805-275-2235

This is a scam artist who will charge your bank account for no services rendered. This is a fake website and fake service. If you call them you will get the same message all the time of all their operators are busy and to leave a message. They will never return your calls either. I turned them into the local Sheriffs office and they have many reports of this same fake company charging people too.

OMG I finally found something on these people. I have googled till I am blue in the face! I received charges from Sensate Technology directly after ordering from a little mom and pop candy site based in Washington State. I ordered from the candy company and than all of a suddenly got a charge on my visa for $10.65 from Sensate Technology (the candy company was the only new company I had ordered from but I didn't suspect anything at first). Than while waiting for my new card to arrive (after closing it due to this charge and seeing that this was a scam site) I took out my BOFA that I hadn't used in ages and placed an order from this same candy company while awaiting my new card (I swear I never made the connection the first time or I wouldn't have been such an idiot) and lo and behold a $10.65 charge appeared on my BOFA which hadn't been used in years! After doing much research I believe they are siphoning off the credit card numbers from what's supposedly a secure server for this candy company (NOT)! I looked and saw that the site uses a server or processing company called "FreeMerchant.Com. I found that DigitalRiver bought most of FreeMerchant.Com's customers. I did speak with someone there who said that FreeMerchant.Com was getting calls from other people indicating that after making a purchase through one of it's many companies it hosts, that they were getting strange small charges from Sensate and other false named companies!

I would be curious to know if anyone else made this connection. Did you purchase anything through a candy company in Washington state or by a company being served by FreeMerchant.Com (You would know if you look at the confirming e-mail they sent you when you placed an order)? I raised such a stink with them that ironically they reversed the charge they made on one card and was stunned to learn from my credit card company that once they gave the money back they couldn't go any further? So in other words if you steal but put it back because you got caught it's OK? I would be interested in hearing more. I have filed fraud charges with my BOFA on them too.

They have an unlisted company telephone number (red flag) that comes up as a residential land line in Ventura CA. They do have a fake website and it was just opened on September 12th. I am furious over this. This company has cost me having to cancel two credit cards and all after ordering from the same mom and pop candy company online. What Sheriffs office did you talk to? Is there a contact name because I would like to call as well. The banks are dragging their heels and this is why this crap goes on.

I was also charged $10.65 from a company called Sensate Technology. Luckily I do a lot of online banking or else I wouldn't have seen this charge. "Natalie" I just want to say thank you for doing so much intense research to find out that this stemmed from FreeMerchant.com because I recognized that name immediately because I ordered from a company called "The Marine Shop" and they use this very same merchant. I had to cancel my card and I am currently waiting on a new one. I also emailed The Marine Shop to let them know what's going on. Now I am going to be more cautious when ordering over so called secure servers.

Tampa, FL

You are welcome! In fact I was so happy to see your message because I have searched and there is nothing on these people which is spooky. I guess because they have just begun doing this that it hasn't made many message boards or anything yet. Their web site was apparently just launched in early September (SensateTech.Com) which means that many people are just now getting their statements and most of them may not even notice this fly under the radar charge of $10.65. When i called the candy company that is hosted by FreeMerchant.Com they got a little defensive with me as if I were accusing them and that was not the case at all! I am sure they have no idea that credit card numbers are being siphoned off as people innocently enter in their card numbers to purchase candy or any other myriad of sites hosted by FreeMerchant. What bothers me is that FreeMerchant should be closing these down or doing something until they figure out how to get these hackers out of their files! I had a woman admit to me that they were getting other calls from customers saying that they were also getting small charges like this after making purchases through various sites hosted by FreeMerchant and than the girl never got back to me again (I am guessing someone in legal told her not to talk to me anymore because they didn't want to let a customer know that they had a breach).

I did call the Ventura California sheriff's department and spoke to a detective there today who was wonderful. She gets whats going on and I have  feeling something may finally be done (I pray). I even linked them to this site so they can see that others are experiencing funny stuff here all linking back to FreeMerchant in some way.

I would be very interested to know of anyone else's experience out there and if they used a site that uses FreeMerchant when this happened. The sad thing is that most people won't find us here because I googled forever and found nothing. On a whim I decided to enter Sensate Technology's suspiciously UNLISTED telephone number (listed next to my transaction on my online statement) and that was the only reason I even found this and this is all there is about them online. :(

Call the Ventura county Sheriff's department (I am not sure if its OK to put her name out here so I won't but she was a very helpful and sharp female detective). Not the Ventura POLICE but the Sheriff's office there. I think the more of us that call in and let them know the stronger the case, The banks don't do much of anything. :(

I ordered a cd from annammoo.com on 19-Nov-2007. They use safeshopper.com as the credit card SSL site. The order conformation said the card was processed by freemerchant.com. On 26-Nov-2007 my online bank statement showed a $10.65 charge from Sensate Technology at 805-275-2235. Calling this number always gets a recording. I filed a fraud report with my bank and cancelled the card. It looks like there have been enough complaints on the net that this Senstate Technology would be shutdown by now. I will no longer order anything online from a company that is using digitalriver.com, freeshopper.com, and safeshopper.com as their credit card gateway unless digitalriver.com owns up to this security breach and explains steps they have taken, including reimbursment of costs incurred in cancellation and reissue of cards to people that have been defrauded.

