Fraudsters Use Tiny Credit Card Charges, Hoping You'll Miss Them
Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:54AM EST
See Comments (91)
Recently we received a call from one of our credit card companies, informing us of possible fraudulent activity. Turns out that was exactly the case, only there was a twist: Most of the charges were for less than $20.
It's part of a new trend in credit card fraud: The charges are kept very small, mainly in the hopes that you simply won't notice them among larger charges on your credit card statement. This way, the fraudulent charger can keep billing you every month, as long as it goes unnoticed.
CA (formerly Computer Associates) notes that micro-fraud is a growing problem, as people have gotten more and more lax about checking their statements. I know mine sprawls into two pages every month, and it can be tiresome to hunt down phony charges on every statement. But you gotta do it, now more than ever.
What should you do if you find a phony micro-charge ($9.87 is, for some reason, a common figure) on your bill? CA offers the following advice (which I'm enhancing with my own tips, too):
- Cancel your credit card and initiate a chargeback - You can do these together when you report the fraudulent charge. Your credit card company will automatically issue you a new one, and you can usually report fraud over the phone with no paperwork.
- File a complaint with the FBI - This is not really appopriate if your card has been stolen and used by an individual; the FBI won't likely investigate such a small scale crime, but it will look into a company that's billing you illegally for its own profit. Report their name, phone number, charge amount, and any other information at the IC3.
- Check your old statements - You may have been being charged for months without knowing it.
- Scan your computer for viruses and spyware - Here's how.
- Do NOT call and ask for a refund - Sure, they'll give you a refund... but this will also keep the authorities at bay and let the operation keep running against thousands of other people. Report them to Johnny Law!
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47 Posted by kjr6445@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:52PM EDT Report Abuse
This is definitely a problem! I caught someone doing this (he was a clerk at a local store!) A small weird charge showed up, and when I investigated this, the company in question realized it was bogus and they actually tried to help me catch the guy (I can't vouch if every company will be this cooperative however.) We almost nabbed him, but he skipped town. I quickly cancelled that particular card. So the moral is keep track of EVERY line item on your credit card bill, and match them up with the appropriate slips. The other observation is that, sadly, a lot of the "detective" work you'll have to do YOURSELF since the government really doesn't care about this kind of crime, which is unfortunate. So also lobby your congressman to change this big gap in our current laws.
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48 Posted by teacupps@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:59PM EDT Report Abuse
yes id like to know if it is hackers or the banks them selfs that are doing these false charges
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49 Posted by rmlapham@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:44PM EDT Report Abuse
I went to an ATM in a store to get money. I requested $80 and got a slip saying "transaction declined" so I went to the store clerk and asked if the machine was working and he said yes and to try it again so I did and requested $60 and got the same slip. Each slip said transcation declined, and $0 dispensed. I threw out the slips thinking that I didn't need to keep them or record them as no money was given to me. The next bank statement showed 2 ATM withdrawals for $80 and $60 from that store. I went to the bank and explained it and they said "where are the slips?" I said " I threw them out because I didn't get any money so why would I keep them." I had to request a refund and they said if the store disputed it I would be forced to lose the money because I didn't keep the slips. Be careful. So many frauds out there.
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50 Posted by cj.beshears@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:26PM EDT Report Abuse
Beware of a $10 a month SHOPPERDISCOUNT.COM fee. Check the bills of seniors in your family - my mother was being taken.
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51 Posted by lottdvdmedia@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:57PM EDT Report Abuse
I had a charge for $15.00 on my Citicard statement, I went to the web site listed. The web site published a statement that various unauthorized charges using their name were bogus. I contacted CitiBank, sent the info. to the fraud dept., got a chargeback, then later received a form requesting information and to have it Notorized. I thought this was an extreme hardship on an excellent customer. Due to time restraints I missed the deadline for returning the form and lost $15.00. I did get a new card, however, because of that policy to take time to get forms Notorized, my charges to that card have dropped 98%. Longtime Excellent Customers should not have that headache of running around when Fruad Departments have the resources at hand to verify situations such as ours. We help pay their salary with our interest charges. CitiBank, your customers are watching you!
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52 Posted by j-balboa@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:26PM EDT Report Abuse
I received two charges for $9.45 each, supposedly for "Internet Downloads" two different places (one month from each other). IBOOKCREATIVE 5430 SAWTOOTH CT SACRAMENTO CA 95842 * * * * * AND * * * * * * SOLOMKA DESIGN PAVELSACRAMENTO CA 4282 PINELL ST STE 101 SACRAMENTO CA 95838 My AmEx card removed the firs one, one month later, I called them for the other one and requested a new card with a new number. They sent me the card, but did not remove the charge the second time.
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53 Posted by thobbs31@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:07PM EDT Report Abuse
I have had fraud on my credit card, and at&t, got them all taken care of but it is a hassle, one was over $1000.00 and one wae about $300.00 at&t was $15.00.
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54 Posted by darling67@sbcglobal.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:36PM EDT Report Abuse
I check my American Express account online daily. Good thing, too, because late last year - immediately following an online purchase I made (foolishly on an insecure site) - I began to notice suspicious charges to my account. Nothing major - just $35.00 here, $17.95 there... and such. I immediately cancelled my card and was sent a new one. Amex is cool about this stuff and credited my account for all fraudulent charges. Lesson learned! You gotta check your credit card balances daily, folks! No if's and's or but's!
