Late at night on Halloween a notification came through on my watch that didn’t make sense: a PayPal billing alert.
It said that I had a charge from eBay for $71. I buy a lot of things oddball things on eBay, but I couldn’t recall anything quite that expensive.
When I looked, I saw a I had paid a recurring fee to eBay for 5 months in a row! They were always on the last day of the month. About $300 total.
Related: Drip, Drip, Drip – Reoccurring Payment Schemes
When I got a hold of eBay, the service rep cheerfully said it was an ongoing charge for the ‘store’ I set up when I sold my Dyson vacuum in June. Except I’ve never owned a Dyson vacuum, never set up a store to sell them. Apparently I had been hacked.
Thankfully, eBay immediately locked up my account, had me change my password, and reversed all of the charges. It took a bit of time, but was all good in the end.
How closely do you track statements to protect against odd charges? To be honest, I typically have paid little attention. People have told me to use an app that analyze your credit card statements to look for reoccurring payments, but I haven’t tried it.
I’ve never really felt it was worth the bother, but now I’m becoming a bit suspicious! I guess I need to do more than just a cursory glance at the big items on our monthly AmEx bill.
Anyone else been scammed like this?
MrFireStation 
Chief, I scan my statements every month to keep an eye out for questionable charges. Over a couple decades, a couple of my charge cards were compromised after I was traveling. Any charge, anywhere, presents a slight risk. (I NEVER use debit cards – fraud protection statutes don’t cover them; you’re at the mercy of your bank). Amex and Visa have been vigilant safeguards for me, here and overseas, instantly flagging suspects. As for eBay, I occasionally buy, but never sell. If I’ve got something I don’t need, that’s worth something, I donate it to GoodWill or other local charities.
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I mostly use my AmEx, too. I get an alert immediately on my phone & watch, but not always for subscription charges. That’s been good enough in the past, but maybe not going forward.
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