Fraude
Domain names used to be expensive. Network Solutions had a monopoly on .com, .org and .net, and they charged $100 for two years and wouldn’t let you use any dirty words. But all of that ended in 2000. Network Solutions kept the database, but they had to open it up to resellers for $6/year, several of which appeared offering domains at a fraction of Network Solution’s long-suffered prices. I didn’t buy a name until these new companies had just started to form, and I went with one that some web site recommended as having a fair price, fair terms and good support. It was the terms of service that set them apart: they emphasized that the buyer owned the name and that the registrar was acting only as a broker, a concern that born from the appearance of all of these companies with vague definitions of who owns what. Also, they’re French.
It came to time to renew some names, so I headed over Gandi and hit some buttons, and that sent me to a Crédit Mutuel page to pay up. Punched in the Wachovia card number, and declined. Huh. The CVV is pretty well worn off, so I figured I just typed it in wrong. I tried another Visa card that worked just fine, but about a minute after the phone rings. The bank wanted to go over the last few transactions on my account to make sure that there’s nothing fishy. While I’m assuring them that I really did spend that much at the grocery store the other day and yeah I guess it is about time for the DSL payment to go through, Wachovia called and left a message for me to do the same thing with them. I’m glad that they’re watching for that kind of thing, but it seems weird for it to happen now. My spending habits are kind of erratic to begin with, and no one seemed to mind when I was withdrawing from Icelandic ATMs like I’d stolen something (or like it took me three or four days to figure out how much the money is worth). Maybe it’s because this was over the Internet? Maybe it’s because those ATMs are on the American side of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge? I don’t know what in particular triggered the alert, but it’s good to know that they care.