CyberCJH's Blog

Three times in as many months, I have had weird charges from California appear on my American Express statement. I did not do business with these companies and I cannot find any information about them online.

• 10/22/07 $11.87 – E NAT NATALIYA MAKOVCARMICHAEL CA ELECTRONICS STORE
• 12/05/07 $11.95 – PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET
• 12/26/07 $ 9.45 – VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET  

Each time, I called American Express to dispute the charges and they were promptly credited back to my account. I asked them if they could provide me more information about the company that charged me like their phone number, address or website. But, they never had any additional information they could provide. Apparently, whatever I can see when I manage my account on their website is all they can see.

It’s obvious that someone got a hold of my account number. So, I called American Express today and they canceled my card and are issuing me a new card with a new number.

But, I just ran across this article by Bob Sullivan (really enjoy reading his stuff) on the Red Tape Chronicles on MSNBC. His article talks about people that have had small bogus charges posted to their debit or credit cards. And, just like the people in the article, I also subscribe to Equifax credit monitoring services. Maybe there is a connection? You would think that Equifax’s website and customer data is secure. But, it’s hard to deny these connections.

Update 01/04/08 … Looks like I’m not alone. Check out http://www.cjupin.com/2007/09/13/credit-card-scam-digismarketcom.

Update 01/04/08 … I just sent this e-mail to Equifax to Security.DataAdministration@equifax.com:

I have been an Equifax customer for many years. Recently, I have read reports that Equifax’s customers have had unauthorized charges posted aganist their credit cards. Sure enough, this has happened to me 3 times on the same card that Equifax has on file (1) 10/22/07 $11.87 – E NAT NATALIYA MAKOVCARMICHAEL CA ELECTRONICS STORE (2) 12/05/07 $11.95 – PARADISE WEB PARADISPLUMAS LAKE CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET (3) 12/26/07 $ 9.45 – VALLJRSX VALL-JRSX WEST SACRAMENTO CA DIRECT MKTG INTERNET. What is Equifax doing to investigate this? The web is full of reports from Equifax customers that have fallen victim of identity theft in this manner. Just check out (1) http://www.cjupin.com/2007/09/13/credit-card-scam-digismarketcom/#comment-761 or (2) http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/11/chris-jupin-nev.html#posts or (3) my blog http://cybercjh.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!3F5736B7C1474927!199.entry. The connections to Equifax cannot be denied. Someone stole your customer’s information. What are you doing about that?!

Update 01/04/08 … Here is the response I received back from Nicole Smith, Senior Director of Global Threat & Intelligence at Equifax:

Equifax security has received your concern and we are currently investigating this matter. As you are aware, the charges are related to an overall online fraud scam related to the purchase of eBooks. Several blogs discuss the matter. Although many consumers have indicated a link to Equifax, we have not identified a common source for any of the complaints. Of the small number of consumers that have actually contacted Equifax, no unauthorized access of their accounts has been found. Equifax is continuing to investigate, however, and will do so until resolution. I will contact you personally, when this matter is resolved. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns or questions.
Thanks,
Nicole Smith
EQUIFAX
Senior Director
Global Threat & Intelligence
Also check out the following blog which is consistent with our
investigation and was sent by the CJUPIN blog leader to me a few weeks ago: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r19620593-Ebook-websites-fraud-charges-DevbillDigitalAgePluto

So, I wonder what the outcome of their investigation will be …

written by cybercjh \\ tags: Equifax, fraudulent charges