Abusive Charges: Be Vigilant About the 'HPY' Mark on Your Statements

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brucine Posted messages 24378 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   -
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The article discusses the increase in reports of abusive withdrawals among several individuals, characterized by a common strange label: "HPY". The acronym "HPY" refers to HiPay, a financial intermediary commonly used by unscrupulous companies to carry out automatic withdrawals. These entities often scam their "clients" during online purchases of low-value services by subsequently subscribing them to expensive monthly services. Among the cited examples are the purchase of Kbis extracts or automotive administrative services. Users should therefore be vigilant when making low-value purchases online. Let's discuss: have you ever fallen victim to such practices? How did you react?
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jeannets Posted messages 28325 Registration date   Status Contributeur Last intervention   Ambassadeur 6 595
 

Hello,

I reacted earlier.

Personally, I've never been a victim of these things. I must say that I stay vigilant and take some precautions to prevent any connection being established with my bank...

In summary: I pay with Paypal, which I fund with a temporary virtual card... It might be "unravelable," but it complicates the process.

There you go, if that can inspire the protection of a few...

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Castoramoi Posted messages 399 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   21
 

Hello

Same here, I use Paypal, it prevents you from sharing your banking information all over the web and in case of a dispute, Paypal helps you. To pay for online shops, Paypal uses my bank account and not my credit card, because I haven't provided a credit card.

And for more security, I block my credit card for online payments; it can only be used for purchases in stores and for ATM withdrawals, so no one can use it to buy online. And I’ve limited the use of my credit card to Europe, which further reduces fraud.

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jee pee Posted messages 9400 Registration date   Status Modérateur Last intervention   9 945
 

    At the same time, contact your bank to revoke the direct debit mandate in place and prevent any future charges.

Websites like HPY do not use direct debit. Direct debit from a bank account requires providing an IBAN to the supplier and signing a mandate. The direct debit can be rejected by the account holder. And most of the time, the bank notifies its client of the direct debit the first time for a new beneficiary. This is when action must be taken.

Online sites almost always use payments via a Credit Card. Here, the customer provides their credit card number and authorizes the payment. The supplier then obtains a payment authorization, which they keep for future payments on the subscribed subscription. It is not possible to stop authorized payments on the credit card. Requesting this from the bank has no effect. The only option, apart from canceling the subscription on the supplier's site, is to cancel the credit card and request a new one. Be careful, I have seen for my bank that when changing credit cards, there is a setting to provide to suppliers who send payment requests to the old card number, the new number, so that payments can continue to be processed smoothly.


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brucine Posted messages 24378 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   4 093
 

Hello,

Yes, well...

I've only used Paypal once (on a foreign site that didn't accept any other payment method).

Otherwise, I always use my credit card, without saving it on the target site.

But above all, and this is the theme of the article, I avoid clicking anywhere: as mentioned, these problems are mainly due to dubious sites that sell you the milkmaid and butter at a low price while the customer, enticed by the offer, hasn't read the links or the tiny print that effectively "subscribes" them to a third-party "service," and I've never been scammed (I know, it's like saying that a charm protects you from the flu because you've never had it, it's not mathematical).

In short, the first precaution is to only purchase from sites that have been verified to be reliable, preferably linked to a physical store or a large group, and preferably not outside the EU (although Malta is a rogue state that is part of it).

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brucine Posted messages 24378 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention   4 093 > brucine Posted messages 24378 Registration date   Status Membre Last intervention  
 

Of course, many of these irregularities are related not to the purchase of a physical object but to a "service," where there is no storefront.

But doesn’t the article talk about caution, buying obscure software promising wonders and whose "publisher" is also obscure, services that are available for free or at official prices on official sites (government, directory of landlines excluding restricted lists...), others that are impossible by nature (reverse directory of mobile numbers or the unlisted directory...)?

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