I just found out from my bank's operations center that they refuse to even allow me to greenlight purchases from gog.com because it's based in Cyprus and they've blacklisted the entire place. I find it both tragic and distrubing to learn this about GOG since I love purchasing older titles from them (especially when they have large sales like the one going on now) but due to them being located in a high fraud area it simply can't be done.

I don't have any credit cards (because i don't want the possibility of charging more money than I actually have) and I havn't used paypal for a very long time as it started to become less convenient to use and they kept pushing their bank account linking feature so I don't really have a way to continue to do business with GOG. I remember reading somewhere after I heard about this that the payments are processed somewhere else so I can't help but wonder why that isn't listed as the country the money is going to. It seems like it would solve a lot of problems.

Anyway, thanks for your great service GOG. Hopefully I can find a way to deal with this billing problem because your site is by far the best place i've found to get older games.

If I remember correctly GOG is headquartered in Poland, incorporated in Cyprus, servers hosted in Canada and billing processed in the UK.

Damn those pesky Cypriots and their fraudulent nature!

Honestly, are you joking? Cyprus is one of the 'tax havens' of the EU and many Europeans companies are incorporated there for tax purposes. It is not a 'high fraud area'.

Ask Cyprus about their taxes rates and you will have answer why :P

Tell your bank to stop being asshats and that the company is 100% legit. Other people have said the same thing and a call to their bank fixed things.

If you can't do that, you can always pay with PayPal - create an account and link your debit card, and you'll be able to pay.

Well I can't speak as to actual figures on fraud but in the past my card had been put on hold twice for attempting to make a purchase from GOG and now they've simply blocked the entire country listing a high rate of fraudulent charges as the reason. It's entirely possible my bank is simply using fraud as an excuse for any number of things or the customers of my bank happen to deal frequently with people that result in fraudulent charges based out of Cyprus.

The reason doesn't really matter nor does the reality behind whether or not Cyprus has issues with fraud (which honestly if it's a tax dodge country I could buy that fraud is involved in there somewhere as well.) All that matters in the end is that Cyprus has been blacklisted as a whole and my bank won't let me greenlight purchases from GOG. =[

Get a prepaid credit/debit card. Problem solved. :\

Not all countries have those.

He's in the US though, so I figure he can get one. :\

Tax evasion and tax avoidance are two different things. I suggest that you and your bank look them up.

Basically, some countries have lower taxes than others, hence why companies incorporate themselves there. It's called tax avoidance and it's 100% legal. It has nothing to do with fraud or tax evasion.

Anyway, I don't mean to be a condescending twat, so just tell your bank to clear the purchase and get on with it. I think some GOG yank users have had similar problems in the past and they've solved them by contacting their banks.

I'm pretty sure that Visa or Mastercard would have something to say on the matter. If the bank doesn't allow the transaction, I'd probably talk with whichever ones logo appears on the card. I don't believe that the contract is going to allow them to refuse to make lawful payments to places which have been cleared to accept the cards.

I use paypal using a debit card linked to a secondary savings account.

This debit card functions exactly like a credit card, and I can control how much is in the linked account at any one time.

The exact same thing happened to me a while back. I eventually convinced my bank to allow me to purchase from them.

Alternatively, I bet you could Paypal someone some money and have them gift you a game. Or do as GameRager suggests (that might be the best and cheapest).

Well, look up your bank's registration, and you'll probably find they're incorporated in Delaware. Then march in and tell them that because they're incorporated in Delaware, you're putting a blacklist on their credit card bills.

It is as sound as their reasoning that they should refuse charges from GOG because GOG is incorporated in Cyprus. Cyprus has long been a state of convenience for international trade, just as Delaware is for US-based corporations. The reasons for locating there are corporation-friendly laws, courts, and taxation. There is nothing more fraudulent about being incorporated in Cyprus than there is about being incorporated in Delaware.

But American bankers may not want to hear it. They're as provincial, bigoted, and scared as Americans in general are nowadays, and they will make any excuse to avoid a "furrin" transaction that does not involve a large commission.

Well, for some reason it won't let me post my much more thorough and better thought out post but the short version is.

I know evasion and avoidance are two different things (which was an error on my part calling it evasion) but I still consider it a poor business practice.

I tried contacting my bank but they told me they wouldn't greenlight a charge from Cyprus.

Prepaid credit/debit card is a potentially useful option though less convenient than simply finding a way to get the bank to accept the charges.

Contacting Visa is an interesting idea that I just might give a try.