[Captain SlowCoach]

Placed an order for some winters - went through fine - credit card did an automated check that I had authorised the order - had a confirmation email from mytyres then had the following email arrive this morning from them:

Email fraud prevention in the UK:

We refer to your tyre order XXXXXXXX dated 08.01.2010 15:09. Because of data security rules we

need a proof of identity from our customers to ensure a high level of fraud prevention. So, please

fax your last electricity bill / gas bill for address confirmation purposes to the following fax

number: 01212103330



We will process your order immediately after confirmation.



Please note: If we do not receive a confirmation within 5 days we can only process your order if

you transfer the outstanding amount to our account. In this case, we will send you another email

with the bank details.



Please inform us if you still wish to continue with this order.



Thank you for your cooperation.


Delticom Tyres Ltd., 9 Thames Street, Charlbury, Oxford, OX7 3QL
Telephone: 0800 3286532 or 01628 676565, Fax: 0049-89-208080815
Directors: Rainer Binder, Kai Dopmann, Christian Dorndorf
Bank account (BACS payments [UK]): Commerzbank London Branch, account number 20737320, Sort Code 40-62-01
Bank account (Only foreign payments): Commerzbank London Branch, Commerzbank house, PO Box 286, 23 Austin Friars, London EC2P 2JD,
Account no 160/2073732/00, Sort Code 40-62-01, SWIFT: COBAGB2XXXX, IBAN: GB82COBA40620120737320. Payments by cheque: Please use Delticom Ltd as beneficiary.
VAT Registration No: 768 4385 79, Company No: 04144833

Seems pretty odd - and I really dont fancy fax a Ute Bill to them - and as VISA payment has gone through. Anyone else had this??

Captain SC

[Dr Dave]

How very odd!

[Dr Dave]

Found this elsewhere....

Okay - here is why I made the post about the "irregular internet transaction processing requirement" and mytres.co.uk

I ordered 4 tyres through their website using the Shopsafe Network option. No problem with that and no problem with that transaction being authorised by my credit card provider.

I then received the email below from mytyres.co.uk@delti.com;

"Email fraud prevention in the UK:
We refer to your tyre order RDNNNNNNNN dated 08.01.2009 12:29. Because of data security rules we need a proof of identity from our customers to ensure a high level of fraud prevention. So, please fax your last electricity bill / gas bill for address confirmation purposes to the following fax number: 01212103330

We will process your order immediately after confirmation.

Please note: If we do not receive a confirmation within 5 days we can only process your order if you transfer the outstanding amount to our account. In this case, we will send you another email with the bank details.

Please inform us if you still wish to continue with this order.

Thank you for your cooperation.

RDNNNNNNN: 4 x Nokian WR sport utility 235/60 R18 107V XL (Wi)

Delticom Tyres Ltd.,9 Thames Street,Charlbury,Oxford,OX7 3QL
Telephone: 0800 3286532, Fax: 0049-89-208080815
Directors: Rainer Binder, Philip von Grolman, Frank Schuhardt, VAT: 768438579
Bank account (BACS payments [UK]): Commerzbank London Branch, account number 20737320, Sort Code 40-62-01
Bank account (Only foreign payments): Commerzbank London Branch, Commerzbank house, PO Box 286, 23 Austin Friars, London EC2P 2JD,
Account no 160/2073732/00, Sort Code 40-62-01, SWIFT: COBAGB2XXXX, IBAN: GB82COBA40620120737320
Payments by cheque: Please use Delticom Ltd as beneficiary."

This email raised alarm bells with me for a number of reasons.

First, as I mentioned above, the transaction had already been authorised by my credit card provider so mytyres.co.uk had no need to make a secondary identification. Next, as I was not applying for a credit account there is no need for the merchant to try to make secondary identification. Thirdly, passing on a fax or email copy of a utility bill proves nothing to anyone about the email address used for the transaction so it cannot reduce email fraud (more on this later), and lastly it means a third party can now use that utility bill copy as a means of passing themselves off as me in a future transaction.

Note I am not saying that mytyres.co.uk were going to do this - I said a third party.

At this point, I phoned mytres.co.uk and discussed their requirement for this form of "identification" with them. All that they could say was "It is company policy". Their representative could not explain what was behind that company policy nor could he explain how providing this information would confirm either a) my email address, b) confirm that I was legitimately the person who received that utility bill nor c) confirm that the person he was communicating with was in fact the bona fide holder of the credit card used for the transaction.

I declined to provide the utility bill copies and asked instead how he would like to proceed. He stated that I could fax or email my drivers licence or bank statements (?????) or I could transfer money to their account to pay for the tyres and the transaction would proceed. I made it clear that none of those things was going to happen, as there was already a valid transaction in progress that my credit card provider had authorised. In short, mytryes.co.uk already had a legitimate payment from me.

I asked to speak to a manager and was informed that there were none in the office. I asked if a manager could phone me when they returned and was told no. So, by this stage I am definitely not amused at having my time wasted or amused by the odd operational practices of this company.

I then asked for the order to be cancelled and for all my details to be removed from their database, as they now had no legitimate right to retain them. I also asked that mytyres.co.uk process the necessary transaction to credit my credit card to cancel the debit they had made to it earlier. At this point, I was informed that mytyres.co.uk had not processed any transaction to my account and so that would not be necessary.

I bid them a farewell and phoned my credit card provider to discuss the above. At this time, they again confirmed a transaction had been processed and that my account had indeed been debited by mytyres.co.uk. When I relayed all the above information to my bank they were as suspicious as I was. I will not bore you with the details of the conversation I had with my credit card provider. Suffice it to say they were not impressed.

