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[Update] There have been new developments to this story:
According to Techcrunch:
Yesterday, we wrote that Coinbase customers were being charged multiple times for past transactions.
While some speculated that the erroneous withdraws were down to a Coinbase engineering issue, Coinbase issued a statement saying it wasn’t liable for the duplicate charges. The blame, instead, rested with Visa for the way it handled a migration of merchant categories for cryptocurrencies, Coinbase said.
While you can read my post yesterday for an in-depth description of what happened, the basic gist is that about a month of old transactions were refunded and recharged under a different merchant category. Many users saw the recharge come through before the refund processed, making it look like they were double charged. Honestly, the issue was likely exacerbated by existing payment rails — it’s normal for refunds to take multiple days to show up on credit and debit statements.
Here is the joint statement by Visa and Worldpay (Coinbase):
Over the last two days, some customers who used a credit or debit card at Coinbase may have seen duplicate transactions posted to their cardholder accounts.
This issue was not caused by Coinbase.
Worldpay and Coinbase have been working with Visa and Visa issuing banks to ensure that the duplicate transactions have been reversed and appropriate credits have been posted to cardholder accounts. All reversal transactions have now been issued, and should appear on customers’ credit card and debit card accounts within the next few days. We believe the majority of these reversals have already posted to accounts. If you continue to have problems with your credit or debit card account after this reversal period, including issues relating to card fees or charges, we encourage you to contact your card issuing bank.
We deeply regret any inconvenience this may have caused customers.
The original story follows below.
A growing number of Coinbase customers are complaining that the cryptocurrency exchange withdrew unauthorized money out of their accounts. In some cases, this drained their linked bank accounts below zero, resulting in overdraft charges.
In a typical anecdote posted on Reddit, one user said they purchased Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin for a total of $300 on February 9th. A few days later, the transactions repeated five times for a total of $1,500, even though the user had not made any more purchases. That was enough to clear out this user's bank account, they said, resulting in fees.
"My bank account went from very comfortable to negatives balance, not to mention extra $5 charges, and overdraft fees," the user wrote. "As a result my rent check bounced, and my bank went further into negative for a NSF charge for $25. My landlord is not a nice person and is on my CASE and I have nothing to offer him. I am FREAKING OUT."
Coinbase representatives have been responding to similar complaints on Reddit for about two weeks, but the volume of complaints seems to have spiked over the last 24 hours. Similar complaints have popped up on forums and Twitter.
Source: The Verge
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 18 2018, @05:27PM (10 children)
Wow, blame the victim huh? It is easy to come up with scenarios that make someone look like "they deserve it" but such is not always the case. Your shitty analysis doesn't even match the example used, but keep pounding that bullshit into the ground until the world falls apart. I hope one day you fall on hard times and get some unfair punishment for the mistake of someone else, and with any luck your brain recalls this thread and says "son of a bitch!" as you curl into a ball of self-pity and regret.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Sunday February 18 2018, @05:36PM (6 children)
Care to try to come with an analysis of how his example was wrong? or a counter-example? or maybe anything that could advance a discussion on the subject? I mean, since you obviously has an opposing view it would be interesting to read it.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 18 2018, @05:41PM (5 children)
Not previous AC, but don't believe for one second that that is a common occurrence anywhere in the world. Somebody might put both of those things on their credit card, but if they need the car, they're not going to buy a TV in lieu of repairing the car.
The idea that there are large numbers of people in poverty because they made foolish decisions is ridiculous. There just aren't enough high paying jobs out there right now for every responsible, hardworking person to get one. The result is that there's a large number of people making minimum wage, or in some cases less, even without doing anything wrong.
Out of the hundreds of millions of people in the US, there probably is somebody out there that would buy the TV over getting the car fixed, but it's completely dishonest to suggest that it's in anyway justification for having people in extreme poverty while corporations and the wealthy have so much.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by requerdanos on Sunday February 18 2018, @07:20PM (3 children)
While a more neutral tone would serve to advance discussion, I have been at this long enough to know it's unlikely to happen, so, my AC friend, I respond to your faintly condescending tone with my own. Consider yourself invited to drop same, and I'll meet you in the middle.
