SOCIAL: Caveat Emptor

[Bob Seymour]

Hey Folks -
  I recently got hit with a minor credit card scam and since it seems 
pretty widespread, I thought I'd pass along the tale just to give 
everyone a head's up.  I was checking out my charges online a couple of 
days ago, as I do every once in a while, and I noticed a charge from 
"Adele Services" in NY for 22 cents from about a week ago.  I didn't 
recognize the name so I did the Google on it and found many listings for 
it regarding credit and debit card fraud across many banks all over the 
country ranging in value from 21 to 25 cents.  I immediately reported 
the scam charge to my bank and when they got back to me today, they 
seemed to be familiar with the problem.  A small charge like this is 
used to test out credit card validity without it leaving a noticeable 
dent in the card's account balance.  The end result is that I'm being 
issued a new card, getting my 22 cents refunded (!) plus, since 
something like this could lead to all-out identity theft, my credit 
reports will be monitored.  The reportings of the scam all seem to be 
from the last couple of weeks so you may want to check out your charges 
from the last month just to be on the safe side.
Take care,
Bob