Always Check Your Bank Statements

John leaves me in charge of all the finances/bills when he leaves. I have a budget program and stick strictly to it. I monitor the accounts and every time we feel like we are making some progress things have come up. Computer broke. Termites. Tyrone's appt after the opossum incident. And today, although it's a very small amount, I look at our bank statement online, and see there's a mysterious charge for $14.90 from a "HOSTING SALES 888-865-8560 WA". I first emailed John to ask if he knew of it, but then I noticed it was charged with my card. A quick google search revealed it to be a common fraudulent charge from a "web hosting company." In fact, there are forums just this month started where people had the same thing happen.

It makes you feel so violated. To think there are people out there probably with families and nice homes and cars, feeling like they have a legit career, making fraudulent sneaky charges on people's credit cards. But hey, look at our president and congress.

I called my bank, and Lucas just had to wake up grumpy from his nap screaming. I couldn't shut him up--i was tempted to just shut him in to the bathroom so I could hear the lazy jerk representative who was almost whispering. I have to turn my phone volume up all the way. I don't understand why people can't speak up when you tell them you can't hear them and subsequently have to say "i'm sorry?" or "come again?" or "i can't hear you" over and over.

He says since I am not the main account holder, I can't file the fraudulent claim. I ask if my husband can when he comes home. He says no because the charge was on my card....these people really want to discourage you from taking ANY action. I said "well how can i make a claim then!?" and he says "well, you have to verify youre an owner of the account and get a new access code and password and I would have to ask you a bunch of security questions." I can't believe he is trying to make this more difficult. So I told him to do it. He proceeded to ask me odd questions about a "Jane McCammon" at John and my old address from NY...where she never has lived. That was my mom's name for a few years (first marriage) way before I was born.

Anyway, I verified myself,got a new access code, and logged in to change my temporary password to a real one, and finally filed the claim. Surprisingly, the $14 has already been refunded. My problem is why can't they block those charges in the future if they have been established as a fraudulent company? And why can't they track them and report them? I also reported it to the internet crime committee thing.

I had to cancel my current card and get a new one.

So my advice is to always check your statements. We annually check our credit report too. When we move to Idaho we are getting a separate computer or laptop and ONLY doing banking/bills on it. No emails or web surfing. No more online purchases or downloads.