You have a very good point regarding the stability of Money 2005 and how an
issue could happen even if it was not on purpose.

I must say, I feel very confident that my account info is not available,
however, I do not use any bill pay via Money or MSN. So, I stand
corrected... Your account info could be available if you are using a bill
pay service via Money 2005 (such as MSN Bill Pay or Check Free).

Keep us posted.

Larry

"Xo Larimer" <XoLarimer[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A19A0971-1DCB-47D6-95F7-8B3C71FA56F2[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Larry, (and others that are reading)

I can agree with most of your assesment. I used to work for the banking
industry and know how illegal it would be for Microsoft to use this
information in that way. That is why I would normally just attack the
software on its stability in this newsgroup.

However, this is a flashpoint if others are having the same issue. It would
be the downfall of Microsoft, if it happens to be true. Hence the question to
the group to see if anyone else has the same thing happen to them. I've been
in situations in the past where I've found huge issues like this way before
they become public. (Symantec and Microsoft to name a few. Side Note: Only
Microsoft responded with a sort of an apology saying that it was being worked
on and low and behold next day SteveB took care of.) And given that MS Money
2005 is at best a beta product, I think we can be reasonably certain that
this sort of stuff could probably occur.

So all I'm saying is that I didn't give this information to the bCentral
billing. It is coincidental that two days after I connect my information with
the .net account that I used for Money 2005, (this newsgroup) and also
bCentral is when I got charged.

I've looked into the .net settings, they no longer have billing associated
with .net accounts. (...used to be wallet or something if I remember right.)
So, it just seems strange is all on how they did charge it. I am just being
suspect like anyone of us should when dealing with our finances.

By the way, I've contacted bCentral and also my credit card and put it under
investigation as soon as I saw it. (Same day.) Hopefully I'll get a good
resolution/story on how they did get my information. In the meantime, I would
probalby worry a little more about using my information with my .net account
if I were anyone new or even been with MS Money for awhile like I have. (1.0!
Written in visual basic anyone ... remember that one? I unfortunately beta
tested that for the bank I worked for.)

Xo


"Larry" wrote:

- quote -

This just seems like one of the reasons to avoid the push to place
everything on Microsoft servers. For those that choose to do so anyway, it
may be good common sense to avoid placing account numbers in the account
details area.

It may also be a good reason to avoid a Microsoft-centric bill pay and only
use one provided by your bank or credit union.

Dave

"Xo Larimer" <Xo Larimer[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:51CBD008-B8F1-42D5-936F-ADF490BF5240[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Understanding you are upset regarding the issue, however, be aware that
Money does not have the information needed for another company to charge
your account. Even if you were to input the exp date and cv2 code in the
notes section of your account setting in Money, this information is not
transmitted. Also, this particular issue would not be sneaky or even
classified under a class action suit. It would be illegal and the penalty
for such a crime would outweigh anything Microsoft has faced in the past....
to the point, it wouldn't happen.

The information that bService received regarding your AmEx can come from
many places. One, would be an account you registered with them without
remembering... bService would be able to identify this for you. Also,
bService probably partners with other banks or collectors. Bare in mind
that when you received the statement saying you owed, the account went past
due and went to a collector. A collector would have the ability to get the
credit card info from another source through a mutual agreement. Nothing
illegal has occurred, and most importantly, Microsoft had nothing to do with
this issue.

I would starting asking questions to bService and find out who it is you are
doing business with that is sharing the info without your verbal
knowledge... what ever company it is, you probably did make an agreement,
you just didn't read. This issue is very common... many of our major
retailers that we all shop everyday make these kind of agreements with us...
for example, the instant rebate... that free 6 months of AOL or MSN... most
come with an agreement that says that the credit card you used as POS will
be used to continue your services after the free time is up.

Larry

"Xo Larimer" <Xo Larimer[at]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:51CBD008-B8F1-42D5-936F-ADF490BF5240[at]microsoft.com...
- quote -

Okay, I've had on and off major problems with MS Money 2005 and as a software
company manager I know my share of buggy programs and can work around them
pretty fairly.

Knowing that Money is a big product with lots of features for advanced and
newbies, it is a very good attempt at trying to address these two divergent
issues with the same code.

But I came upon something serious and is a potential class action lawsuit
waiting to happen if others have this same issue when they get their credit
card statements.

A few years ago, I signed up with bCentral for a service that they provided
me and my company. Last year, I cancelled this service and the upgraded
Hotmail that was forced on me because of the service but I got charged anyway
because they had my credit card info. Well, the credit card on file expired
last year so I figured this year I wouldn't have to worry about it.

Well, two days after I upgraded to MS Money 2005 (and two months after
receiving invoices saying I owed them money) I got charged on my American
Express card. Which is the first card showing in my Money Account.
Interesting huh? How did they get this information? Well, it seems .Net must
send this information because I sure didn't. I never authorized it.

Granted, the moment I called bCentral and MSN they were overly nice and
quickly reversed charges. After all, it isn't the helpful people's fault
their company did this; It is something inherent in the whole company that
one product is paying for another.

If anyone else has similar issues, please respond to this. Frankly I'm
pissed and not only is this software bad for their business, it is REALLY
going to be a thorn in their side now as they are starting to use it for
illegal purposes.