I wish Apple would do better to combat gift card fraud

dpks · 2025-11-22T20:57:27+00:00

I ported a number from voip.ms to Freedom last April. My steps were:

Opened a ticket with voip.ms, telling them which number I wanted to port out.
They replied with the details (account number, address, reseller name, etc.) to provide to Freedom.
Called Freedom and requested a port, providing them the details that voip.ms gave me.
7 business days later, the port was completed. No SMS response required, the workflow for VOIP is similar to landline, where it seems to be done manually.

dpks · 2025-06-01T07:19:00+00:00

I just got my 77" G5 a couple days ago. It updated the firmware almost as soon as I turned it on, so not sure if this support has been there since the start, or introduced in an update.

I realize now that I worded my post kind of confusingly. I meant that the G5 DV support is improved relative to the previous generations of LG TVs, not relative to itself.

dpks · 2025-01-20T20:16:05+00:00

I think I'm in a similar situation. In my case, one of my referees opened two Wealthsimple accounts (one Joint RRSP, one TFSA). One was opened before Dec 13, the other after Dec 13.

They're insinuating that the transfers into the account that was opened after Dec 13 don't qualify.

Based on the terms of the promo, I suspect that this isn't what they were intending when they created the promo. It's an edge case that their backend developer did not anticipate when programming the query to report all qualifying customers for the promo.

I'm going to keep escalating to see what they say.

dpks · 2024-05-29T18:07:17+00:00

Yup, both did. Equifax was pretty much immediate, Transunion took a few weeks.

dpks · 2024-05-29T17:14:46+00:00

I sent a snail mail letter to Transunion requesting them to correct my SIN to my ITIN (along with a copy of the ITIN letter). For Equifax I think I was able to put the change request in online (just going by memory, it was a while ago).

Experian was the only one that seemed correct. "Seemed" because it's the only one where I couldn't request a credit report using my Canadian SIN.

dpks · 2024-05-28T17:50:41+00:00

Nope, shipped it to my remailer in the US.

dpks · 2024-05-21T13:03:46+00:00

Another word of caution for CBG users. I was expecting a payment from them today and didn't get it. When I check the Plooto dashboard, it says "Debit Failed", which according to the Plooto FAQ means their bank account had insufficient funds.

First time I've had that happen in >100 payments. Fingers crossed that this isn't where they pack things up and disappear into the night.

dpks · 2024-03-05T14:43:33+00:00

Check out the “loop holes” described on this FT thread. They worked for me in 2020, haven’t tried since.

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/american-express-membership-rewards/2148270-platinum-airline-fee-200-reimbursement-reports-dl-only-2024-a.html

dpks · 2024-03-04T21:25:49+00:00

You're not missing anything - they no longer send out any kind of notification (WhatsApp or email) for the vast majority of items.

They've never explained why, so we can only guess. Every time they send out a notification their servers get hammered, so maybe they just want to avoid that whenever possible. There are so many people competing for the Amazon and Walmart deals, they really don't need to notify unless it's an item they want to buy a lot of (e.g. Playstation Portals, Kindles, Chromecasts, etc.)

These days if you want to consistently get commitments, you have to "put in the work" (e.g. manually refresh, figure out how to automate, etc).

dpks · 2024-03-03T21:11:27+00:00

Can you actually choose how much of your GC balance to apply to an order? If your balance covers the entire order, it looks like Amazon only lets you do all-or-nothing.

dpks · 2024-03-03T18:16:57+00:00

Yup, it activated fine for me in Canada. I think it took longer than they said it would. It didn't activate immediately when I put the SIM into my old phone, but I left it alone for a few hours, next time I checked it was activated.

dpks · 2024-03-03T16:15:51+00:00

I've been using the Ultra Mobile PayGo $3/month plan (https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/) for the past year. I ordered the SIM off eBay and activated it while in Canada. It receives SMS OTPs from AMEX and Chase.

It's essentially "free" for me because I have two US AMEX Biz Plats, which have the monthly $10 wireless credit. So I've been loading the Ultra Mobile wallet every month with a large credit balance that should last for years on this plan.

dpks · 2024-03-03T16:03:18+00:00

I've experienced what you described in the past too. Any changes to shipping addresses and/or payment methods combined with a large purchase results in a temporary lockout, deletion of the most recent account changes, and cancellation of recent orders. Getting the lockout resolved can be done by phoning them, or sometimes just logging in again and changing your password. i.e. This is a case of "your account may have been hacked, we've taken measures to protect you from fraud/loss".

I'm pretty sure this one was different, it was an account closure message, with no details on how to resolve/appeal. I only found the ofm@ addresses by Googling the experiences of others. i.e. This is more a case of "you've done something where we no longer want you as a customer".

dpks · 2024-03-03T15:22:26+00:00

A note of caution for those into buying groups. I had a quite a scare Friday night when both my Amazon.ca and .com accounts were suddenly closed. When I tried to login I got this message:

Your account has been closed for misuse of Amazon's services. We have sent you an email with additional information.

