Scammer Cheats Over 100 Kickstarter Campaigns Out of Funds

[StewShearerOld]

Scammer Cheats Over 100 Kickstarter Campaigns Out of Funds

Kickstarter user Encick Farhan was banned after he made false contributions to claim backer rewards.

In some ways, Kickstarter could be seen as one of the niftiest developments in altruism to occur in recent years. Just think about it, the entire site operates on the idea of people giving their money to strangers out of the hope that said person they've (probably) never met will be able to complete some fantasy project. There's no guarantee of success and, unless you count backer rewards, no profit for contributors. Even so, people still show up in droves to help fund the dreams of others. It's a surefire recipe for the warm-and-fuzzies.

Alas, as with all good things, the ever-present jerky nature of people just had to go and rear its ugly head. More specifically, a Kickstarter user going by the moniker of Encick Farhan, has apparently been scamming projects by donating large sums of money and then cancelling the charges through his credit company once he'd received a receipt guaranteeing his backer rewards. His swindling has left many in a funding shortfall that has been difficult for tightly budgeted projects to recover from. "Losing $1,000 will ruin me if the credit card company sides with Encik Farhan," said <a href=http://alexheberling.tumblr.com/post/66288651102>Alex Heberling, a cartoonist that fell victim to Farhan's scam.

While this kind of deception isn't new on the internet, its occurrence on Kickstarter could raise some issues for the website, in no small part because its users arguably need to be able to trust that their contributions and projects won't be derailed by con artists. Recognizing this, the website has taken the Encick Farhan incident quite seriously, banning his account and working with Amazon Payments to investigate the situation. "We won't let a single bad apple harm the integrity or goodwill of our incredible community," said the site.

Source: <a href=http://www.theverge.com/2013/11/8/5081806/kickstarter-alleged-chargeback-fraud-hits-over-100-campaigns>The Verge


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[LordMonty]

How very cruel and unpleasant, some people really are quite vile. Hope the artists get the money they were paid for to create.

 

[J Tyran]

What kind of credit card has he got that allows you to make over a hundred charge backs with little question? Bouncing credit cards wouldn't work more than a few times because all that stuff is recorded by international credit agencies, I wonder how he pulled this off or is there some further fraud going on here?

 

[shirkbot]

I know they'll be investigated by Kickstarter, and I hope that this user is held liable for every penny they "donated." I'm also curious about the legal repercussions of such behavior since it sounds suspiciously like fraud.

 

[Angelous Wang]

Legally speaking I would imagine that the credit company/bank would have to side with their client. If your client tell you to stop or undo a transaction then you have to do it.

But I would imagine he legally obligated to give the reward back if asked, and if he fails to then they have a legal claim against him.

Same as if you cancel a payment on an online purchase that has already shipped.

But I would say those projects are now down £1000 (or however much the rest are), and not going to see it back.

 

[Vivi22]

I'm also curious about the legal repercussions of such behavior since it sounds suspiciously like fraud.

Unless he returns all of the rewards he received it is fraud. I'd imagine he could be brought up on criminal charges if anyone decided to press them. If everyone he ripped off wanted to pursue it I'd imagine he could be looking down the barrel of some pretty serious repercussions.

 

[JoJo]

I know they'll be investigated by Kickstarter, and I hope that this user is held liable for every penny they "donated." I'm also curious about the legal repercussions of such behavior since it sounds suspiciously like fraud.

Apparently he's from Malaysia, so that may make any legal action difficult, could be complicated determining which jurisdiction he's even liable in.

OT: Well, I think we have a winner for dickhead of the year award, congratutations Mr Farhan.

 

[rofltehcat]

Add another "reward" just for him: Publicly shame him in the credits of each of those projects.

 

[Oskuro]

This was bound to happen. As with all corruption, is not a matter of "if" but rather of "when" (As a species, we're hardwired for such assholery, sadly).

So in the long run this is a good thing, as steps to prevent further foul play of this style will now be taken.

It's a bummer for those affected, true, but let's face it, it could've been much much worse.

 

[Smooth Operator]

Oh there will be plenty more scams heading their way and I really need to put part of the blame on Kickstarter in this because they just let users carry legal issues instead of handling these matters themselves.

 

[AldUK]

You should really on receive backer rewards after the project is completed, with your contribution. That's the thing about Kickstarter, it's people making promises to each other, the backers and the projects, it's all promises. Which is why everyone should be very careful on that site, I've noticed not just online, but even amongst my friends, it's becoming increasingly common for people to just casually throw cash at something on Kickstarter that strikes their fancy.

I've still only donated to 2 projects, Red Thread's Dreamfall: Chapters and Star Citizen.

 

[Psychobabble]

I know they'll be investigated by Kickstarter, and I hope that this user is held liable for every penny they "donated." I'm also curious about the legal repercussions of such behavior since it sounds suspiciously like fraud.

Apparently he's from Malaysia, so that may make any legal action difficult, could be complicated determining which jurisdiction he's even liable in.

OT: Well, I think we have a winner for dickhead of the year award, congratutations Mr Farhan.

It's most likely not just one person. Credit card fraud is rampant in that part of the world as it's a prime racket for many criminal syndicates.

 

[razer17]

I know they'll be investigated by Kickstarter, and I hope that this user is held liable for every penny they "donated." I'm also curious about the legal repercussions of such behavior since it sounds suspiciously like fraud.

Doing a charge back in that manner is classified as Friendy Fraud [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargeback_fraud].

Best part LexisNexis [http://www.friendlyfraudprevent.com/FriendlyFraud.aspx] has been reported that merchants pay up to $2.70 for every $1 lost in a fraudulent transaction.

Could this not be fixed (For physical goods that are shipped, at least) purely by going to a Recorded Delivery only set up? It would be hard to claim that you didn't get some goods if the shipping company and the seller have a signed paper saying you did.

Edit- Then again, I guess it would be easy to fake a random signature, and say the postman delivered it wrong or something. Fraudsters are probably pretty resourceful.

 

[MCerberus]

Financial hardship?
Material damages?
This guy gunna get sued so hard.

 

[C.S.Strowbridge]

What kind of credit card has he got that allows you to make over a hundred charge backs with little question? Bouncing credit cards wouldn't work more than a few times because all that stuff is recorded by international credit agencies, I wonder how he pulled this off or is there some further fraud going on here?

This.

Then again, someone got my credit card number and bought $900 in disposable cell phones and my credit card company didn't blink till I caught it. On the other hand, if I forget the space in my postal code, they won't let me buy from companies I've bought from several times in the past.

 

[Pink Apocalypse]

This happens with insurance companies all the time. People will make an electronic payment, then soon after cancel it. The insurance company then 'refunds' the money 'back' into the ass-hat's bank account before it was ever even taken out / confirmed to exist.

Ass-hat then removes the money from the account, before the insurance company finishes processing the initial payment. It's not there, they complain to the bank,the banks says 'not our problem', and then the insurance company goes after the ass-hat hard. When they can't recover it, our rates go up. Nothing is free.

 

[Mayamellissa]

Encick is a dick. That is all.

 

[Starke]

Add another "reward" just for him: Publicly shame him in the credits of each of those projects.

It wouldn't matter, his "name" isn't a name at all. It's Mister somethingerother. One of the news sites had a couple comenters that could translate it at a glance.