Warning: Aliexpress will require all customers to scan their personal ID cards!

[Yansi]

I am sure the requirement will quietly vanished, as will their customers if they in force it.  In any event you can just buy the same tat on eBay.

Unfortunately that's not fully true. I like the Aliexpress over Ebay as I can source there far more things closer to unobtanium :-)  Like uncommon types of LCD displays,  NOS stock of old chips (recently I have bought a synthesizer chip for casio SA5 for my friend!) and so..
And also ebay buyer protection sucks. NEver worked and quite more scam than on aliexpress.

Marco: Hey, that's interesting. How have you concluded that? Can you provide more detail please? (as I am an owner of one mastercard...)

[tautech]

I too have greater confidence in Aliexpress, the "Confirm Good Received" is a far better system IMO.

Ok, so please tell us, what happens next. As I have understood, they do a manual check after. (after filling the info, you have a "verification status" that will disappear after they do a manual check).

I haven't quit my account yet, as I am still missing  8 or more items.  If there will be no solution how to bypass the IDs after I receive my order, I will probably quit my account. As there really is no point for me, to use a service, where they try to steal your identity (with whatever "it is good for mankind" bullshit) and then you don't receive anythin until 2 months and even after 2 months from order it is uncertain if it will ever arrive. (And that is, to a central Europe).

Tautech: Btw: You have to also upload a photo after filling this data. What will you upload then?

DSO info screenshot as below.

Then I got this:
https://intl.alipay.com/certify/success.htm

We have received your application.
Alipay will verify your identity and inform you the result within 7-10 business days. Please wait in patience in the meanwhile.

    

[Marco]

The Master card rules say this :

A Merchant may request but must not require a Cardholder to provide additional
identification information as a condition of Card acceptance, unless such information is
required to complete the Transaction, such as for shipping purposes, or the Standards
specifically permit or require such information to be collected.

A Merchant in a country or region that supports use of the MasterCard Address Verification
Service (AVS) for MasterCard POS Transactions may require the Cardholder’s ZIP or postal code
to complete a Cardholder-Activated Terminal (CAT) Transaction, or the Cardholder’s address
and ZIP or postal code to complete a mail order, phone order, or e-commerce Transaction.

[Yansi]

Then I think it would be quite interesting to report this to MasterCard headquarters.  Things might get going fast... 

Thank you for the very useful insight!

[wraper]

PayPal... meh... have linked my card to it years ago and gladly there weren't a single issue (which cannot be said of some ebay sellers).

But Alipay requiring you to SCAN A PERSONAL ID card... holy cow...

Why wouldn't be enought to make the verification same way as Paypal does (at leas did, years ago): Gave you a bank account numbers, and said "pay a few bucks, we will then enable your account and return you those few bucks".  Was simple, piece of cake.

To be fair, Paypal requested my ID scan after I received certain amount of money in my account.

[Macbeth]

Is there some confusion over paying with your card on AliExpress vs opening an AliPay account?

I decided to open an AliPay account because, well, AliExpress is great and all but I may need to dig deeper into China and get stuff from Taobao for example

I had to provide a copy of my passport IIRC to open it. Just like Chinese have to provide their government ID to open an account.

[tautech]

This is the new (to me) payment page were there is an Alipay option now:
http://activities.aliexpress.com/adcms/help-aliexpress-com/pay_order.php

Previously payment was via Escrow and it seems they're added this Alipay as the default option.
Solution: select one of the other payment methods and don't use Alipay. 

[wraper]

I decided to open an AliPay account because, well, AliExpress is great and all but I may need to dig deeper into China and get stuff from Taobao for example

As I figured out Alipay for westerners != Chinese Alipay. It seemed to be useless except for Aliexpress (At least was in Summer). Figured out because there was no way to pay for a purchase on Rakuten. You cannot use your login with Alipay mobile app too.

[Macbeth]

I decided to open an AliPay account because, well, AliExpress is great and all but I may need to dig deeper into China and get stuff from Taobao for example

As I figured out Alipay for westerners != Chinese Alipay. It seemed to be useless except for Aliexpress (At least was in Summer). Figured out because there was no way to pay for a purchase on Rakuten. You cannot use your login with Aliexpress mobile app too.

What? The bastards. I wanted to find a mail forwarder so I could send all my cheap Taobao shite in bulk for the 1cent international postage too. 

[Yansi]

Tautech: I have deselected Alipay. Always. Still it didn't help.

blueskull: An as I've stated earlier and as the Alipay support service has stated, the verification process will be gradualy applied to all Aliexpres customers. If the support has lied to me, I am sorry, no way I can verify that. 

Macbeth: What confusion?  I think there is no such. I am only being forced to open an Alipay account and to do so send them a copy of my ID.  If I don't do this, I can't maky any payment. The payment website don't even open, when clicking on any of the "Pay order" buttons, it directly jumps to the verification of "my new Alipay account" I have never wanted or used.