What I think we should probably do is start calling Freemerchant.Com and asking for their fraud department and telling them our story, showing them this thread if need be so they don't start playing that "oh this is the first we've heard about it " game with us and demanding that something be done. I happen to know for a fact that it would not be the first they've heard of this because I called weeks ago! They know damn well they have a serious problem here and probably realize it could ruin their credibility and their company because this is not the first breach they've had (as I discovered by doing some research here)! Here is the link to what I found:

http://www.complaints.com/directory/2004/june/4/15.htm

I am shocked by the way the candy company dealt with me when I tried to make them aware of this over a month ago. Here I am a new customer who placed two orders back to back totalling over $100.00 and they don't even so much as call me or even write me back and offer any type of compassion, acknowledgement of my e-mail or telephone call to them or anything! To me this makes them partially liable when they continue to allow people to place orders with them through their web site knowing full well that there could be a potential breach (and there is one obviously). Burying their heads in the sand isn't going to help anyone least of all them.

I was told by their not so friendly customer service representative who answered the phone that nobody else had called but me when I tried to make them aware of this but earth to company...earth to company....not everyone may have made the connection yet. Many had not even gotten their statements yet and when they do, not everyone may notice this small charge (which is what Sensate is hoping for). Also if they do a lot of online shopping to several different stores they may not have made the connection as to where the breach occurred! I was able to clearly because they were the only new company I had shopped with the first time than when using a card that had been dormant for years to place another order through them, another $10.65 charge appeared from Sensate Technology! It was pretty obvious at that point!

Sensatetech.com is a fake website and this is an illegal company stealing money from people using sites hosted by Freemerchant.Com. If you are looking to your banks to do something don't bother. All they will do is file the paperwork and refund you the $10.65 and issue a new card. They cannot do anything else which is why this company has been able to get away with it as long as they have. They know how to play the system well. You need to contact Freemerchant.Com (DigitalRiver) and the Ventura California Sheriff's Office (I contacted the police department there and they were not as helpful as the sheriff's office was) and tell them what's happened to you. They will probably want you to fax a letter or statement indicating what happened to you and show Sensate Technology's phone number which comes up as an unlisted land line in Ventura, California. These people cost me plenty and I'm furious understandably. I will never shop on a site again that has anything to do with Digital River, FreeMerchant.Com or anything I even remotely smells of them. The scary thing is that they do not say that's who they use until you place an order! One thing I did notice though (and now in hindsight I feel like an idiot), if you look at the sites you used through Freemerchant.Com, they all look the same at the bottom. They have none of those trusted "Hacker safe" or "Verified By Visa" signs or anything. From now on if I do not know the site and they do not display those signs, I will either not use them at all or telephone my orders in. You may also want to ask the person taking your order if all they are going to do is enter it through their website like you could have (some actually operate that way so what's the point than). You may want to not bother ordering if that's the case.

One thing I am very happy about is that I noticed just today that when I google Sensate Technology, my message comes up on Google leading people here! Hallelujah! We may start seeing more people coming forward with their stories! Strength in numbers guys. I'd like to see Sensate Technology have a VERY SPECIAL CHRISTMAS!

I also made a purchase from an online vendor last week and a few days later I saw the $10.65 charge on my credit card. I had no idea where it came from and was trying to think real hard if I used my card at all that day, which at the end I didn't. It wasn't until today when I checked my account again and it showed the phone number which I searched for on the web and it brought me here. It clearly states Sensate Technology on the transaction. The online vendor was using Free Merchant. I went to Free Merchant's website and wasn't able to locate any useful information. I emailed my credit card company to see what they can do, even if it involves submitting a fraud case against this Sensate Technology company. I will also try calling them tomorrow.

And to add to it, I have purchased before from the online vendor a few years ago and did not run into this problem so that's why I thought it was safe to buy from them again. After my purchase, I looked at the electronic invoice and the final confirmation page for the order and no mention of Sensate Technology, only Free Merchant. No mention of any additional charge, etc. So that's why I consider this fraud.

