Watch Out For This Scam

Watch out for a weird charge for a rediculously small amount of money on one of your bank accounts. When I checked out our accounts recently, a fraudulent 7-cent charge was made for a ficticious electronics business with a reference made to an 800-type phone number. So, I put the number into a Google search and whammo, there were a bunch of returns stating that the charge is bogus and is a way for a potential thief to 'ping' your account to see if the information they have to drain your account is valid. After some time has gone by, they will pull some large amounts from your account and it will be too late.

I called our bank and they admitted that this has been happening to a bunch of their accounts, so I locked down the account and ordered a replacement debit card. I strongly advise you to check your banking statement for all of your accounts and go back about 3 months or so and see if there is a small charge from a company you don't recognize on your account. The value has been for a small amount of around 20 cents or less, but in some instances, some people have experienced 'ping' charges as high as 50 dollars. If there is a charge you suspect might be related to this scam, get on the phone and contact your banking institution immediately, because it might be a setup to take significant amounts of money out of your account while you sleep...