Customer Service Announcement - Fraudulent Charges on a Credit Card


Well, I can now say (not too proudly) that I have been a victim of a fraudulent credit card charge...

Here's the story so far:

Yesterday I logged on to my bank account to check my balance... something I'm pretty anal about since I only get paid at the beginning of the month so sometimes the funds get a little low at the end of the month. The charges that I expected to be there were, along with an extra one for $12.95 that I didn't recognize from "LITTLEFORK TECHNOLOGY". Since I don't use my debit card for much beyond food and gas, I was suspicious and started to Google around. And here is a thread that I found that pretty much confirmed my fears. The question still remains how our card numbers were stolen, but hopefully someone will eventually hear back from an investigating bank.

I called Bank of America yesterday, but we couldn't do anything until the charge actually posted. So this morning I called them again and they handled it quickly and graciously. I didn't even have to ask for them to cancel the number and send me out a new card, they automatically did it. If an

yone else comes across this post because they were curious about a mysterious charge from Littlefork Technology (or any of the other "businesses" listed in the thread above), call your bank and report it ASAP. I'll update with any additional information I come up with about these charges!

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Strange that you had to wait until it posted. The same thing happened to me, and they took care of it immediately.

Mine was a credit card from Bank of America though. Possibly the difference.

Lara said...

Yeah, I thought it was kind of odd that it had to actually clear first. I would think that it would be easier to take care of before it posted, but perhaps it needed to actually post for it to be considered a real "charge" and then be investigated as fraud. Who knows... banking is a total 'black box' mystery to me!

Anonymous said...

I also had a charge from them on my bank account. Thanks for reporting it, I had no idea. Tina

Anonymous said...

The same charge posted on my Chase account last month. In fact, this "group" first attempted a charge back in September 2006, but Chase caught that one and stopped it from posting when I didn't return their security inquiry because I was on travel overseas. BEWARE, dispute the charge, and cancel your card. The chances are they will try to charge you again in about six months.

Mikel said...

I just recieved my second charge from this group. The first ws from Donna's Web Services, in Connectut for 12.95 in January. The second was from Littlefork. Which uses the town of Littlefork , MN for a business address.
I reported it to CHASE who were very helpful and changed my Credit Card for me innediately. Now two months later and again it shows up.
I did get a phone number from CHASE for LittleFork. 617-216-4166.

I hope someone can put this scam down soon.

Anonymous said...

Yeap,

Marizel From The Witch's Garden .Com here.
Thanks for your comments. I just got this charge on my business account and it hasnt posted but I put it in the search engine and your article poped up. Thanks for taking this step and helping the rest of us.
Brightest Blessings,
Marizel
www.thewitchsgarden.com

Anonymous said...

I just had a charge pop up from Littlefork Technology for $12.95 and put in a dispute through Citibank. Called the phone number and of course it doesn't ring and goes straight to a voicemail. I really don't want to cancel my card, but we'll see what happens.

Anonymous said...

I just received the Mastercard statement from the bank. The statement had on it a charge by LittleFork Technology for $12.95. I do not recall buying anything from them; I have no transaction record. I do not know who they are. A Mastercard person says that LittleFork billed them for some computer technical support performed for me. I don't recall it. I don't recall giving my Mastercard number to any such company or person.

Anonymous said...

I also recieved a fraudulent charge from LITTLEFORK TECHNOLOGIES for $12.95 on my February Citibank Mastercard statement. I called the 24 hour phone line on my card and they resolved it immediately after I mentioned this thread. Prior to that, they informed me that they would investigate the charge, and call back to let me know if I needed to change my card number.

Lara said...

I just wanted to send out a generic "thank you" and "you're welcome" to everyone who has posted in the thread. I haven't heard anything further from the bank regarding their investigation, but I will post an update if I do.

Anonymous said...

I am part owner of Littlefork Tech. Solutions. I am more puzzled than you as to why this is happening. We sell web templates, and it is legitimate. I cannot figure out what is going on.We cannot figure why some people are being charged incorrectly. Most of our customers are very happy. If anyone out there can figure this out, I would be one happy person. I absolutely DO NOT want to defraud anyone. That isn't a good way to grow a business. Please be assured that if you didn't order a template, your money will be returned.And I am so sorry.

Anonymous said...

If you are truly part owner of Littlefork Technology and you are not running a scam on people why would you post anonymously?

If this is truly not you and you are not getting all the money that is being scammed from so many people - you should certainly consider changing your company name!

I also got hit on my CitiCard account 3/08/07 for $12.95

Anonymous said...

I am new to the blogging world, and am not sure how this works. My name is Kathy, and the money is not going to us.It costs us $12.95 plus $15 every time this happens, so I certainly don't want it to continue.We have to go out of business now. I just wish I knew why this happened and how to stop it.

Lara said...

It's entirely possible that the criminals behind the fraudulant charges hijacked the Littlefork Technology business information just like they did our credit card numbers. It seems that they use one business name for a while and then they move on to another.

Anonymous said...

The fraud has not ended. I just received a Littlefork Technologies charge for 12.95 on my April Statement. Bank of America would not correct the charge, or take any other action. I had to cancel my card. VERY POOR customer Service at B of A.

The Ellerbach Pack said...

There have got to be thousands of us who've been scammed for $12.95! It happened to me in March 2007. I run an e-mail list and posted a Heads Up and have heard from 12 people with fraudulent charges. The merchant names vary. Mine was Internet Logos LLC, another one is Success Logo.

Back in 2005 - 2006 a similar scam ran at $9.95, the Digital Age scam mentioned earlier in this thread.

Here are a couple of links to forums for different interest groups who have been affected by this:

http://www.bigbigforums.com/vent-whine/
539372-check-your-debit-credit-card-statements.html

http://www.veganrepresent.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10866

I've decided to make a complaint via the FBI's site at www.ic3.gov.

Tatarize said...

Oddly it's changed over (or also using) to:
WEB FIRST CLASS LLC

WEB FIRST CLASS LLC 202-640-2764 DCUS

Hit: 4/11/07

Same stuff, same letter, same crap. It's funny they used the same form letter for both. Are you sure other people didn't steal your CC and buy a "web template" -- I don't know anybody that retarded you thieving fucks. Guess I get to change my Visa info and waste several hours.

Anonymous said...

Well, it's December, and it's still happening. This is the THIRD time since February that I have had charges on card. All three are different names, but all three are web template sites. They all have the same message on their phone. I am at the point now where I am filing a police report. I am so angry about this. Just wanted to let people know it's still happening. Be vigilant in checking your statements.

DesertHorses said...

I just got hit with a $459 charge from I Web Technologies in Montreal, CA. To add insult, there was also a $4.59 foreign transaction fee, plus an overdraft fee.
I did close my card and will be reimbursed, but it's still a royal pita.
This is, possibly, more likely to be an error as "scams" are often smaller, less noticeable amounts - like the $12.95's in this thread - many people would simply overlook that amount. I got caught a few years ago where someone was debiting my checking account for small, varying amounts for a few months - I was in the middle of building a house and didn't notice it. Had to close my checking account (major bummer).
If anyone else gets ticked by I Web Technologies, would like to hear.

Anonymous said...

I was hit by I Web Technologies, as well - for over $1,500!! I don't know if the company's responsible or if someone has my card info. Fortunately, Chase is reimbursing me and cancelled my card right away.

Unknown said...

Yep, I got hit too for $975. I'm still waiting for my money back, but luckily I have overdraft protection and it didn't rack up a bunch of NSF Fees. Mine is a Visa Check Card. As someone else posted, it's a good thing it was a large amount; it may have taken me quite some time to see it otherwise.

Lara said...

Wow, I'm really amazed that they are going for these really large charges now. Maybe they're getting greedy. It's surprising to me since the whole thing that made the scam work so well was, as others have mentioned, the small charges that might otherwise be overlooked. Maybe these larger ones are just the thing to prompt some serious investigation (by people other than bloggers!).