It is fraud Jacob. Sensate Technology hacked into FreeMerchant.Com's system about the same time they launched their dummy (fake) web site which was September 12th. They've been taking our credit card numbers and charging all of us that same $10.65 charge hoping that with such a small amount, it would never be noticed. They have probably stolen thousands upon thousands by now because all those $10.65 charges can certainly add up when you have that many credit cards coming through a server. The stores themselves probably have no idea they've been compromised until they begin getting calls from us saying "hey coincidentally after using your site I got this strange charge for $10.65 from a company calling themselves Sensate Technology that I have never heard of before!" The stores also seem to be in denial which doesn't help matters.

What makes me angry is that FreeMerchant has been told about this and they are allowing these sites they host to still take our credit cards! They are so afraid of a scandal that they are willing to allow more and more of us to be bilked until they can figure out what's happening and than hopefully sweep it under the rug thinking most people won't make the connection between them and this strange charge but guess what.....................TOO LATE! If someone goes to the media with this it's all over for them and it should be. I don't want my friends, family or anyone else to go through this and they will ordering from a site that uses DigitalRiver or FreeMerchant. This is not the first or even second breach they've had.

http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/10_543591

http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/cyber062106.htm

We need to take action and that has to be more than merely contacting our banks. The banks can do very little. They do not prosecute or even attempt to stop these companies even when it's out and out fraud. Please be proactive and contact FreeMerchantCom and ask to speak to someone in Fraud. Demand to speak to someone. File a local police report or at least call the Ventura California Sheriff's office and ask to speak to a detective regarding credit card fraud. Every one of us made a purchase through FreeMerchant.Com and had this exact same thing happen. It's rather obvious that this company which is only in existence to steal money (Sensate) hacked into FreeMerchant's vulnerable server. Don't let them push you around and make you think it must all be just a crazy coincidence or that they have never heard this before because that's a damn lie. They would probably rather die than admit they have a security breach that will cost them their reputation.

952-253-1234 (Digital River) Digital River bought FreeMerchant.Com which does not have a number listed anywhere so you have to call Digital River directly.

I also found it interesting that when I clicked on Digital River's customer service link they have this new window that pops up so they might finally be realizing the enormity of whats going on but we need to make these phone calls. I can tell you that the company I ordered through hasn't shut down or done a thing. They are still accepting credit cards through the same server even today!

http://corporate.digitalriver.com/store/driv/ ... /ThemeID.492200

I also got a $10.65 charge from Sensate Technology on my credit card after making a purchase through a site that uses Digital River (Free Merchant.Com). It's obvious that a breach ocurred. I doubt Digital River will ever admit to this even though it's clear that we all had this happen directly after making a purchase through sites only they host. I was furious. Still am. I also think they are still doing buasiness as usual without doing anything to clean this mess up! Sensate Technology is obviously stealing our card numbers from their server.

I will call Digital River tomorrow during my lunch hour. Natalie, do you have the number to the Ventura Sheriff's Department and if possible the last name of the detective (or first, I understand if you cannot post it but at least a number would be great). I contacted my card company and they filed a fraud case and will also investigate this matter. Hopefully, our resources partner up to get to the bottom of what Sensate Technology is doing. As an example, I did a rough estimate and if 50 transactions are done at $10.65 daily, and for about 20 days, that's $10,650! And it's probably a lot more. I'll keep you guys up to date with any news.

Same here. Just logged onto my Wachovia checking account online and noticed a $10.65 withdrawal dated today, 11/30 - fantastically odd, seeing as how all that I did today was go to class and sleep. This is ridiculous. Go get 'em guys.

I think we should list the shops we dealt with that use Freemerchant/Digitalrover as their host that caused this to happen to us. Where di you guys shop when this happened to you? These sites need to be informed. You can't just expect these people to know on their own because they won't unless you call. Natalie above mentioned that not only did the candy shop she used know nothing about it, they actually got defensive with her so they are clueless! These are too many conincidences here. If people are reading this right now because they looked up Sensate Technology to see if they could find anything on these people like we did, than take a moment and let us know if it happened to you after using a site that Freemerchant/Digitalriver hosts. It's easy to find this out. Just look at the confrming e mail they sent you when you placed your order and it should be at the very bottom. The sites themselves don't indicate this which is frustraing if you want to avoid them like the plague in the future. It will however show the name in your confirming e mail. Freemerchant.Com (Digitalriver) needs to be made aware of this and so do the sites themselves. Don't wait for the next guy to do something. Everyone of us needs to not just make a call to our banks (who do next to nothing) but to the site we used and Digitalriver (which bought out Freemerchant).

Nods to Natalie for all her investigating and hard work here! Thank you!

