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HomeBlogFebruary, 2009

Is Someone Stealing Pennies From Your Bank Account?

It May Be "Salami Slicing." It May Be Petty Theft.

The latest identity theft scheme doesn't aim to empty your debit account or charge you to the credit limit—not yet anyway. According to The Boston Globe, at least 800 credit and debit cardholders have reported finding tiny fraudulent charges on their statements in recent weeks.

The charges range from 21 to 48 cents, and are billed under at two phony business names: "Adele Services" and "GFDL."

The mysterious charges have lead to a range of speculation over the nature of the scam. Some think that the small charges are meant to test the validity of a registry of stolen credit card numbers which may have been resold by the original thieves. If the theory is correct, those whose cards have already been charged can probably expect to be targeted for much larger amounts down the line.

A Slice of Salami

A less likely theory parallels the scam attempted by the main characters in the movie "Office Space," which featured three disgruntled computer programmers who attempt to slowly embezzle money from their company, pennies at a time. The scheme is sometimes referred to as "salami slicing", but usually targets businesses or customers rather than an unconnected group of individuals.

If this theory holds, those who fail to notice that their accounts have been compromised will continue to be targeted for small amounts of money indefinitely. Most likely, the thieves would have to create new false companies with each wave of thefts.

Plan of Action

Regardless of the intent of the perpetrators, the course of action for those who notice small, unexpected charges on their debit and credit card statements is the same:

  1. Report the charges to your bank or other financial institution.
  2. Report your card stolen so that you can be issued a new credit card and credit card number.

As always, it's important for everyone to pick carefully through their statements each month (if not more frequently,) looking for charges they don't recognize. Whether a questionable charge is 1 cent, $1, or $100, it should always be treated as a potentially serious problem.

February 3, 2009
16 comments
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16 Comments

Posted 11/2/2009

Oh! I would say..this is the case with most banks in the US...they suspect their own customers...so u may have to fax them again..ur credit details...for the month they suspect you have purchased the phone and perhaps the rep who handled your case before has not informed the bank properly.

I think you follow the same procedure...as you did before...

Soumya Bhaskaran

Posted 9/23/2009

Oh what is this account control agreement? It looks like its got more do with lawyers its not very affordable. Could you kindly explain? Though I have done whatever I could afford with SSN department. I am currently in India and this was the only way I could help myself.
One more thing happened was from my account $5000.0 was missing on xmas day Dec25 2006 oh I was was really upset I called up the Bank they said it was some maintainence problem I called up whomever I knew and finally ended up getting harassment case against me..anyways this was not the only thing there were other issues too with the Bank. Since the previous Bank also created similar problems I closed them but now I had to continue as I cant keep opening new accounts.
Anyways now its safe. So not to worry much about it.
Anyways to get better ranked they need to have loyalty towards customer and better customer service.

Donn

Posted 9/17/2009

Very ingenious identity theft schemes, if they steal little amounts from more accounts nobody would bother to report a infirm theft. Now I am glad I signed that account control agreement, this should add a little more security to my account.

Soumya Bhaskaran

Posted 9/7/2009

Yes, somehow my problems have been resolved but still there are certain things I would like to put in the lime light. When I had been a victim of indentity theft..all my accounts were closed..I was also issued a new credit card. But then again someone went and closed my credit card showing that I was not paying my bills properly and not knowing about it I used to pay the credit bills. To my surprise I get an additional $39.00 charged for the payment I make; intitaly they said coz I paid my bills through the savings account but then I made another payment through one of my other bank's checkings account again I get charged for a $39.00 in addition to the payment I make. In the process I ended paying more and $156.00 WAS ACCOUMULATED AGAIN towards my credit card. Then I again I called the bank they told me its coz your credit card has been closed.

Atleast Bank authorities should let me know that the credit card has been closed may be for security reasons but then instead of gettting the cash back ( the 3% cash back policya sper that particular card)I got a penalty of $156.00.

Soumya

Anonymous

Posted 6/8/2009

In the last week i listed for sale a camera with accessories on CRAIGSLIST.COM on the same day i listed it i got an email saying "I want to buy your Camera" they asked no questions about it and even offered to pay me £30.00 for postage without me asking for it.
I new this was a SCAM as the english was poorly written But i thought i would go along with it just to Piss them off. Anyway to cut a long story short I said in an email that i want their ADDRESS AND TELEPHONE NUMBER so i can do a check online to VERIFY IT and that IF THEY WERE ON THE BALL then they would have no problem with me doing it...That was the last i heard from them.