I wish that it did, but the reality is that your belief system doesn't enter into it. (Never will. Sorry.)
You are thinking of the wrong group of people. The group in question doesn't have a credit card because their compulsive spending has caused their credit ratings to drop below what's necessary to get or keep a credit card. Most of the folks in this situation that I come across don't even have a bank account, much less credit.
Yes, it is, and shame on you for having that idea.
Many people, however, make foolish decisions once in poverty. Everyone handles stress and hardship differently, and it's not uncommon for that sort of thing to be a negative experience.
People who make foolish decisions once in poverty tend, however, to stay in poverty. It's a vicious cycle.
I have worked for and volunteered for several charity organizations benefiting the poor and the homeless in North and South Carolina. This is a pattern I see again and again. It's not invariant, but it's the norm among clientele I have seen.
Perhaps rather than this being a societal trend, these folks suddenly become this way because I observe them. That is possible. I will allow the reader to draw his own conclusions as to probability.
More than you think, it seems. I have seen logic like "I can ride to work with Larry, but I can't watch the game on Larry's backside." This is a fictionalized, but not fictional, account. The TV in question was a 50" model. Rather than repair the car, they sold it to buy drugs. I do not think your knowledge of the various strata of culture in the United States is as broad as you might believe.
Yes, that's completely dishonest. Again, shame on you. Your odd ideas, that you and no one else has brought into this discussion, can in no way justify such an income gap.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 18 2018, @08:01PM (2 children)
Neutral tone? Go fuck yourself dick.
Done compromising and pretending like your attitude is based on anything other than prejudice. Your statements are ignorant of reality, or at best trying to apply edge cases as general truth.
Die in a fire :)
(Score: 2) by requerdanos on Sunday February 18 2018, @09:32PM (1 child)
Yeah, sorry, I knew better, but hope springs eternal.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 19 2018, @04:43AM
Lol don't kid yourself, you were looking for reasonable discussion the way a brain looks for a Randian monologue.
You started the conversation with prejudiced bullshit that doesn't even pass the sniff test. The guy didn't empty his account, played around with a small bit of his savings on something many consider investment / speculation instead of luxury goods. Own up to your shit and I'll treat you with the corresponding respect.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday February 18 2018, @11:00PM
What that bullshit about buying a $300 flatscreen TV is about is that they're saying that "those people" shouldn't have a flatscreen TV. Not now. Not if they save up. Not ever. They're not even allowed to buy one second hand or at a garage sale (which GP will tell us they wouldn't think of anyway because they're morally inferior, so if they have a flatscreen TV, they could not have gotten it for $30, it could not be a hand-me-down, it must have been bought NEW and ONLY NEW and never on sale but ONLY FULL PRICE). Ever. Well, maybe if they put in 20 years of work and finally get $10,000 in savings, then they can have a flatscreen TV.
But if they get sick from working 60 hours per week at two jobs for 20 years to save $10,000? Then it's fuck you! WTF were you thinking buying a flatscreen TV?! You irresponsible shithead!
The other trick is: where would one find a CRT any more? Flatscreen is not luxury any more.
Oh well. Hope GP doesn't live in a major city. The riots are coming.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by frojack on Sunday February 18 2018, @08:12PM (2 children)
Somehow I knew someone would come up with that line sooner or later.
If you've got 1500 in the bank, including the rent, what the hell are you doing speculating on cryptocurrency, and allowing direct draws on your bank account?
You know, sometimes the victim is at fault for taking risks that most people would avoid. Just because something bad happens, and someone rushes in and declares you a victim, does not absolve you from all blame.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by sjames on Sunday February 18 2018, @08:27PM
To enlarge on something I posted previously, for all we know he has half a million tied up in various investments and by comfortable, he means that the $1500 would have comfortably handled his day to day transactions for the rest of the month until a portion of his next payday replenished it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday February 19 2018, @04:47AM
1/5 of a small savings on something everyone seems to consider investment is not crazy. More BS victim blaming because he used his bank account? True to form frojack, may god have mercy on your soul.