Credit Card Problems with LJ Peretti?

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oldguyoldpipes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2019
265
628
Has anyone experienced their credit card being compromised after placing an on-line order with LJ Peretti? I ordered some tobacco from them two days ago and used one of my credit cards for the purchase. Received an account alert late today that someone had tried to charge $1200 at a computer store with my card. May just be a coincidence, but LJ Peretti and one other place were the only new companies where I have used this card. Not saying it involved Peretti, but just trying to ask about any similar experiences since I plan to purchase more tobacco from them this Christmas. Thanks.
 

oldguyoldpipes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2019
265
628
They were definitely recently hacked. For a few days I kept getting redirected to a pop-spam site.

I'd try giving them a call.
Yes, I noticed that the site was routing to a Japanese website so I did not do anything with it for a few days. On Monday, I tried again and the legit site came up. I placed my order and it has been shipped 2-day USPS with a tracking number so it seemed legit. Just living and dying by this fraud and identity theft issues. Crazy. Luckily my CC was Johnny-On-The-Spot with the fraud alert.
 

das3353

Lifer
Sep 7, 2019
1,907
45,897
Yes. Placed an order with them on 10/14. On 10/22 I had a $387 charge from a clothing store in Florida show up on the same card. I've got charge notifications set up on my phone and reported it immediately. My new card is in the mail.
 

Worknman

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 23, 2019
968
2,820
I made an order on the 13th and received it last week. Hopefully nothing pops up from it but I get instant purchase notifications on my card.
 
Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
There have been widespread reports on another forum for several months now of repeated issues with Peretti. Happened to me. They gave me the same courteous we don’t give a s**t response over the phone that apparently is universal. At least two posters to that forum have said even orders giving credit card #’s over the phone have been hacked.
 
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oldguyoldpipes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2019
265
628
Yes. Placed an order with them on 10/14. On 10/22 I had a $387 charge from a clothing store in Florida show up on the same card. I've got charge notifications set up on my phone and reported it immediately. My new card is in the mail.
Yes, placed an on-line order with them on 21st-22nd and on the 23rd had over 3K in various charges on the CC. One from some boutique in Milan, Italy. Guessing this can't be good for customer confidence in this age of online sales. Seriously, I have no problem with old-world craftsmanship, but you have to secure your online sales or you will be finished as a company.
 

oldguyoldpipes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2019
265
628
There have been widespread reports on another forum for several months now of repeated issues with Peretti. Happened to me. They gave me the same courteous we don’t give a s**t response over the phone that apparently is universal. At least two posters to that forum have said even orders giving credit card #’s over the phone have been hacked.
Shame.Just when you find something that looks promising, stuff like this happens.
 
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Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
Shame.Just when you find something that looks promising, stuff like this happens.
From someone who knows a lot more about this than me :
“ Peretti
uses obsolete version of Magento“
There are tools and websites out there that can identify the security systems e-commerce web sites are using. All someone has to do is troll around and identify ones that still use processing systems that have already been compromised. The sharpest knives in the drawer are the ones who discover the initial hack. It then gets passed down the food chain. Coming up with effective countermeasures is a major undertaking, and the companies that stay on top of it charge for their work.

The thing about Peretti is that they have had repeated complaints and won’t change. I called them in the late spring of 2018. Six months or so later, I started seeing other people post with complaints. They have, within the last month, given out the same denials that they have an issue when they are called on the phone that they gave me then.
 
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oldguyoldpipes

Starting to Get Obsessed
Sep 20, 2019
265
628
Just received my order from Peretti. I most say the tobacco smells terrific and I am hoping that I like them as much as other people praise them. Too windy here to smoke outside so will probably be a few days before I get to try them. I ordered up 1oz in the following: London Flake, Black Virginian, Blend No.52, Coffee Blend and Cuban Mixture. The shipping was fast and I figured if I order from them again, I will estimate my costs prior and go get a pre-paid Visa card to use. That way it won't compromise my main CC. I have never done that before, but figure aCC is a CC so guessing it should work.
 

scloyd

Lifer
May 23, 2018
5,948
12,063
I ordered some Thanksgiving Blend last year and my CC was hacked just before Christmas. It was two $199.00 gas station purchases in Florida. I can't say for sure if it was due to the L J Peretti purchase. After reading this thread...I won't order from them again.
 
