Thread: Charities and chargebacks

I just got to thinking about this topic. Does anyone have any stories about charities or non profits and chargebacks? Leaving aside any genuine claims - do people scam regardless of the company status?

I read about a guy who accepts charity donations via his website. Someone donated a dollar then raised a chargeback! The site owner was left with a $10 fee owing to PayPal. Sometimes the world puzzles me.

Charities tend to get hit quite often with fraudulent chargebacks because they accept fairly small donations which require no credit card authorisation. In a process known as 'micro donation' the stolen card is tested to see if it is still useable. If it passes the test then the thief is free to move on to bigger targets. It's a hidden scandal and should get more attention for sure.

Wow, that is incredibly intelligent and criminally horrible all at the same time. I had not heard of that, but now that you describe it, it makes a lot of sense. Poor charities too!

Indeed, that is quite a nasty way of doing it....but you certainly have to admire the genius there! That could explain why my sisters charity had a donation of $2 then got a chargeback.

It's sickening to read about charities being ripped off. It's hard enough for them to get donations these days with the economic situation. It may be wiser for them to just stop the entire process of small donations. Charged, I am sorry to hear about your sister. Could she fight it?

Some people have no conscious or scruples. While it's bad enough that they rip-off individuals, ripping-off charities is unthinkable. It's really a shame that people who do things like that to anyone get by with it.

Originally Posted by Rintintin

It's sickening to read about charities being ripped off. It's hard enough for them to get donations these days with the economic situation. It may be wiser for them to just stop the entire process of small donations. Charged, I am sorry to hear about your sister. Could she fight it?

She just let it go because she thought it wasn't worth the effort of fighting to gain $2, but sadly that is what these criminals rely on when doing such things.