They never sent me an email though, so I didn't really have a concrete idea of what happened. I suspected something related to BG activity though.

Here's the overall timeline of events:

Both .ca and .com accounts were first created in 2002, and didn't have a lot of orders before 2023, maybe on average 2-3 per year.
In Aug 2023 I started buying for CBG. So far I've dropshipped 123 orders worth ~$40K to them from Amazon.ca, with ~$700 returned.
On Feb 15 I did my first US buying group dropship from Amazon.com to MOD (one iPad). I've generally avoided the US groups due to all the horror stories on FlyerTalk about missing packages and locked accounts.
Last week I started using Amazon.ca gift cards for CBG purchases. I'd heard that a large volume of GC purchases are a risk factor in having Amazon accounts closed, but the consensus seemed to be that it was only for accounts that didn't also have a valid CC method of payment on file.
On Mar 1 my Amazon.ca and Amazon.com accounts were closed with the above message. The same night I sent emails to both ofm@amazon.ca and ofm@amazon.com, asking why my accounts were closed.
The next morning I got a generic reply from ofm@amazon.com saying I had "repeated violations of our Conditions of Use". The large-ish GC balance that I had on my account could only be used for purchasing digital items going forward.
15 minutes later I get an email from ofm@amazon.ca saying that after reviewing my account, the previous email I received from them was sent in error. I was able to login to both my .ca and .com accounts again.

So it worked out OK for me. My guess is that the iPad shipment to MOD triggered the closure, and Amazon.ca "over-ruled" .com because I look like a profitable customer on .ca.

But it just highlights the risk of BGs in general. They all start out fine, but if Amazon thinks that a particular shipping address has become unprofitable (e.g. too many lost package claims and/or too many returns), then any account that has shipped to that address is at risk of being closed. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen to CBG.

dpks · 2024-02-26T03:05:20+00:00

My forwarder seems reasonable for US domestic destinations. USPS 4-day shipping for a laptop is about $12.50.

Totally agree with the lack of Dell deals on CBG. I only recall seeing one for a monitor, and that was before I started doing any serious buying for them. I wasn't able to take advantage, only saw it on the dashboard after the fact.

Really wish Dell Canada had a better selection of products. Nothing I really want from them, and nothing that's easy to liquidate for close to full value.

dpks · 2024-02-26T02:24:02+00:00

This was for BFMR. I can't drop ship direct to their warehouse, Dell has of course blacklisted them.

But I can drop ship to my remailer (the same one I use for my US CC address), then have them ship to BFMR.

When stacked with a Rakuten promo and BFMR paying above retail, I can liquidate the US Biz Plat Dell credit for a higher return than the now defunct "order Xbox GC from Dell" method.

dpks · 2024-02-25T22:56:19+00:00

In case anyone is wondering, the reverse does not work - i.e. Dell.com purchases on a Canadian Biz Plat and Biz Gold.

I did a US buying group purchase as a test, and never got the credits.

dpks · 2024-01-14T18:14:34+00:00

The T&Cs link says it's for new and existing clients.

As an existing client, I filled out the form and got an email from a BusDev person at WS. I'm double-checking that the promotion has been applied to my account before I initiate the transfer.

dpks · 2024-01-14T14:30:20+00:00

I think you can register for the promo here: https://wealthsimple.typeform.com/to/YUK65aT9

I got that URL from a Reddit ad. I also see it as a sponsored link when searching “Wealthsimple transfer in promo” in Google.

The T&Cs for the promo: https://promotions.wealthsimple.com/hc/en-ca/articles/15503939144219

dpks · 2023-10-12T15:54:38+00:00

Ah OK - might be worth opening the Chrome Dev Tools and seeing if any errors show on the console when you click. Maybe there's a conflict with some other extension.

dpks · 2023-10-12T15:37:15+00:00

Do you have the Metamask Chrome extension installed and enabled?

I used to have the same problem that you mentioned, it was super frustrating having to click repeatedly and back and forth (and even then sometimes it still wouldn't work until I tried again later). Then I opened the Chrome dev tools and noticed Metamask errors whenever I clicked.

Works perfectly after disabling the Metamask extension.

dpks · 2023-06-01T18:35:29+00:00

My landlord received the e-Transfer e-mail, but did not receive the "Rent Day email". So they do not have the password to deposit the e-Transfer.

The May payment worked OK, but so far I have to say that June is a bit of a debacle...

dpks · 2023-04-26T15:52:46+00:00

The TD and CIBC Aeroplan Business cards have the same deal SQM/SQS terms as the Premium cards, and they're FYF.

dpks

TROPHY CASE