Millions of Credit Cards Hit with Mystery 25 Cent Charge

How many times have you received your credit card statement and just skimmed the activity and then paid the balance? More times than not I am sure. If you are like me then you get your statement online and rarely do you look at it. Well we all need to take a look now as a new possible scam is being hatched to bilk card holders out of big money 25 cents at a time.

The mysterious charge shows up on the credit card statement as a charge to "Adele Services" in Melville New York and is usually just for 25 cents or less. There is no business listed in Melville with the name Adele Services or anywhere else in New York for that matter. This leaves consumers and experts alike to come up with possible scenarios, with two standing out above the rest (source: boston.com).

The first scenario is that the scammer is trying to put through a smaller charge to assure that the credit card is active before a big charge is placed. The other scenario is that the thieves are just trying to rip off a tiny amount of money from millions of unsuspecting victims and hoping they don't notice. Authorities believe it is the latter scenario as so far no credit card that has been hit with the small charge has been hit with a bigger one (source: boston.com). So the crooks are taking a tiny slice of pie from each victim and over the course of millions of victims they end up with a whole pie (and then some). In other words they are counting on those that do not look over their statements. It sounds like the scam they tried to run in the movie "Office Space", only this one is working. So what do you do?

First of all, check all your statements. If you see this mystery charge, don't let it slide. A quarter may be no big deal to you but that's what these low-lifes are hoping you (and millions of other people) will think. Don't let them get away with it. If you see the charge, call your credit card company and file a dispute then report the matter to the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov) and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (www.ic3.gov) which is run by the FBI (source: boston.com). The more complaints they get the more action they will take.

It's your money don't let some criminal take it from you. Take the time to check over your statements each and every month. It may be 25 cents, but again, a little bit many times over becomes a lot. Only by working together can we rid the world of such criminals.