Credit Card Fraud

[Indexter]

Thought I'd pass on this credit card fraud thing that hit me today.

I noticed an unrecognized charge of $9.95 from U Web Template. There was a phone number on the charge line. I dialed it and received a "This mailbox is full" message.

A little research on the web brought up these forum discussions:

http://www.dslreports.com/forum/remark,16110787

and

http://www.robertkbrown.com/2006/04/29/uwebtemplate.html

showing that many others have been hit by this. Apparently the criminals...

...rake in several million dollars a year charging small charges to thousands and thousands of cards. This particular group has been operating for at least three years, with no end in sight, and little to fear.

I canceled the card and will now have to change the number for all the companies that I use for auto payments, paypal, etc.

The moral is to check statements carefully, of course.

 

[Indexter]

P.S. I was disappointed that when I talked to MBNA (issuing bank) they didn't have a knowledgebase that could bring up info on this. It took me only a few minutes to found out about it on the web, but they were clueless.

 

[Nords]

Thought I'd pass on this credit card fraud thing that hit me today. 
I noticed an unrecognized charge of $9.95 from U Web Template.  There was a phone number on the charge line.  I dialed it  and received a "This mailbox is full" message.

Any idea how they got your number?

 

[d]

had several <$10 fraudulent charges ... simply notified the CC company ... no need to cancel the card... the charges were from known fraudsters who trust that small amounts will go unnoticed ... what's amazing is that the CC companies process these to begin with

 

[Indexter]

Any idea how they got your number?

No. I'm careful with the number, and use the ShopSafe feature (temporary CC number) if I'm dealing with a company I'm not sure of.

From the first link, above:

Well, that's the $100,000 question, that lacks a definitive answer, for now.

Due to a considerable history accumulated from victim reports we can make some reasonable assumptions. There does not seem to be any indication that victims contributed to the loss of their data, and there is no common theme in the reports. As mentioned earlier there are several instances of cards that have been charged that were never used any where in the preceding 12 months or longer. In fact a few victims have reported that their cards were never used at all since issued.

Of course one possible source is the huge data leaks that have been reported in the past, such as Card Systems etc. There is also the possibility that the source has yet to be discovered, and is on going. It could be direct data access to large databases, or an inside human source. What is clear, is that this syndicate has been able to obtain a long term constant supply of data.

They have also built an intricate laundering system that exploits weaknesses in the merchant banking system. These criminals have found a niche, where they can continuously feed from the banking fraud trough that the institutions are prepared to tolerate and write off in the annual fraud budget.

So far, the industry is content to allow the burden of the fraud charge discovery to rest with the consumer, who ultimately pays the cost of it anyway.

With a few minutes of googling, I find notes of 100 people with this same fraudulent charge. Can't the CC company have it's computer reject these?

had several <$10 fraudulent charges ... simply notified the CC company ... no need to cancel the card... the charges were from known fraudsters who trust that small amounts will go unnoticed ...

According to the posts, if I do that the criminals will repeatedly try to get little charges through, here and there.

I'll bet that at least 70% of these fraudulent charges get by the to-busy-to-check-the-statement normal people. It took me a while to be sure it wasn't a real charge, and it had happened only a week ago.

 

[MJ]

had several <$10 fraudulent charges ... simply notified the CC company ... no need to cancel the card...

I check the 2 CC, that I use, daily and have been fortunate not to get hit (so far). You said "no need to cancel the card", but what prevents them from creating new bogus companies and continue the process?

 

[audreyh1]

Hmmm - I had a couple of $9.95 charges on my American Express early this year. I couldn't account for them, so I got on-line and asked AMEX to look into the charges.

A couple of weeks later, they reversed both charges. I hadn't disputed the charges, just asked for an investigation.

I never heard what the story was.......

I figure that I'll just keep track of charges and do the same thing if I see something like this again. No need to cancel.

Now if someone starts charging up a storm on one of our cards - then we'll get a new card issued.

Audrey

 

[Leonidas]

I got zapped twice at the first of the year on two different cards by two different bogus companies. Luckily the first one was for nearly $200 and that got my attention.

I researched the company and knew I had never done business with them - or heard of them either - I called them and asked what products I had purchased. Learning that I was now the proud recipient of "discounted travel services" I said I had never ordered any such thing and asked how they had received the authority to charge my CC. Apparently they had sent me a letter that explained what their "services" were and what a deal it was for me. This alleged letter also explained that if I did not notify them within a certain period of time that they would take that as an acceptance and do me the favor of charging my credit card. Asked how they got my CC number, the guy said they buy them from other companies and made it sound like someone I had done a legitimate transaction with was their source.

 

[MJ]

Apparently they had sent me a letter that explained what their "services" were and what a deal it was for me. This alleged letter also explained that if I did not notify them within a certain period of time that they would take that as an acceptance and do me the favor of charging my credit card.

THAT IS TOTALLY ABSURD! What utter nonsense.

 

[Indexter]

Update:

I had the option of not cancelling the card but checking carefully for future fraudulent charges versus cancelling the card. I chose to cancel the card.

After dealing with changing the autopay card number for eight companies, tons of time on hold, having some companies have charges rejected, I now would have chosen the first option.

Note that for companies that allowed me to change the number online, the process took a few minutes. For companies that required a phone call, it could take an hour.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Think about how I feel...in the last 2 months I changed banks, lost a credit card and had citibank drop another card I'd had for over a decade.

I'm still unwinding the autopays...

 

[eridanus]

Apparently they had sent me a letter that explained what their "services" were and what a deal it was for me. This alleged letter also explained that if I did not notify them within a certain period of time that they would take that as an acceptance and do me the favor of charging my credit card.

Oh, didn't you get my letter to your company? I invoiced you and gave you 5 business days to respond. Silence is tacit agreement so now you owe me $95.99 for consulting services.

I'd report them to the state AG.

 

[Leonidas]

Oh, didn't you get my letter to your company? I invoiced you and gave you 5 business days to respond. Silence is tacit agreement so now you owe me $95.99 for consulting services.

I'd report them to the state AG.

They refunded the money - prorated at first, but by then I had already contacted the cc company and within a few weeks I had it. When the second company hit me I just contacted the cc company and let them deal with it. Important note for anybody who has to deal with this same problem - follow up your phone call to the cc company with a letter.

I reported both of them to the AG. Got a form letter back.

 

[Leonidas]

The letter is formal notice to the CC company - you have a thirty day window to complain to them and get them to reverse the charges - the letter proves you complied with that requirement.