. .

MESSENGER
OKOLONA, MS
Circulation- 1165
WEEKLY
0211 812009

BBB: Check
your credit card
statements,?8fi
Consumers nationwide are
reporting mysterious charges
on their credit card state-
ments. These charges, gener-
ally not morc than 25 cents,
are coming from "Adele
Services" in New York - a
company that is not regis-
tered anywhere in the state.
"Consumers can easily
overlook charges of such an
insignificant amount," said
Bill Moak, PresidcntICEO of
the Mississippi BBB.
"Although they may be
intended to rip off tiny
amounts from tons of peoplc,
they could also lcad to a larg-
er problem if the charges are
actually an attempt to vali-
date thc credit card account
before making much larger
charges. In other words, if a
consumer casily overlooks
these charges then it may be
likely that they will overlook
subsequent charges as well."
There is not an apparent
way that the credit card
account numbers are getting
into the hands of the scam-
mers. Consumer advocates
say most likely it is by data
theft or simply the use of a
computer to gencratc account
numbers.
"Take a look at your credit
card statements and don't let
any such erroneous charges
slide by, "Moak continued.
"It's what the thieves want
you to do."
Fraudulent charges should
be disputed with your crcdit
card company and a com-
plaint can be made to the
Federal Trade Commission
FTC) at www.fic.gov.
The BBB has been serving
Mississippi since 1964.