Moved out of the US, now my credit card is useless over internet (IP Address help!)

[M. Malone]

So I'm living abroad for now.

But it's frustrating me big time, anytime I wanna make a credit card to purchase things online, the payment is blocked. Because it's a US credit card and I'm using it from another country. Is there anyway to make it seem like I'm using an IP address based in the US?

I'm really sick of having to email my friends in the US my credit card info so they can make purchases for me from their US computers.

I would appreciate some advice.

 

[JNB]

They're likely blocking because the address (and purchase history) is associated with a US ZIP Code, protecting you from fraud because of the sudden change in locale. Try contacting the CC provider (the issuing bank first, or whatever the CS 800# is on the back), they may have a solution, either unlocking that particular CC# from outside the US, or issuing a new number. As long as it's from a major provider (Visa, MC, AmEx), it'll work most anywhere.

 

[VideoFreek]

Funny, I haven't had that problem. One of my US cards is linked to my German address, another is linked to a relative's address in the US, and both have generally worked fine. I suspect you're encountering a problem with the particular merchant(s) you're dealing with, since some do watch this. I doubt that it's the credit card company, as I find it hard to believe that when the merchant requests authorization, they pass your originating IP address to the credit card company! To rule this out, as John suggests I'd talk to the credit card company first.

 

[foidulus]

Not sure how this is a server related question, but have you tried....calling your credit card company? Some you have to inform if you are using it outside of the country as they may consider such use to be fraud if they aren't aware you are roaming.

 

[jbernie]

So how does Apple handle this with iTunes, as they have the different pricing by region, and also on occasion I have stumbled upon content that is not available in my region.

It should be pretty easy to block by IP address unless you have IP ranges that are multinational.

Jericho2550, you could potentially use on of those web browsing services where the originating address is their server, this should be able to get around the location issue, in saying this though I am not comfortable with logging into a website I use by this method as I can't access it directly through Comcast cable (a car website of all things) so I personally would not be comfortable with passing my CC# etc.

I think the part we really need to know is whether the website(s) are blocking you prior to entering the CC info or whether it is being blocked after entering the info and it is at the validation point of the transaction.

If it is the validation of the billing address, you could potentially use say your parents address for that and the shipping address is where ever you are. You might need to work with the CC issuer on that to ensure it doesn't cause issues. If you have electronic statements only then this in theory should not be an issue.

 

[chrono1081]

All you have to do is call your credit card company. That happened to me, and I called, and it was for fraud protection and they unblocked it.