I entered 2 orders on AliExpress. It was a pain getting the credit card charges approved, but I finally got past that, and Ali sent a confirmation for this. Today I get a message from AliExpress that they want proof of my identity for one of the orders "for security reasons", something like a picture of my driver license, social security card, etc., AND a picture of the credit card and bank statement. The other order shows it was close with no explanation. This smells like a scam. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Even if it's not a scam, is it really worth all the hassle?
AliExpress hassles
- Thread starter tigerwillow1
- Start date
lulu5kamz
Known around here
- Sep 14, 2015
- 1,189
- 3,946
I have purchased well over a dozen cameras from several different sellers on Ali Express. Not once have I ever gotten a message asking for this type of information. I would never provide that type of information to Ali Express.
I just went through this "verification" process. At first, like you, I was suspicious, but it is legitimate and necessary if you want to order from them. It took over a week to jump through all the hoops. When verified, you will need to reorder the items.
if it is aliPay that is asking for the info. ... well you already give them your card number so in this case you should pretty much appreciate that they put in some extra effort to make it more secure I guess. I bought +1000 products from Ali in all price ranges and never had this check as of yet so it is probably something new.
Thanks for all the feedback. The info is being requested by aliExpress, stating that it will go only to aliPay. Looking at it closer, only one of my two orders was cancelled. It was the smaller order for one camera. The other order for an nvr+camera is still active, so I'll wait and see what happens with it. Maybe it's the individual seller that initiates the info request? For me, I'm not going to let the requested additional info get into some database to save a few hundred bucks.
Here's what the FAQ page says about this issue: We totally understand your hesitation to provide the required information out of privacy concern. However, with the user significant growth, we will have to take stringent measures to protect the authenticity and safety of our services. These security measures sometimes check some good users. Please do not take it personally. As the network model, we are unable to communicate with each of our customers face to face. As a result, it is needed that our customers provide the necessary information online, so to proceed this verification. We believe that you can understand that this check is to ensure that our website is a safe trading market place both for you and your business partners. Rest assured that this security check is strictly confidential, thus your information has not been seen and will not be seen by any third party. However, if you still have any concern, you can hide some information such as the middle digits of your card number.
Post all those details and photos of ID here online and we'll check for you.
Edit: This is a joke of course, if you won't post it here, then don't send it to others.
Edit: This is a joke of course, if you won't post it here, then don't send it to others.
Last edited by a moderator:
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
Do NOT send anyone a copy of your drivers license or social security info..its a complete scam. IF you did you need to put a freeze on your credit and sign up for credit protection asap!!!!!
+1, I was trying to get a response earlier that there is no-way OP would post details and photos here as that would be stupid. Well this would be the same in my eyes.
Appreciate the concern and hope I'm not proven wrong, but unless Aliexpress is behind the "scam", I believe the verification to be legitimate. The order was closed and I was not successfully able to place another order until my credit card was verified. I chatted with csr's at Alipay and all the details were available on Aliexpress and Alipay. Once approved, I was able to order and the items were shipped.
One time after I placed an order on Alibaba my credit card company sent me an email with a notice of suspicious activity on my card. The transaction wouldn't go through until I verified it through the email link. I'm glad some companies are looking out for us..
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
You gave some online company your drivers license and social? Anyone with that info can open a line of credit or worse. Do you know how your information is protected? Get credit monitoring asap (its not a bad idea regardless)...
No, I didn't provide my SSN and the company already had my address. I don't think my height & gender is sensitive info.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
Your drivers license number is. If you provided a copy of it even worse. They can use that to take out a loan.
fenderman
Staff member
- Mar 9, 2014
- 36,891
- 21,407
I'm ready to write the last chapter of my aliExpress adventure. After reading many of the success posts, I became a magnet for what can go wrong. Quick recap: I placed 2 orders within 30 minutes, one for about $100, the other for about $400. The $400 order went through, the $100 order was cancelled until I provided the requested identity verification. If there's any good logic there, I can't find it. The $400 order came with a 10 day processing time, which I find annoying, but agreed to. The day before automatic expiration, I got a message that the seller needed another week. I had already stretched to my limit with ali and cancelled the order. They did (yea!) reverse the credit card charge after a few days. I did have to eat the $9 foreign currency conversion charge. So for me, I'm done with aliExpress. I'm not criticizing anybody who sends them the identity information or accepts the long waits. Just not my cup-of-tea.