I recently discovered 2 unauthorized charges on my debit card tonight both from AV companies Mcafee & Kaspersky, both charges are from DRI (Digital River). I mention this here because the account that this happened with is only used for online purchases, 90% of which are Flight Sim related the other 10% are books. A Google search on this turns up many similar stories and some accusations towards Pay-Pal and Amazon (I have used both on this account). I have closed and re-opened a new account and filed a fraud complaint with my bank and I'm debating a police report.I'm not trying to start a panic here I'm just saying check your statements regularly, especially after a purchase! I'm somewhat lucky because I have a small account used only for internet purchasing, had this been on my main account both my wife and I would have had a hard time paying for anything while the new one comes back online :(

I recently discovered 2 unauthorized charges on my debit card tonight both from AV companies Mcafee & Kaspersky, both charges are from DRI (Digital River). I mention this here because the account that this happened with is only used for online purchases, 90% of which are Flight Sim related the other 10% are books. A Google search on this turns up many similar stories and some accusations towards Pay-Pal and Amazon (I have used both on this account). I have closed and re-opened a new account and filed a fraud complaint with my bank and I'm debating a police report.I'm not trying to start a panic here I'm just saying check your statements regularly, especially after a purchase! I'm somewhat lucky because I have a small account used only for internet purchasing, had this been on my main account both my wife and I would have had a hard time paying for anything while the new one comes back online :(

Bank of America offers a service where you can generate a credit card number with expiration date and a limit you set for use with a specific online merchant. The charge appears on your regular credit card statement, but the merchant "sees" the temporary number.When I make such a purchase now, I generate a number and allow just enough a limit to cover my purchase. I also would not use a debit card for any online purchase, it is much more difficult to deal with fraudulent charges. Also, if you purchase from ebay, make sure you purchase the item by using ebay.com as your starting point. Same holds true for purchases from Amazon.com, etc..... DO NOT use google to search for something on your wish list. Often scam artists will set up sites that come up in a google search that may have ebay or amazon somewhere in the url, but are far removed from the real thing. Of course you don't know you've been had until you go to pay, enter a card number and other personal info, and find it doesn't "take". Hope this helps, it's a good thread to have during the holidays. No matter how much we ignore these threads thinking we are too smart to have this happen to us, it's good to take heed.-John

That's why I won't ever use a debit card. Too many ways to put holds on your account. The bank may eventually reimburse you, but in the meantime you're stuck. I much prefer credit card due to $50 unauthorized charge limit and they can't directly go after your bank accounts.scott s..

I could go on a 10 page rant as to why I will never use a Credit Card again but I won't :( and I would highly recommend the CC path to anyone else. However now that I'm older and somewhat financially secure I can enjoy a CC free life (I haven't used one since 2002) and I believe I've set up an alternate that more or less gives me peace of mind from real criminals. In the end I was told it would take up to 48 hours to have this problem resolved that includes a refund with a new account and card. Again since this is a separate account its not a major inconvenience to me unless PMDG releases the 737NG within the next 2 days :(Bottom line, we all tend to make a lot of purchases this time of year so no matter what your payment method is, check your statements!

I just get those gift cards and hook them up to my paypal. This way, it all goes through paypal, I can dispute charges if bad things happen, and no one ever gets the real number except the gift card company and paypal, and my bank account is untouched.

see I don't have to worry because I'm poor :(As long as you are smart about what you do online, you can stay pretty safe. I myself always check to make sure that the URL bar has a lock icon before I make any online transactions, and also I don't do transactions through e-mail (if I get a warning about something I go directly to paypal or something). Even in taking precautions, it is still very possible to get information stolen.