well said Brian thanks for this informative warning. This isn't identity theft it's a giveaway - "here's my wallet I'll even open it for you".
C2it. --------- No Thanks
C2it. Yes, they c2it that your info will be sold/shared to/with non affiliated third parties.
C2it is the latest rip off of PayPal.
READ their privacy policy BEFORE you sign up:
https://www.c2it.com/C2IT/privacypromise.jsp
If you are considering signing up note they want all your personal info
(DOB, SS#, home address, etc).
Note: One of the FASTEST going crimes in the U.S. is identity theft.
AFTER you sign up, thereby agreeing that they can do just about whatever they want
with your info, you can then tell them to take you OFF these lists (or whatever).
One option to stop this is to print out a form and mail it to them.
Read the privacy notice. What a joke.
The idea is they want to do whatever they want with your info
and you can not stop it before it starts (stop it as in AFTER it has started).
High lights of the privacy notice:
Our Mailing and Telemarketing Lists
We would like to keep you informed about promotional
offers from our affiliates and from nonaffiliated third parties.
Sharing with Citigroup Affiliates
The law allows us to share with our affiliates any information about our transactions or experiences with you. Unless otherwise permitted by law, we will not share with our affiliates other information that you provide to us or that we obtain from third parties (for example, credit bureaus)
Categories of Nonaffiliated Third Parties
To Whom We May Disclose Personal Information
Nonaffiliated third parties are those not part of the family of companies controlled by Citigroup Inc. We may disclose personal information about you, to the following types of nonaffiliated third parties:
* Financial services providers, such as companies engaged in banking, credit cards, consumer finance, securities, and insurance,
* Non-financial organizations, such as companies engaged in direct marketing and the selling of consumer products and services.
---> so after C2it sells/shares your info with insurance companies, banks, etc you can then be taken off these lists? Why do you have to be ON the lists in the first place? How about asking if you WANT to be on them BEFORE you are put on them?
When Citibank shares personal information with the Citigroup family of companies it can make it easier when you apply for accounts or services from these companies. In addition, sharing personal information can help you receive timely notice about products, services or other special offers that may be of interest to you from companies in the Citigroup family or from nonaffiliated third parties.
---> Oh, well, this will make it easier for people to buy non solicited items? Oh good.
My favorite:
"We will tell customers in plain language, initially and at least once annually, how they may remove their names from marketing lists. At any time, customers can contact us to remove their names from such lists." Why not tell them how to do this BEFORE It starts and BEFORE the info is given out?
Note, again: One of the FASTEST growing crimes in the U.S. is identity theft.
Here's HelloSimplyMusic's privacy policy (wow, it's LESS than 20 pages long!):
We don't give your info to ANYONE or ANY COMPANY
EXCEPT when verifying with *YOUR* credit card company and the shipping agent.
Also, I have to seriously question how reliable this service will be.
Ever use your Citi Bank Visa/MC twice in one day at a gas station?
Twice in the same store the same day? They frequently put accounts on hold until you verify it's still in your possession when this happens. They also do this when using your account out of your regular area (where on the NET is your regular area????). Travel? I suggest not putting your rental car on your Citi Bank card. Get that out of the area spot and they often freeze your account until you can verify it (lots of fun when arriving on that red eye flight to a non U.S. country....). Equally fun at the gas station. Who needs this annoyance with an online pay service? Take a road trip only with your Citi Bank card and you better be sure to also bring your cell ph.
They say they are "looking out for you". BS. They are looking out for THEMSELVES. Credit card loss effects them, not you.
I expect C2it to be the same nonsense, and after reading this "privacy notice" I already see it
(plus the service itself is lacking many of the features that other online services offer, including ease of use and sign up).
Yes, out of the 245,000 transactions PayPal does daily less
than 1/1000 of 1% might have a problem. Damn good odds!
We have already terminated our C2it account.
C2it is the latest rip off of PayPal.
READ their privacy policy BEFORE you sign up:
https://www.c2it.com/C2IT/privacypromise.jsp
If you are considering signing up note they want all your personal info
(DOB, SS#, home address, etc).
Note: One of the FASTEST going crimes in the U.S. is identity theft.
AFTER you sign up, thereby agreeing that they can do just about whatever they want
with your info, you can then tell them to take you OFF these lists (or whatever).
One option to stop this is to print out a form and mail it to them.
Read the privacy notice. What a joke.
The idea is they want to do whatever they want with your info
and you can not stop it before it starts (stop it as in AFTER it has started).
High lights of the privacy notice:
Our Mailing and Telemarketing Lists
We would like to keep you informed about promotional
offers from our affiliates and from nonaffiliated third parties.
Sharing with Citigroup Affiliates
The law allows us to share with our affiliates any information about our transactions or experiences with you. Unless otherwise permitted by law, we will not share with our affiliates other information that you provide to us or that we obtain from third parties (for example, credit bureaus)
Categories of Nonaffiliated Third Parties
To Whom We May Disclose Personal Information
Nonaffiliated third parties are those not part of the family of companies controlled by Citigroup Inc. We may disclose personal information about you, to the following types of nonaffiliated third parties:
* Financial services providers, such as companies engaged in banking, credit cards, consumer finance, securities, and insurance,
* Non-financial organizations, such as companies engaged in direct marketing and the selling of consumer products and services.