For the reasons above I am uncomfortable with using mytyres.co.uk and decided to make a short post that warned of irregularities in their transaction processing activities.

As far as the readers /posters on the forum go, here is some additional information and responses to points raised:

a) I have been in IT for 20+ years and historically have been involved with identification processes for many years. I have also been an on line buyer for many years and have processed some 1000+ transactions online and always by credit card. Never have I been asked to do what mytyres.co.uk asked me to do after the transaction had been authorised. Hence my comment that this is an "irregular internet transaction processing requirement"

b) TEM - I agree that mytyres.co.uk uses a secure payments process; there is no dispute with that. What my issue is is that identification has been performed by my bank and credit card provider through the Shopsafe network. In my experience, as soon as anyone, no matter how diligent they may think they are being steps outside that process as mytyres.co.uk have done they immediately open the door for a third party to acquire information that can then be used to initiate fraudulent activity.

c) TEM - you state "I feel that you need to be more specific, about the problem and you should think very carefully, about mentioning "Names", as something like this, shut down this forum, for months, last year." It is important to note that I have said nothing defamatory about mytyres.co.uk. I have simply issued a warning based on my experience with them as their business process and policy "opens the way for a particular type of credit card fraud to take place"

d) Lastly, eMail - the electronic equivalent of a postcard. Need I say more about using that a method of gathering identity confirmation information?

Now - does anyone have an answer To Part 2 of my original post? Thanks

[Dr Dave]

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showth...t=64138&page=2

[the_rangdo]

First time I bought off Mytyres there were coincidentally some fraudulent transactions on my card for William Hill.

Card got blocked, all investigated and refunded no problem. Got the tyres o.k., there were problems with the local fitting station (equipment failure) so I had to use a different station, got a refund on the fitting fee from Mytyres so all well and good.

My winters that were fitted this week were from Mytyres, smooth transaction.

On neither occasion was I asked for utility bills. Whether this was because I used a card that was registered on 'Verified by Visa' or not I don't know.

[Tunna_uk]

Thats well dodgy

[Captain SlowCoach]

Thought I would just update on this as it may be of help to others .

All sorted now - 'Interesting' company to deal with - not much clue about dealing with Uk clients to be frank - very very Foreign in the way they work.

They have been burnt ALOT in the past - so have a blanket policy if you request tyres to be delivered to an address which is NOT one of their agreed fitting stations - which I guess is fair enough. But they could really do with being a bit clearer on it and phrasing it al better! They do NOT charge your card until they have proof for the non standard delivery address. Payment had approval from VISA for several days before they charged my card today after they had address proof.

Order follow up has been pretty swift and communication - although lacking in 'Classic' English, has been fine. I have a direct email address should anyone want it.

Complete tracking details have now been received for the 4 x tyres - take approx 7 days to arrive.

Would be happy using them again.

Captain SC

[the_rangdo]

That makes sense, I've always had tyres sent straight to the fitting station.

[swanseahammer]

Interesting read. I bought my winter tyres from them, never having used them before but recommended by a friend. I paid via PayPal and had them delivered to a fitting station which wasn't one of theirs. All went through fine, no proof of id requested. Could just be them being extra careful on credit card payments, but definitely an unusual practice.

[garysargent]

I had the same from Pneus Tyres when having them send to a fitters, so mytyres aren't unique in that.

[doughboy]

That's one more reason never to order online -

Sure, browse the products online but then - shock horror - phone them up. (speak to the shop using a 'telephone' - remember that novelty)

You can negotiate on price etc, discuss all the payment and delivery issues there and then - sorted in one go and all the Credit card protection and Distance Selling Regulations still apply to protect you.

It also avoids that online speciality, "thank you for your order, payment received - oh actually we're out of stock - will let you know when its in".....

A bit revolutionary I know, but it might catch on.

[cdb]

i had the same thing - reason they gave me was because i'd put two orders in (they split the front and rear tyres onto separate orders) and because of the high value, called the customer services but think my concerns were lost in translation.. - i just gave up in the end and sent a phone bill over... all on the credit card so figure i'm covered if anything goes wrong.

[Captain SlowCoach]

Quite agree about being revolutionary and using the 'phone...! Only prob with these guys is as CDB above says - things can kind of get stuck with translation. Fortunately I speak German (which was quite a surprise to lady on the phone!) - but it did make life a lot easier and she was far more helpful!

Captain SC

[Captain SlowCoach]

Actually quite impressive in the end - Tyres despatched from Germany last Thursday - arrived at here 9.30 this morning. (Compared to a a letter sent to Manchester last Thursday first class, has still not arrived...)

Captain SC

[debanks]

Have to say I was a little worried as well when I got this email, but having spoke with them direct they alleviated my worries.

Sent the details as requested. Tyres were in the UK within 3 days.

Only problem came with fitting, local fitter couldn't handle my existing 17" runflats. Had tto go somewhere else but they had no such problem.

Just so you know they also wouldn't accept the pre paid voucher as they have had some difficulty in getting payment from Delticom. I had this confirmed by the Delticom rep that I had previously spoken too. They ask you to make direct payment locally and then refund the pre paid amount. Strange way to do business but I got what I wanted at a price that suited me. Just a bit too much 'chasing' for my liking.

To sum up, tyres - excellent, price - great, delivery - great, 1to1 customer service - good, overall efficiency - poor.

[cdb]

just to follow up - sent my bill in, and tyres arrived this evening, so all seems to be good.