Stolen?

October 7, 2008 3:25 PM

Identity theft?

Today I found on my on-line bank statement a payment dated today for "DRI Xilisoft Audio Con" which I presume is a purchase of audio conversion software from a company called Xilisoft - the web reveals a legit company by that name.

Only problem is I haven't bought any such thing on-line.

Identity theft?

Odd that it should be for £19.99 only. Odder equally that nothing they sell (which is in USD $) works out as £19.99.

I have emailed them and will talk to my bank in the morning - surprisingly there is no 24 hr line for this - and change my account numbers, etc. but this does perplex.

I would have expected money to be cleared out if an identity theft, not a purchase made for an odd bit of software. Mis-transcribed card number by the company? Slow burn fraud? I have checked and I don't have the software, haven't bought anything on a card which after a month clicks into real payments or the like. I buy a lot on-line, so not impossible that somehow my number has leaked out, but as said, this is an odd evidence of it.

Anyone had this happen? With this company? With another?

posted by A189Nut to computers & internet (5 comments total)

I had something similar happen where a company (NewEgg I think) charged me for a game. Turned out that someone else had bought it and they'd charged me. I'm not sure how it happened, but it was quickly and amicably resolved.
posted by GardenGal at 3:43 PM on October 7, 2008

I believe that in some cases of theft a small charge is made to the card first, to see if it's valid, before they go crazy on your account. My credit card was used fraudulently a few years ago now, and the very first purchase on it was a charge of a couple of hundred for a US-based computer training course - which again I thought was a very strange first purchase. After that it was another few days before they tried to use it again, and that was when they tried to clean me out; the bank told me there were charges pending from online jewellery stores, computer stores, even a fur store. Fortunately by this time I'd noticed and the bank and CC company issued a new card and wiped off the charges.

I wouldn't think it was a mistranscribed number - surely the account name, etc, would all have to add up? I know when we charge credit cards at work they aren't accepted if people have written the wrong number on the form, or if the number and expiry date don't add up, which happens a lot.
posted by andraste at 3:53 PM on October 7, 2008

I work in the fraud department of a bank, and I say about half of our disputed charges are for amounts around $20.00. It's also possible that in the morning your bank will show you a large list of additional charges that have hit your account. I even think I recognize that name, was it from Germany by any chance?

I think part of the reason for the small charges is that the merchant counts on either you not noticing, or the bank/cc company not wanting to go through the hassle of doing a chargeback. We don't go after the merchant for most small charges, the bank just covers the loss. Or the bank has a limit for what they cover and you end up paying anyway. Either way, the merchant keeps the money a lot of the time. If they'd done a fraud charge of $500.00, they'd be hit with lots of chargebacks and the credit card processor would probably shut them down before they could make enough money.
posted by saffry at 4:04 PM on October 7, 2008

everyone I know who has had their ID stolen has had a small charge like this charged to their card, and has been told by their banks that that is par for the course - to see if you notice before they hit it for the big one! It's definitely best to err on the side of caution...
posted by nunoidia at 4:09 PM on October 7, 2008

And my bank isn't open until 9... They say on their site "Contact immediately" and the phone number gives a recording saying call tomorrow...
posted by A189Nut at 4:14 PM on October 7, 2008