Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Beware of this debit/credit card scam

I’ve fallen victim to a run-of-the-mill credit card scam, and I thought I’d post about it so others out there are aware of it. When I was looking over my banking statement this month, I noticed a charge of $9.95 to a company called KCSoft LLC. Well, not having done any business with such a company (in fact, not having used my debit card in a couple of months) I did some research, and found plenty of information about this scam. Apparently the “company” somehow generates random credit card numbers, and charges them $9.95, ostensibly for blank web site templates. This fraudulent behavior has been going on since 2004, apparently, and since each charge is so small, most banks won’t investigate further. It seems many people don’t even notice the charge, as they don’t check their credit card statements thoroughly – a charge so small doesn’t stand out.

At any rate, look out for this one. Maybe if enough banks are dealing with this on a regular enough basis, they will do something about it. I have to admit, these blackguards have a pretty sweet deal going on, a charge so small nobody notices. But how they get lucky with the credit card numbers is beyond me. I haven’t used my debit card online in quite some time, and the last time I did use it I took cash out of a machine, so I don’t think they got it that way. Not to mention I am super duper careful about such things, I’m usually the one who schools others about being scammed.

Now, I don’t know if this scam applies to credit cards outside the U.S. (my debit card is still on a U.S. bank account), but it can’t hurt to keep an eye out anyway.

5 comments:

CaliforniaKat said...

It's good you keep an eye on these things and take the trouble to inform others. Thanks :)

Zorba the Greek said...

Indeed, its good that you refer to this issue. Many people have faced big problems with such things.

Anonymous said...

Greetings,

I've been following your blog for quite some time and find it to be an enjoyable read (I also like that you almost every/everyother day.

Would you recommend any Greek language study materials? I'm in the states and will be moving to Greece one year from now and I wanna get a head start. :-)

-Lance

melusina said...

Hi Lance, and welcome!

My first suggestion (if you have the time) is to contact the Greek Orthodox Church in your area (if there is one) and see if they or someone in their congregation offers beginner's lessons. I can't stress strongly enough the effectiveness of learning from a native or fluent speaker.

As far as books go, I'd recommend "Beginner's Greek Script" by Dennis Couniacis and Sheila Hunt and "Teach Yourself Greek Complete Course Package" by Aristarhos Matsukas. Both are available from Amazon.com, and I think I had found them at my local Barnes & Noble. The Greek script is sort of a stand alone to get you used to the Greek alphabet, and the other combines phonetics with the Greek script to help you learn the basics in a fairly easy way. But again, I recommend conversation with fluent speakers if you can get it.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Thank you very much. I just ordered those in to my local Barnes and Noble and also am contacting my local greek Orthodox Church!!!!!!

-Lance