Would like to use a visa/amex/master card gift card for Astraweb. Does anyone know if it's possible?
I asked them, but they didn't answer whether it was possible, just told me to sign up for their service and provided a link.
I am looking for a private/anonymous offering...because of the whole newzbin liquidation. I want to keep my personal information personal.
current user title
I don't have experience with the particular company but prepaid cards designed to work exactly same as the real ones, so they should work.
Let us know on the results, I'm interested in this case
GL
edit;
and welcome to the FST!
Last edited by Expeto; 05-23-2010 at 01:27 PM.
...
Poster
Should be no problem.
I wish I could find the thread on this from awhile back. But it may work or it may not. I think you need a billing address tied to the card. 2 Checkout who does the Astrawebs billing has that requirement I think. Worse case you could try it and let us all know! Maybe put it on a paypal account and pay that way, that way you can use anyone you wan that takes paypal.Originally Posted by Ted-Celle
I have seen before that some take cash and money orders maybe that is more anonymous who knows. NO trace that way and you dont even need a return address, a real one that is.
Poster
When you register the card, you can use a fake name/address with no social security number. You won't be able to refill the card, but it'll still work. Just write down the name/address/phone you used when you registered the card.
I tried that route a long time ago, when I was a Giga user and had Astra as a fills (and wanted to buy a new block).
It was no go, but this WAS a good 3+ years ago. Usenet-News accepted it just fine (sells blocks as well), though, as did a couple of others (EU).
Astra uses a 3rd party billing company (2checkout.com) and whether or not they still won't do gift cards or anything other than a full-tilt credit card, I don't know.
Could you please explain how a gift card can work in this case? I've heard it but don't really understand.
Poster
A gift card is just a prepaid credit card. Has the same amount of numbers, has an experation date, CVN on the back, has to be registered to an address/name/telephone (doesn't have to be real). You use it just like a regular credit card.
Not entirely accurate. A gift card can be bought over the counter and many stores (in the U.S.) and does not require a name, address, or anything from the user. A prepaid credit card, on the other hand, is different in that it functions exactly like a credit card but the user adds money to it and then uses it. A gift card can function like a credit card (and a prepaid card), but is not always accepted at every place a regular card is. That's the problem I am having with Astraweb. I want to use a gift card, which I can buy at any store and not have to register it, but their credit card processor, 2checkout, will not accept it unless it has a name/address associated with it. Only option to my knowledge is to get a prepaid credit card and use fake name/address etc (if that's legal, I have to research it) to pay Astraweb. Bottom line for me is being concerned about Astraweb leaking my information on the web like happened with Newzbin. Fortunately, with Newzbin, I wasn't using my real name - they permitted nicknames for logins. Astraweb pulls your real name from your credit card information when you pay for the account. They should allow you to disassociate a name/address from the account and only use nicknames for security purposes.
Poster
Then get a prepaid credit card and activate it using a fake name/address?
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks