What's your take on this. Possible credit card scam.
 

Ok, so yesterday I open up my bankone (chase) online site to check my credit card statement. i see an unrecognized charge, AOL, $23.90. hmm. never had aol. have comcast at both work and home for at least 5 years. i wouldn't get AOL if someone put a gun to my head, especially since SBC DSL is $14.95, nearly half of what aol charges for dialup...

so.. i call up the credit card company, they tell me that they can start filing a dispute but i have to call AOL first, and try to cancel the shit or see how it got activated.

i call aol, unfortunately if you don't have a screename or phone # associated with account you are forced to go through the maze of "I'm sorry, I didn't understand your response" voice activated automated support staff. bots.

i finally get to a rep, tell them my story, ask them for the screename and when it was activated. account was activated aug 1st, i've been billed for 2 months, my screename is my last name and my date of birth. nice. the account has not been accessed since activation. here is the kicker. the phone number from which this account was registered to is my office number, which happens to be a vonage line, and from my efforts so far my vonage line (i assume others as well) cannot be used for dialup because of the data quality. on top of it, no outgoing calls were placed on Aug 1st, or Aug 2nd (see screenshot below) yet AOL insists it was activated using AOL software from this number.

so. somehow AOL got my complete home address, credit card info, date of birth (which is part of screename), office phone number and more.

now, i try to cancel the account. they transfer me through about 3 departments and finally disconnect my call. i've tried this 3 times, all 3 times they hung up on me as soon as I said i want to disconnect (say they are transferring me over).

so. i call the credit card company. tell em about aol issues, how i can't cancel an account i never created and they tell me i have to fill out some paperwork to file a dispute, which is standard. great. will take a few months to get my $47 back, if ever.

this is my take. chase/bankone knows i use my card like a mad man. they know most my purchases are technology products and internet related. i do about $20k in purchases with them per month. i don't usually notice small charges, just like i didnt notice AOL last month. chase/bankone sold my information to AOL and my shit got activated.

i've looked at all other possibilites, no one has access to my office. no one can access this phone line. i never give my date of birth away, anywhere. the credit card is less than a year old. The only number I?ve called this credit card from is my office number. Get this. Vonage shows NO CALLS placed on Aug 1st, 2005. all evidence points to my theory.

what do you think?

http://www.surfshield.net/img/vonage.gif

Pretty fucked up IMO ... AOL is in trouble ... but I don't think they are in that MUCH troubleq

I'd threaten to cancel the card with your CC company (they may refund it instaed of losing you as a customer), write a letter to your local consumer watch dog group explaining the problem and see if they can get your $50 back - otherwise chalk it up as a loss.

if it was any other card i would have canceled it on the spot. but i've accumulated over 150k bonus miles on it and it would be a shame to let it go to waste.

It would be an even bigger shame if they were to lose a customer such as yourself over $47 :2 cents:

That sounds really fishy. I would cancel the card eather way. Someone must have that info besides you, and god only knows what they are buying :2 cents:

and they will lose me. as soon as i cash out my bonus miles i'm gone. if i can't trust them with my information, they don't deserve my business.

Look for other things like signups to dating sites, Yahoo hosting, and domains/hosting from the EU. Last time my cards were compromised all these charges were happening, from 20 to ~300 a pop.

Either someones database was hacked, or you might have a form of keylogger on your system, among other things. I doubt your theory is true, but anything is possible these days