Boston Credit Card Customers Experiencing Changes

By: EconomyWatch Content Team   Date: 27 January 2010

About The Author

EconomyWatch Content Team

The Economy Watch Content Team manages our thousands of reference pages on economic, industry,

EconomyWatch, Content Team

 

  • Dot Div
  •      

Although this situation occurred a year ago, it is important for consumers to understand that strange things happen all the time in connection with credit cards and that being ripped off is easier than most people think.  Unfortunately, most consumers take credit cards for granted without realizing that behind the scene, things happen.  One interesting incident happened, hitting Boston credit card customers that left people around the country confused.

This situation began when multiple internet boards designed for complaints began to receive thousands of comments from cardholders stating that a mysterious.25 charge appeared on personal credit cards.  The people affected included Boston credit card customers that had no clue what the charge was or who authorized it.  On every Boston credit card statement, as well as statements for other cards, the charge was linked to “Adele Services”, which was listed as being in Melville, New York.

However, the problem was that consumers began researching the company but quickly discovered that no Adele Services existed.  Not only did people affected search in the city of Melville, but they expanded the search to the entire state of New York and beyond.  As more and more people with a Boston credit card account and other cardholders posted messages, two theories surfaced.

·    Theory One – Some cardholders felt that someone or a group of people were trying to determine if a physical credit card or credit card numbers obtained illegally would work.  If the card could process a .25 charge, chances are the card could also be used for more expensive purchases.  This charge could appear on a statement for someone with a Boston credit card still in possession of the card, which meant that somehow the card’s numbers were fraudulently obtained or that the numbers for a lost or stolen card were obtained.  Regardless, the criminal was “testing” the card number to see if it offered potential for big spending.

·    Theory Two – The second theory for the .25 charge was that someone was making these very small charges collectively to make a lot of money.  Since the charge was so insignificant, there was a much better chance of it being missed on the statement.  After all, .25 charged to millions of cards adds up quickly.

Every state was reporting this charge and the Better Business Bureau estimated that millions of people in the United States were affected.  This became an even greater concern that if someone could charge .25 to a Boston credit card account and millions of other accounts that a larger charge was inevitable.

Although no one ever determined who was behind the charge or how the credit card numbers were obtained, most experts believe someone had the capability of using a computer program to generate numbers.  However, other experts felt that credit card data was being stole somehow on a large scale.

Even worse, since the charge was so small, the majority of people did nothing.  That means that for each .25 taken from a Boston credit card account or any account, the person doing the stealing got away with it.  One Assistant Attorney General said it best, “Taking $1 from millions of people is far easier than taking $1 million from one person.”


  • Dot Div
  •      

Most Popular in Credit Cards : US States & Cities

Related Links
blog comments powered by Disqus