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Online finance site notifies users of fraudulent charges

A fake, nonexistent company called Adele has been fraudulently charging 25 cent-micropayments to millions of credit cards across the country to either 1) test to see if bigger amounts can be charged or 2) see if they can make a tidy profit from untold millions of tiny charges.Remember personal finance site Mint I told you about several months ago?

Written by Andrew Nusca, Contributor Jan. 15, 2009 at 3:39 a.m. PT

A fake, nonexistent company called Adele has been fraudulently charging 25 cent-micropayments to millions of credit cards across the country to either 1) test to see if bigger amounts can be charged or 2) see if they can make a tidy profit from untold millions of tiny charges.

Remember personal finance site Mint I told you about several months ago? The company recently went "above and beyond," as consumer watchdog site The Consumerist points out, by notifying members if a charge from Adele showed up in their records.

While no one would fault Mint for notifying its members of fraud, the move has sparked a discussion: should Mint be allowed to query the financial information of its users for such an event?

Personally, I think an automated query is fine. But others -- especially those who think online finance-tracking sites are inherently risky -- might think otherwise.

As one commenter aptly put it, "Big Brother is watching you. But at least he's got minty-fresh breath." What do you think? [mint.com]

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Online finance site notifies users of fraudulent charges

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