Oct 7, 2016
2,451
5,195
I have not tried this with Peretti, but there are two other on line tobacco merchants that I order from that, while I have never suffered a hack, I think use a very kludgy store front and therefore might not have the latest security systems. For them, I use a card that has a lock feature that I can turn on and off from my tablet. By default, it is set to off for on line purchases. I simply put in the comments section “please call me or send an email when you are ready to submit this charge for authorization and I will unlock the card.” They contact me, I unlock the card, and a few minutes later the charge shows up on line and I relook the card. Both places seem fine with this method.

I can not emphasize enough how careful you need to be when making purchases on line. This is not just a pipe world problem. I have a minor disability that limits my mobility, so on line shopping is a real god send for me and has been for years. But I learned many years ago that you have to take steps on your own to protect against identity theft. Just one example, I use a password for logging into this forum that is no where near similar to any password I use for any of my financial accounts. Perhaps that is overkill. But hackers search for passwords under every rock, and some social media platforms do not use the strongest password encryption at every level.

Be careful out there
 

Worknman

Part of the Furniture Now
Sep 23, 2019
968
2,820
I think I'll look into using a virtual card for online purchases after hearing about this.
 
Jun 23, 2019
1,845
12,759
The sad part is Peretti makes some great blends. I'll definitely still drop by the shop next time I'm in Boston, but I'll also be sure to use CASH ONLY.

There have been widespread reports on another forum for several months now of repeated issues with Peretti. Happened to me. They gave me the same courteous we don’t give a s**t response over the phone that apparently is universal. At least two posters to that forum have said even orders giving credit card #’s over the phone have been hacked.

Damn, that's a bummer honestly. I had always enjoyed dealing with their team at the store.

From someone who knows a lot more about this than me :
“ Peretti
uses obsolete version of Magento“
There are tools and websites out there that can identify the security systems e-commerce web sites are using. All someone has to do is troll around and identify ones that still use processing systems that have already been compromised. The sharpest knives in the drawer are the ones who discover the initial hack. It then gets passed down the food chain. Coming up with effective countermeasures is a major undertaking, and the companies that stay on top of it charge for their work.

The thing about Peretti is that they have had repeated complaints and won’t change. I called them in the late spring of 2018. Six months or so later, I started seeing other people post with complaints. They have, within the last month, given out the same denials that they have an issue when they are called on the phone that they gave me then.

Wow that's a real shame. But then again I'm not surprised they're reluctantly slow to get on top of these more modern aspects of doing business.
 
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I sent them an email to let them know of my situation and got a reply back this afternoon. They informed me they were working diligently with their "e-Commerce and Security teams" to resolve the issues.

The also informed me that no issues have resulted in any phone orders and suggested that route as a stop gap measure for now.

It sounds like they are taking this issue seriously. The email came from their president.

An Excerpt for the email is below:

We strive to offer the highest level of service and clearly this type of experience is unacceptable.We have experienced website difficulties in the past month - we are working on a continuous basis with our e-commerce and security team to resolve any security issues for good. Please feel free to call us directly with any orders you may have - contrary to the forum we have not experienced any type of in-store security breach and we will happily fulfill any orders by phone.
 

cohibajoe

Part of the Furniture Now
Mar 2, 2018
722
1,165
Branchburg, NJ
Just received my order from Peretti. I most say the tobacco smells terrific and I am hoping that I like them as much as other people praise them. Too windy here to smoke outside so will probably be a few days before I get to try them. I ordered up 1oz in the following: London Flake, Black Virginian, Blend No.52, Coffee Blend and Cuban Mixture. The shipping was fast and I figured if I order from them again, I will estimate my costs prior and go get a pre-paid Visa card to use. That way it won't compromise my main CC. I have never done that before, but figure aCC is a CC so guessing it should work.
I will be picking up a Pre-Paid Visa card today to order the Thanksgiving Day blend. I was going to call but NOPE..I also had a issue last year when I ordered Thanksgiving Day Cake on a CC compromise...Um...And second...They should have as a business report this on there site of this incident.
 

craig61a

Lifer
Apr 29, 2017
5,802
48,121
Minnesota USA
It’s challenging for smaller businesses to keep up sometimes... but based on the email excerpt, it sounds like they are taking it seriously. What business owner wouldn’t.

The rumor-mongering in this thread is something else too...
 
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