respond to me

01/12/08 @ 14:45

Comment from: Sherry Patterson [Visitor] · http://bell south.net

Where is my order?

01/14/08 @ 12:49

Comment from: lois truesdale [Visitor]

I ORDER SOME DIET PILL FROM IPMYRXSHOPPER.COM AND NEVER RECEIVED THEM EITHER. THEY TELL YOU TO GO TO LIVE-OPERATOR.COM BUT YOU CAN’T GET THROUGH. I THINK WE NEED TO GO TO THE ATTORNEY GENER ON THIS SITE

01/14/08 @ 14:57

Comment from: Todd Meagher [Visitor] · http://www.mystore.com

Thank you for clarifing that Mystore.com is NOT involved in this scam. We have tried to help people who have been victimized, going as far as contacting their credit card companies for them.
MyStore is a marketplace. We do not charge under the name MyStore and the only possible charge you would see from us is $8. So, again thank you for clearling up the confusion.

Todd Meagher
CEO
MyStore.com

01/14/08 @ 19:21

Comment from: Todd Meagher [Visitor] · http://www.mystore.com

IP-Mystore.com is NOT MyStore.com.

01/14/08 @ 19:23

Comment from: Sven Rågwall Halmstad Sweden [Visitor]

Jag beställde viagra och cialis
via Internet.Paketet kom från Kina med angivet innehåll av medicin.De svenska tullmyndigheterna medger ej införsel av medicin från land utanför EU varför jag måste returnera paketet.Nu har jag fått ett krav på 1214 svenska kronor men ingen leverans. Detta
är bedrägeri då leverantören bör vara införstådd med gällande införselförbud!

01/29/08 @ 03:56

Comment from: Sven Rågwall Halmstad Sweden [Visitor]

Jag beställde viagra och cialis
via Internet.Paketet kom från Kina med angivet innehåll av medicin.De svenska tullmyndigheterna medger ej införsel av medicin från land utanför EU varför jag måste returnera paketet.Nu har jag fått ett krav på 1214 svenska kronor från IP-EPILLSUPPORT.COM men ingen leverans. Detta
är bedrägeri då leverantören bör vara införstådd med gällande införselförbud!

01/29/08 @ 03:59

Comment from: Angry [Visitor]

I got nailed by a whole slew of companies all at once. I went to take a seminar, bought two books. Paid close to 200.00. Fine. Every month for six months, 60.00 charge I didnt even notice. I noticed when I had another company, from free credit report, charging 40.00, then a charge I thought was apple Itunes (looked like Ap*PlL)that was draining 20.00 a month. All added up, it came to about 120.00 a month. I cancel my card. What do you know. I get hit with a small time scam again, from gtsupportservice.com for 20.00. I am so fed up with credit cards. I think I am going to convert to cash and checks. It is just safer. Good luck to all of you. I only got 100.00 back for all my trouble. My fault for not looking over my statements closer.

02/24/08 @ 14:46

Comment from: Deana [Visitor] · http://hotmail

Sherry Patterson, It hasn’t been 30 days yet, but I think I am in the same boat as you. I had one web-site that I could log onto using my e-mail address that atleast showed me my order details but my husband screwed around with the computer and I can’t find it now…if you received your order will you please post here and let me know or if you found contact info, a web-site to go to. I’m worried sick about this, it is too much money to be out of. Best of luck.

03/01/08 @ 23:09

Comment from: Greg Smith [Visitor] · http://gtsalessupport.com

I was charged KN7.00 (£3.64) today by this company. Reported it to my bank and they did not appear surprised. They charged it back and have reported the transaction as fraud.

03/04/08 @ 05:16

Comment from: michelle [Visitor]

I was just reading throgh these comments and my heart sank when i saw that the liveoperator.com support site was just another way of scammin your cc number off of you….now i did like a dumbass do it because i had a transaction DECLINED at a website for medication and was wondering why it was declined cause my card had sufficent funds on it….I ws wondering if anyone has ever had a response from this liveoperator site about theyre questions. I checked my email today and they responded saying that my order actually went through and asking me to tell them where i shopped at that said it was declined…please any info would be great I was about to call my cc company to tell them i think there may be a charge coming on soon that is fraudulent but if this was just a whole misunderstanding with the med site then i dont want to get my card cancelled when i definatly need it day to day and cant wait a week for a new one you know???? thanks alot!!!!!!

Michelle

04/14/08 @ 10:20

Comment from: michelle [Visitor]

http://www.pharmacytoyourhome.com/

I ordered from them last week for an overnight medicine delivery I have a charge on my card now and no medicine yet now I try to go on to my account there to see the status and to get details to send to my bank and when i click “myaccount” a webpage comes up that says pharmacy to your home is currently closed…..I AM GETTING an awful feeling that I am a big time sucker and a half….I just called theyre customer “not so much service” line. And left a strongly worded message telling them that my messages have not been answered on the phone or online so I was going to get all the info on them I possibly could and report them to my bank and the FBI…. Gee I hope that didnt freak them out Do you think I should? I hope this isnt the same person scamming everyone else on here and I would hate that he would get away because i didnt say anything

04/14/08 @ 10:28

Comment from: michelle [Visitor]

OH and you can move the PDGRX.com from the safe list right on over to the fraud list ok? That is who is showing up on my cc bill.

04/14/08 @ 10:30

Comment from: atthecrux [Member]

Helpful information; thanks for posting. It seems as though if you’ve passed the expected-delivery date (i.e., if you ordered prior to 3 PM on Thursday, or prior to 3 PM on Friday if you chose a delivery method that delivers Saturday), you should be justified in treating it as fraudulent–they’ve obviously failed to live up to their end of the bargain, and most online-pharmacy sites–especially those linked w/ the above list, at least in my opinion–don’t seem deserving of a lot of “faith” to begin with. The “ptyh is currently closed” doesn’t seem especially reassuring either.