I balance my checkbook everyday. A charge of $10.65 went in to pending Sunday 11/25 and posted Monday 11/26. I nor my husband could not think of what it might be. Unlike a couple times this happened due to inadvertently clicking on something at the end of an order and all of a sudden you've subsrcribed to a "passbook of savings coupons" for 9.99 a month or to "Find a Classmate.com" for $15.00 a month; with these people I could get a hold of them and cancel the subscriptions without any problem. I'll have to do research back to 9/12 in my e-mail and checkbook to see where I've ordered from because I usually only go to places such as ticket master,amazon barnes and noble and the like, not anything obscure. Like has been said they have you leave a message and don't call back. Oh great! Now they've got my home# and cell#. When I go to their website on their OGM, the page does not appear. My husband googled them but did not go down the whole first page. That's how I've gotten here. Called my bank and they can't do anything but cancel my card and replace it. Don't know if they're going to take it any further. My husband being a Federal Government employee has brought up the FBI page, fbi.gov, and on the left side of the page at the top under the "Contact Us" heading is a choice of "Report Internet Crime." He's done this before when he's had some suspicions with kiddie porn. The local police or sheriff's offices are mainly concerned with tangible crimes i.e.drug busts, homicide, etc. The merchants and Digital River formerly FreeMerchant do not care either. But I bet they'd take notice if the FBI was knocking on their doors to lock their butts up in a federal prison; I live about 1 hour from Leavenworh,KS in Kansas City,MO and would just love to go see them when we all have figured out a way to hack into their prison accounts and get their money! You could go to a local FBI office, but they would only refer it to the National office since the crime is interstate and crosses out of California into many others and maybe to other countries!  I'm filing my report now and will keep you posted on the situation as well as maybe track down the sites I may have been on and let you know. Keep an eye out for these people to be on "America's Most Wanted" or the "Top 10 Most Wanted" on your post office wall! Good work detectives!

Trish - In the last few months, I've only shopped online at http://www.skateparkoftampa.com and http://www.karmaloop.com . Unfortunately, there's no information on either of the sites, or on the email invoices that I received, regarding digitalriver or freemerchant. But that's just a head's-up.

They may not have just hacked into Digital River at this point. Chances are they are through with them now that Freemerchant and Digital have been alerted and moved on to another equally vulnerable system though I have a feeling they are still taking the cards that go through Digital river. All of us have had the same exact thing happen to us so it's more than just conicidental at this point. Every one of us had a $10.65 charge appear just days after making a purchase through a site or shop that uses the vulnerable Freemerchant.Com/DigitalRiver) as thier processor for credit cards. In fact some of us were able to pint it down easily because that was all we did differently at all. Natalie said she only used her BOFA to order through one of their sies and it happened to her again! Call the numbers of those sites and simply ask them who they use to process thier credit card orders. Keep asking util you get someone who can answer you. From the looks of one of those sites, it may indeed be DigitalRiver since they never display any trusted signs on their sites. Sensate Technology is OBVIOUSLY taking credit card numbers from FreeMerchant/Digital River's server. That's pretty apparent. Also no search engine will find their website (which is a dummy site) unless you enter the domain yourself "Sensatetech.Com". They set it up to look like they are a legitimate company when it's obviously a dummy site poorly constructed at that because it goes in circles It's a fake.

digitalriver.com and digibuys.com also sell your number to telemarketers. Trust me i know.

Add me to the list, I do a lot of online shopping and therefore I'm on top of my credit card statements. I noticed a $10.65 charge from Sensate Tech on 11/19 and immediately took it up with my CC company. The last purchase that I made on this card before the Sensate charge was from Skype, but I have used them before with no problem. Thank you all for your research on this site . just one questions have you all cancelled your cards at this point ?

Thanks

We've all canceled our cards as that's the first thing you do. Keep in mind that you aren't looking for the last purchase you made. That doesn't mean a thing. You are looking for the company you've never dealt with before that may be new to you. You are looking for any company you have used in the past month before the charge appeared. You need to look at the confirming e-mail they sent you when you placed that order, scroll down and see if thee is any mention of Freemerchant.Com as it has for almost all of us here.

Thanks to all of you who did research on this.  I just saw a charge on my card for the same amount and after reading your posts I immediately called and canceled my card.
I recently bought some engraved Christmas gifts from a local merchant who uses Digital River so I'm sure that's how I got hit too.  I called the merchant to alert them and the woman told me she had just got notice that Digital River is closing shop as of Jan 1 so she was working on finding a new company to place their credit card orders through. She said she's been using them for years and thout it was odd that the notice said they could no longer support their server and she thought that was odd becuase servers aren't that expensive to support.  The key is having a SAFE server! haha!