Ordering from Fractal Audio

C

Carson

New Member
Greetings,

Apologies if this is the wrong sub-forum to ask.

I ordered an Axe Fx yesterday, taking advantage of the great sale going on, and I received an email from Fractal Audio asking me for high resolution photographs of my credit card and driver's license. This seemed rather sketchy to me. At least one person on another forum who placed their order recently received no such email. I thought it would be worth it to come over here and ask to see if this is legitimate or if we are potentially dealing with some kind of scam or hack?

Look forward to getting my Axe Fx! Thanks for your thoughts.

Best,

Carson
 
They never asked for that from me, hopefully someone from Fractal will comment on this, but once I filled out the order form everything was good to go.
 
Happened to me...

I received the same email. I placed my order while I was out of the country in hopes of it arriving the day after I returned. I assumed this is what flagged my order. I don't dig the idea of scanning a high-res copy of my credit card, DL, and a high-res pic of me holding my DL. I ended up having the order cancelled and reordering ~30 minutes later. This went through without a hitch. It appears that it was a legitimate email.
 
Rex said:
Fractal Support would be the right place to ask. They're the seller. We're just users. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for the information. I have also sent a request for explanation to Fractal support. I was just curious if anyone else here had experienced the same thing.

Happy 4th of July! --Carson
 
I think the op is justified in feeling suspect about the email.. I've ordered from fractal twice: once for my ultra and then my II; and have never been emailed asking for further verification. do keep us updated on the validity of this..
 
They ask it for Quebec, Canada. When I ordered one it was asked of me. Seems there's a lot of fraud so they're not taking any chances.
 
I would probably been put off from finishing the transaction if they required such info from me. It's also understandable that FAS would try to protect itself from "perceived" scammers. A phone call to FAS sales/headquarters would be advisable.
 
If your order fails fraud screening this is standard practice. We've been victim of increasing credit card fraud. If possible could you please remove our email address from your post on TGP? This just invites spam.

You are not required to furnish the information requested. However if you refuse your order will be canceled.
 
I placed an order and wanted the AxeFX II sent to work on not home. That way it wouldn't be sitting outside all day long. I received a similar email and provided information along with a business card picture. I appreciated the effort to make sure that the order was legit.
 
I've removed your email address from the post on The Gear Page, my apologies, I should have thought better of doing that when I posted.

I mostly wanted to confirm that this was a legitimate email and not evidence of a scam or hacking. I've never encountered anything like it purchasing gear or other products online before. What would cause my order to fail fraud screening? Should I use a different credit card or arrange some other form of payment? I can't imagine agreeing to send high resolution photographs of my credit card or driver's license, let alone via unsecured email attachment. That's extremely dangerous on my end and exposes me to significant risk of identity theft and fraud. Also, those materials could easily be faked by anyone with a copy of Photoshop, so I'm not sure they really offer you any additional protection.

That said, I'm just glad everything is above board here and there wasn't hacking on your end or mine. I hope I can still complete my purchase, as I've been quite excited about getting my hands on an Axe Fx II. I put considerable thought and research into it.

I'm sure credit card fraud is very frustrating, and I don't blame you or hold it against you for wanting to protect yourselves.

Best,

Carson Utz
 
Last edited:
FractalAudio said:
You are not required to furnish the information requested. However if you refuse your order will be canceled.
Click to expand...

Really? You can't pick up the phone and call the customer, or do some other form of verification?

By asking customers to send out PII in the clear, Fractal is no better than the people whom are trying to scam it. :stupid:
 
jb4674 said:
Really? You can't pick up the phone and call the customer, or do some other form of verification?

By asking customers to send out PII in the clear, Fractal is no better than the people whom are trying to scam it. :stupid:
Click to expand...

A phone call is no guarantee of a person's identity. That should be obvious.

We specifically state that the credit card number be masked except the last four digits.

Our procedure has been reviewed by our card processor gateway and passed our annual PCI audit.

Insinuating that we are fraudsters by trying to protect ourselves from fraud is silly. We suffered nearly $50K in credit card losses last year. The card issuers do not protect the retailer. Hence our policy.
 
Agreed. I'm about to sign up for a Dwolla account... finally. That would make all the sense in the world.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom