When was the last time you actually looked at your bills, bank statements or credit card charges? When was the last time you actually went over them with a fine-tooth comb? If you’re like me, you may have glanced at the balance due, paid it, and moved on.
But times have changed. No longer can you simply trust the statements you get in the mail or access on your computer screen.
I nearly flipped out last year after checking my bank account statement. Two hundred dollars had simply gone missing. You better believe I was at my branch office the first thing the next morning.
Had someone used an ATM skimmer to steal my debit card information?
Had some hacker gained access to the bank’s accounts?
Perhaps an employee had stolen my money?
Imagine my surprise when the manager, with some degree of embarrassment, informed me that it was an employee error. A teller had entered my account number when helping another customer withdraw money from their account. Someone else had accidentally been given my money.
But human error isn’t the only thing we need to worry about. You may be surprised at what you’ll find when you take the time to examine your bills and statements.
Outright fraud:
Last year I noticed a charge for gas on my credit card statement. Funny, $195 is a lot of money for one fill-up. Now I thought my Toyota was pretty decent on gas and there’s simply no way in the world it could hold $195 worth of gas. To add insult to injury, the charge took place nearly 2,000 miles away. Luckily, one call to my credit card company let me off the hook for the fraudulent charge.
Recurring charges:
I once signed up for a major league baseball service that allowed me to watch my favorite team’s games online. Yet even after the season was over, the $19.95 monthly fee was still being charged to my credit card.
Overcharges:
My parents were surprised to open a Comcast bill recently for $184, over one hundred dollars more than their normal $68 fee. Of course several calls to Comcast failed to adequately resolve the situation. The cable giant is notorious for overcharges and unadvertised fees for installation and equipment.
Services you never signed up for:
The practice of “cramming” has resulting in millions of people receiving phone bills with dubious charges on them for services they may have never realized they signed up for. Simply downloading a ringtone or agreeing to a “free” monthly internet newsletter may cause you to become victim to these phantom charges.
Take home lesson: Fraud happens to people just like you and me everyday. So too apparently does human error, corporate greed and unscrupulous business practices. For that reason we must watch our money, because no one else is doing it for us. Spend time checking your bills and statements.
BMWK. Have you ever been cheated out of your hard earned money with overcharges, fraud, or fees for services you did not receive?
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