StudioPay hacker sells personal data via e-gold

And so the payment processor madness continues...
StudioPay, StudioTraffic's very own withdrawal option, has been hacked. Appearantly, the hacker was able to collect the personal data of all members and it seems that they were not encrypted.

I don't know what to say. Every site can get hacked, but you cannot have data like bank statements and passports lying around on some hard disk completely unencrypted. Breathtaking!


I just received this mail from "Hack990" via a yahoo email adress:

All member identifycation data has been stolen

read full story at:
http://talkgold.com/forum/r74023-.html

Offer :
1. Completed cheerleader / studiopay staft identification
for sell...

1 set , including :
- passport scan,
- Bank
statement and bank information.
- Bill statement
- Credit card front and
back image scan
- Photo Id
guarantee : name and address is same for all
identification

Only $50.
Make payment to e-gold.com account number
: ******* ( hack990 )
in memo, place your email



2.
Remove Identification .

If you feel, you have submit your identifycation
at studiopay.com , send me $25, And I'll remove your identifycation in my
hardisk, and will not sell to anyone.

inform me what is your full name,
address, and what identifycation you have submit at studiopay. I'll search your
type identifcation in my hardisk, and will deleted it.

Only $25.
Make payment to e-gold.com account number : ******* ( hack990 )
in memo,
place your email.


3. 322500 email studiopay pay user. (very good for
advertising your hyip program )

only $500
Make payment to e-gold.com
account number : ******* ( hack990 )
in memo, place your email.


Regards

Nobody
**********90@yahoo.com

Outlook Screenshot:

Stormpay.com facing 19,000 customer complaints

Internet payment processor StormPay.com is currently facing over 19,000 complaints by members of various autosurf programs.

The storm arose when StormPay froze about 40,000 accounts in an act of "Consumer Protection" as the word was out that 12dailypro and other paid-to-surf programs did not pay their members for over 3 weeks. On Feb. 1, StormPay smelled fraud and froze accounts of owners and members.

While members were left shocked or clueless because of the weak information about the whole case, a dispute between StormPay and 12DP about the 12dailypro business model and paid autosurfing in general started. Many sources say that the program is currently under investigation by the FBI but there this cannot be confirmed thus far. Supposedly it is investigated for being a pyramid scheme but there is no valid source available to confirm this either.

The situation got out of hand when StormPay.com was hit by a DDOS attack (Distributed Denial of Service) and was rendered useless for more than 2 business days.
The story was picked up fast by various online newspapers and the autosurf business once again hit the news in a negative way.

Appearantly LifeClicks, the company behind 12dailypro, and StormPay are in the process of coming to an agreement regarding the frozen member accounts right now. Before, 12dailypro was believed to contribute to about 2% of all StormPay transactions.

StormPay enforces "one and only" policy

One of the "big 3" in online payment (Paypal-Egold-Stormpay) released a new policy for online merchants.
They require merchants to have StormPay as there "one and only" payment provider if they want to keep StormPay on their website.

Whatever you think of this move, it's time to decide pro or contra StormPay in these days.

<<
31-Jan-2006 14:40
Due to high volumes of fraudulent transactions made to merchants with commission based business models, StormPay can no longer process payments for those type of merchants who choose to accept more than one payment processing solution.

Using more than one payment processor is exactly the situation that “fraud” seeks out. This enables the fraudulent user to set up a fake profile with either of the processors, make a purchase or join the program, and then withdraw their earnings to the other processor where the real identity is used. This sort of activity makes it nearly impossible for either processor, or law enforcement to properly handle the fraud because the “trail” comes to an end. This is the cause for a great many chargebacks to those merchants which can be avoided.

As of 1/30/2006 StormPay must require Merchants with a commissioned based business model who choose to accept StormPay, to only accept StormPay. StormPay certainly does not wish to dictate how our merchants run their business, all merchants are free to choose any processing solution that best suits their needs. We understand you have choices and certainly hope that choice is the online leader – StormPay. However, if another payment solution is used, please immediately remove StormPay from the associated website as a funding option and continue to use the StormPay account funds to finish payments to those members who paid using their StormPay account.

At StormPay we truly care about our merchants’ and the overall success of their business and sales and for that reason we have implemented these very necessary changes. Thank you in advance for your understanding in this very crucial matter.

StormPay Inc.
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