[consumerist.com]

Fictitious company may just be fishing for valid cc numbers.

A year or three ago, there was a company that was making several very small charges on credit cards. I don't remember where it was; Russia?

I don't think that was was phishing, just trying to stay under the radar and rely on volume.

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The small charges were used to verify wire transfers. There was a case a few years ago where a guy automated the process of creating bank accounts online, then initiated wire transfers between them. The banks would deposit a small amount in the account and he would withdraw the money. It was only 1-8cents, but spready over 10,000 accounts that took him only a few minutes to create, it was a pretty good scam. Technically, he didn't break any laws either. He just had 10,000 accounts in his name.

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Quote
ztirffritz
The small charges were used to verify wire transfers. There was a case a few years ago where a guy automated the process of creating bank accounts online, then initiated wire transfers between them. The banks would deposit a small amount in the account and he would withdraw the money. It was only 1-8cents, but spready over 10,000 accounts that took him only a few minutes to create, it was a pretty good scam. Technically, he didn't break any laws either. He just had 10,000 accounts in his name.

Link? Sounds urban-mythy to me... Among other things, in most jurisdictions doing anything bank-related with the intent to defraud is illegal. This sounds like a scriptwriter's 'bright idea' for a tv drama or a sci-fi writer's backstory for the fabulously wealthy, clever, and youthful main character...

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rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future

10,000 accounts, 8 cents each... $800. Big deal.

A couple of months ago the bank that holds our MasterCard account called us to report some suspicious activity, namely some very low dollar transactions. I can't remember if it was a dollar or a penny, but it was low enough to trigger some sort of red flag. Turns out it was totally fraudulent and while I was on the phone with the MasterCard agent she said a $3K-plus charge came through, posted by the same vendor, obviously a scam. Fortunately we were not liable for any of it and I give credit to whatever system MasterCard has in place to flag these things.