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55 Posted by slimgrimshady@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:27PM EDT Report Abuse
I read this article and checked my credit card statement 5 minutes later. Guess what ? Yeah, I have been charged by reservationrewards.com for over a year at $9 a month !!! I contacted the FBI and currently am on a 30 minute hold with my credit card company (!) waiting to report fraud. Great public service article.
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56 Posted by michaelpatrickward on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:18PM EDT Report Abuse
Not sure what happened but a charge for just under 30$ posted on either my debit card or my wife's. The charge was made in Heidleburg Germany. My bank is investigating!!!
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57 Posted by joeharwick999 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:38PM EDT Report Abuse
Always take your copy of the credit card transaction. A common scam in "service" is to use the unclaimed copy to write in a larger tip, forge the signature and then destroy the original so that managment does not know any difference and it will probably be missed by the card holder.
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58 Posted by snyde on Thu Sep 3, 2009 9:30PM EDT Report Abuse
Good luck calling the cops. I had about 11 strange charges show up on a bank card last year, each was $2.00 or less. Long story, but I contacted the bank, cancelled the card and was able to contact the merchants and have the charges reversed, no liabilities. But during contacting each merchant I was able to eventually get a name, email address, street address and phone number that these accounts were set up under. Checked the white pages, sure enough, name, address and ph# checked out in NYC. Looking into this I worked out a plausible theory how this guy obtained my card info and reported all this to local PD (Indy). What have they done? They called my bank and according to my bank's security officer, inquired about me as if I was perpetrating the fraud. Tried the FBI too, not even a response. Should have just gone to NY and taken care of this myself. Good luck folks, you're on your own.
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59 Posted by pat6@flash.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:01PM EDT Report Abuse
Recently I had several small charges totalling less than $100 on my AMEX bill from JAPAN!! Appeared to be software purchases and toll charges. Thank goodness I reconcile my credit card statement each month. Called AMEX who re-issued me a new card right away.
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60 Posted by mztoree on Thu Sep 3, 2009 7:32PM EDT Report Abuse
It took me three months to realize that two places were taking $19.95 a month! It turned out that they are both owned by the same person, go figure. one is called THE PATRIOT ACT, the other is LIBERTY FUN PASS.
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61 Posted by regina.carroll@att.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 8:35PM EDT Report Abuse
I borrowed $1500 in 1999 to purchase a computer. The computer only cost me about $1400. I paid my bill every month and sometimes double. At times I would get statements saying I was past due and I would call the company to make sure they had received my payment. They would say yes but it was still past due and they would tack on an addtional 23.90. They also charged me 23.90 for over credit fees and a finance charge of over 30.00. My monthly bill was only 50.00. After paying this company in more than enough time to pay them off. (With interest should have totalled about 1875.00). My bill still showed me as having a balance. After 3 years, they said I owed them over 3400.00. I filed many complaints with the company with no sucess. I had already paid them 3600.00, but I still owed them 3400.00 on a 1500.00 loan I didn't even use all of. I refused to pay and they threatened to sue me for 6000.00. I told them to go ahead and try (I am a pack rat when it comes to finances) and they could shove their threat (you know where that goes). I amd still trying to get this off my credit and am pretty close to having it removed. Needless to say I only borrow money to buy cars which I watch and got an awesome rate. Now If I cannot afford it, I don't need it.
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62 Posted by zark7@verizon.net on Sat Feb 16, 2008 10:25PM EST Report Abuse
we had the same thing happen with a gas purchase. We received two charges from georgia while we were in Florida. Seems like someone from a gas station had slippery hands. No problem getting a refund or a new card from bofa One was pending when I checked online. vigilance my friends vigilance.
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63 Posted by lizaclaire33 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 6:54PM EDT Report Abuse
I got caught in this mini-fraud trap when I moved to Ohio from Florida over a year ago. Once the first mini-fraud took place under my radar, I discovered it had replicated and two additional mini-fraud accounts had appeared. It was not until I paid my credit card off entirely, each month, that I became aware of these 3 strange "accounts" appeared on my monthly card statement. The interesting thing is that the two clone mini-frauds were named only with random letters and numbers. Total amount of money stolen from me: $360.
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64 Posted by tenqgod@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 10:00PM EDT Report Abuse
Something that no one has mentioned is additional tips being added by servers at a resturant. Most people will check their statement knowing that they ate there and move on to the next item on the statement but not check the amount. Servers will added on a few dollars to the bill for themselves. So make sure you check the amount.
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65 Posted by chrissyc1217 on Thu Sep 3, 2009 3:24PM EDT Report Abuse
Obviously the major issue is how to deal with problems with con-artist (smart ones at that) all over the world stealing credit card info over the internet. No one should be using the internet without serious virus protection totally updated and then there is a possible albeit small risk involved in getting some new virus. Well that's the chance one takes in using the internet to make purchases. It will be a growing problem and we will need better systems to protect us against these issues. The credit card companies may get tired of losing money if people make sure they make sure every charge on their credit card statement is theirs. Then perhaps when they start losing money the credit card companies will come up with a better way to protect the individual purchaser. It should be simpler.
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46 Posted by hayn1973@verizon.net on Thu Sep 3, 2009 4:17PM EDT Report Abuse
it don't only happen with credit cards start looking @ ur wireless bills specifically the taxes and surcharge. there was one time that i noticed the charges that they charged me for the taxes and surcharge for my 66.00 bill was higher than 109.00 bill. please pay attention.