I received another 2 Emails stating "I want to buy your Camera" within 2 days saying that they wanted to buy it for their Husband/Wife/Cousin and that they were moving to Africa and they wanted to buy it for then so they could take photos while they were in Africa ( yeah right) They also send me FAKE Emails supposedly from PAYPAL with links to sign in and receive the payment.
Their email address/name was different than the supposedly Paypal Email Address.

I forwarded all the Emails they sent me to Paypal Spoof/Scam Dept.

Soumya Bhaskaran

Posted 5/28/2009

Hi:

I have an account with chase. I have a chase freedom credit card (Visa) the amount for the credit card I have been paying properly. Now the money was deducted from my account in Chase itself. But the amount is not been credited to my credit card its returning. They are debtting but not updating the credit account. Could you pelase help in this matter.

I am currently in India due to my health conditions. Please do the needful though I have told JPMC to credit the amount in my money market savings account.

Thanks and regards,
Soumya Bhaskaran

Dave

Posted 4/17/2009

Exactly right, Parkbrau. Thanks for helping out.

Parkbrau

Posted 3/30/2009

dear anonymous regarding the UPS package.

This is not a way so much to get your son's account info. No its much bigger. What she is trying to do is launder the money through your son's account and/or kite the check off of the account.

So she probably sent you a phony check. Your son deposits it. When the funds become available he sends the cash to her account (probably). Mean while the bank eventually finds out its a bad check, and now the heat is on your son while the crook gets away clean.

DO NOT DO THIS, ITS NOT JUST A SCAM, but FRAUD that will frame your son and make him seem like an accomplice in the very least.

Anonymous

Posted 3/25/2009

Is this an attempt at identity theft? My son answered an ad posted on a local community college bulletin board about house sitting. The woman he spoke to said he could live in her apartment for a year while she was out of the country, but she needed him to wire checks to her lawyer while she is gone. He agreed via email. She told him she would "test" his reliability by sending a check to his (our) home address, which she wanted wired to a 3rd party. Several days later, he received a check for $2,250 via UPS with email instructions to deposit the check & wire the amount to "her lawyer." The UPS package had a return address of Miami, FL, and we live in in the West. Is this an attempt to get his account info? What should he do with the check?

Jerremy Morrison

Posted 3/25/2009

I think, we all should be very much careful about the maintenance of our bank accounts. Because of the latest technologies, the internet hackers have started spreading their trap very tactfully. If you are the person who have faced some financial problems due to the mismatch of your balance in one of your savings accounts, then you will be the ultimate looser. I must say that your post is very informative and unique one.

Jerremy Morrison

Posted 3/20/2009

This is really an important matter of concern. If today some fraudulent activities happen with my credit or debit card, then it will be nothing new. According to the record of the Boston Globe, eight hundred credit and debit card holders have already faced this kind of scam. So each and every individual should be much more conscious about the daily monetary transaction records through logging in to the internet banking services. You have written a very good post regarding a very important matter.

source: http://financialideas-problems-solutions.blogspot.com/

Anonymous

Posted 3/3/2009

i get one mesage today from this scam but i didnt send anything cant whath the are

Lynda Adams

Posted 3/2/2009

Thank goodness my bank is on the ball. A phone call from them advised me that eMillionaire.com has access to my account details and was trying to access funds. More than my agreement with them. I know I am the idiot, once bitten......
Any one else out there please be aware. My account has been closed by my bank so no funds can be filtered. I now have to advise all my direct debit accounts of new banking details, an inconveince but it could have been a lot worse. Thanks L.M.A.

Identity Master

Posted 2/23/2009

I see how this could work. If they hacked into a business and were able to get multiple credit card numbers by extracting a small amount from many cards they could end up getting a large sum of money. Very interesting.
www.allaboutidentity.com

Dave

Posted 2/7/2009

Anonymous, it sounds like you're doing the right things. You hopefully reported the theft immediately to your bank - a delay in reporting fraud can make you responsible for paying the bank.

If the bank reimbursed you the money, that sounds great. I'm not sure what you mean by saying that "now they're trying to say I did order the phone." If they reimbursed the money, I don't see the point in them arguing.

If the bank is causing you a problem, you might consider switching banks - consider a local bank or credit union.

When it comes to someone stealing and using your debit card, you should report this to the police if you haven't already.

Anonymous

Posted 2/5/2009

I recently was a victim to identity theft. Someone stole my debit card info and address and ordered a phone for 209.00 they had first used my address through ups then rescheduled the delivery to ft lauderdale fl i live in MS. my bank reimbursed me the money but now is trying to say I did order the phone even though they have proof it went somewhere else. If there is anyone out there that can help me please e-mail me. thanks

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