---> so after C2it sells/shares your info with insurance companies, banks, etc you can then be taken off these lists? Why do you have to be ON the lists in the first place? How about asking if you WANT to be on them BEFORE you are put on them?
When Citibank shares personal information with the Citigroup family of companies it can make it easier when you apply for accounts or services from these companies. In addition, sharing personal information can help you receive timely notice about products, services or other special offers that may be of interest to you from companies in the Citigroup family or from nonaffiliated third parties.
---> Oh, well, this will make it easier for people to buy non solicited items? Oh good.
My favorite:
"We will tell customers in plain language, initially and at least once annually, how they may remove their names from marketing lists. At any time, customers can contact us to remove their names from such lists." Why not tell them how to do this BEFORE It starts and BEFORE the info is given out?
Note, again: One of the FASTEST growing crimes in the U.S. is identity theft.
Here's HelloSimplyMusic's privacy policy (wow, it's LESS than 20 pages long!):
We don't give your info to ANYONE or ANY COMPANY
EXCEPT when verifying with *YOUR* credit card company and the shipping agent.
Also, I have to seriously question how reliable this service will be.
Ever use your Citi Bank Visa/MC twice in one day at a gas station?
Twice in the same store the same day? They frequently put accounts on hold until you verify it's still in your possession when this happens. They also do this when using your account out of your regular area (where on the NET is your regular area????). Travel? I suggest not putting your rental car on your Citi Bank card. Get that out of the area spot and they often freeze your account until you can verify it (lots of fun when arriving on that red eye flight to a non U.S. country....). Equally fun at the gas station. Who needs this annoyance with an online pay service? Take a road trip only with your Citi Bank card and you better be sure to also bring your cell ph.
They say they are "looking out for you". BS. They are looking out for THEMSELVES. Credit card loss effects them, not you.
I expect C2it to be the same nonsense, and after reading this "privacy notice" I already see it
(plus the service itself is lacking many of the features that other online services offer, including ease of use and sign up).
Yes, out of the 245,000 transactions PayPal does daily less
than 1/1000 of 1% might have a problem. Damn good odds!
We have already terminated our C2it account.
11 responses Add your response
I hope this is not a surprise to anyone; but if you are getting pre-approved credit card offers in the mail, or loan refinancing, insurance, etc, etc, it means your personal information is already being passed around. This is nothing new and does require an online account for it to happen. I hope Citigroup has controls in place. |
I looks like it is basically online banking. Many banks offer this service; this one just has a fancy online face. PayPal has FDIC insurance. Surprise!! It is just a bank also. I guess you will need to find a bank that still offers Passbook accounts, if you don't want electronic control of your account. I've read conplaints about PayPal fraud protection not being very good. I agree with that, however what bank checking account with a credit feature has any at all; which is really all PayPal is once you strip away the HTML. |
Well, we cancelled our acct twice by email and once by ph, but today, almost a month after doing so, we get an email telling us our "online statement is ready"!!!! The email they sent (below) can NOT be replied to. You have to go to there website and jump through all kinds of hoops to get to a window where you can send them a message (through the site, NOT through email). If it is this much trouble to do this, how much trouble will it be if you have a problem? From: [email protected] Date: Tue, 11 Jun 2002 16:27:03 -0400 (EDT) To: xxxxxxxxxx Subject: Your June online statement from c2it is now available Your current online statement for the c2it(sm) account registered under [email protected] is now available for your review at http://www.c2it.com After you log in, click on My c2it and then the History link to view your statement. It is important that you review your statement promptly. If you have any questions, visit our handy online Help section or use our Online Customer Service at http://www.c2it.com Thank you for using the c2it service! PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS E-MAIL. This e-mail is generated automatically, and the address is not monitored for responses. If you are trying to contact us by using reply, you will not receive an answer. If you wish to contact us please go to http://www.c2it.com. c2it service is provided by Citibank, F.S.B. Member FDIC. c2it is a service mark of Citicorp. |
Well, 4 months later, several ph calls, and dozens of emails, and we have still not been able to cancel our c2it account and have never received an email reply to our inquires on this, or to their BS privacy policy (or lack there of, is more like it). It's all red tape and brush offs. If you have a problem with c2it it can only be worse. Junkmail and red tape = c2it. |
Better yet, this week, months after we tried to cancel the account, we receive a letter in the mail asking us if we want to be removed (not, not added to!) telemarketing lists! Yes, c2it, on our account that we cancelled, has been selling our info to telemarketing firms, but after doing this for months now, if we want to fill out a form, and mail it to them (not email no less) we can now be taken off. Oh, letter also let us know they have sold our info (and yours if you are a c2it member) to "promotional firms" but we can "limit" the info they have (ALREADY) given to "non affiliated" third parties! "Limit", not stop. Think about that. Day one we said don't do this. Five months later they did it anyway, and now tell us they will not stop, but will "limit" it if we cut out a form, fill it out, and mail it to them. Avoid this service. This is based on experience. Here's their contact info: Tel: (800) 200-3881 Tel: (904) 954-7222 Fax: (301)714-5991 |