For those interested, who might want to report to mastercard, I have found this address:  Law_Enforcement_Support(at)mastercard(dot)com

I would be very curious about their reply. So I will try... Who wants to try too?

[ConKbot]

Id online? Yeah, no. I had gmpartsdirect try that because the 'bank flagged it because the shipping and billing address were different. 'if the bank was so worried, why did they approve it? '   "they didn't approve it, the cvn was wrong"  'yeah go ahead and cancel the order and get an ecommerce system that rejects invalid cvns, thanks' 

Just say it wasn't approved and get me to resubmit the order or payment info online like normal websites. If the cvn wasnt valid, they shouldn't be approving the payment regardless. Plus the address wasn't a new one for that card, plus it's my GM branded mastercard ordering GM car parts

[Yansi]

I have reported it to MasterCard. Let's see what their response will be (if any).


And have also found some strange statements here: https://icshall.alipay.com/hall/cateQuestion.htm?type=KNOWLEDGE_BASE&helpId=69&language=en_US

Doesn't make much sense for me. If the bank will hold payment, it's not the Alipay's business to be resolved by stealing my personal ID.

[mikeselectricstuff]

And how exactly are they going to check that what you send is actually genuine?

[Yansi]

Mike,  proof of what I have said is very simple. It is just enough to open the help center and read. Everything you need to know is there. (e.g. give us you ID otherwise we will block your card to increase your security)

[bitseeker]

I haven't yet encountered this new requirement, but the last time I made a purchase on AliExpress was around November.

If I'm presented with this at my next purchase attempt, then for me the solution is simple. I'll stop buying via AliExpress. However, I'll keep my account because things may change (they can deactivate it if they wish).

I've seen other online services ask for photo ID or similar. I can understand that businesses may need to take measures to protect themselves against fraud, but compromising my security to do so is not an option. I'll just go elsewhere, even if that reduces my choices or costs more. Recovering from identity theft is significantly more expensive.

[Yansi]

As the support officer told me, it is progressive process. As they do some sort of manual validation of the IDs (if I understood  that right), the need some time to do it, as they have quite a lot of users. (And they will have a lot of pissed users too...)

I have also always used credit card. And always from the same computers, with same contact address. It seems they just like pissing their customers with their junk software.

A few minutes ago, I got a notification to leave a feedback on some transaction via email. Hell, even the link in the mail didn't work!

[Brumby]

Tautech: Btw: You have to also upload a photo after filling this data. What will you upload then?

My first thought....

[Richard Crowley]

If you created your own "photo ID" how would they know if it was real or not?   O0

[Brumby]

... especially in this day and age where just about anybody could mock up a fake ID on their computer.

[matseng]

... especially in this day and age where just about anybody could mock up a fake ID on their computer.

There are plenty of companies that can create "authentic" fake physical documents of any type for you.  Need an utility bill showing that you live at the White House, or a $500 000/monthly salary slip from CIA - not a problem.

Or good looking physical ID cards - easy to do in Bangkok. The following is from an article about Khao San road in Bangkok:

He was a Thai man, in a blue shirt and wearing glasses, he produced a large album - the kind used to hold business cards - for me to flip through. In it there were well over 100 samples of identity cards, from driving licences to student passes to airline crew passes and many others. There was even an Interpol ID card and a Singapore identity card.

When I expressed surprise at the Interpol card he stared and said: "Are you Interpol? Are you Interpol?" But I laughed it off. I chose a Singapore driving licence and a Qatar Airways crew card. They cost 800 baht each. He informed me they would take an hour and a half to make. I gave him a couple of passport photographs I had brought for the occasion, and he said that for the airline card he could alter the photograph to have me in a suit and tie.

[pickle9000]

Tautech: Btw: You have to also upload a photo after filling this data. What will you upload then?

My first thought....

I thought the goal was to NOT use your own (real) image. That looks exactly like Tautech.

[tautech]

Tautech: Btw: You have to also upload a photo after filling this data. What will you upload then?

My first thought....

I thought the goal was to NOT use your own (real) image. That looks exactly like Tautech.

Na, I've got more hair. 

[Bud]

You guys must be crazy if willing to give your ID with photo and associated information to Chinese.

Especially if this is in exchange to a privilege to buy $1 shit.

[tautech]

You guys must be crazy if willing to give your ID with photo and associated information to Chinese.

Especially if this is in exchange to a privilege to buy $1 shit.

I quite agree, but if one plays their cards right with questions asked to sellers, often they'll offer their email address and you then can choose trade privately. Many have Paypal accounts.

But through Aliexpress your money was safer and you also had robust avenue to address problems with the goods, a far better system than eBay IMHO. This I'm sure has been the secret of Aliexpress success.

[pickle9000]

Tautech: Btw: You have to also upload a photo after filling this data. What will you upload then?

My first thought....

I thought the goal was to NOT use your own (real) image. That looks exactly like Tautech.

Na, I've got more hair. 

I may beat him by a few strands (of hair).