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Sneaky New Credit Card Scam Uncovered

Your credit card statement may have dozens of charges on it, for things like gas and groceries, so you might not even notice one for $29.99 from a company called Pluto Data with a toll free number.

Fraud victim Jamey Roe decided to check. "I called the number and it was in a heavy foreign accent and you couldn't hardly make out what they were saying. So then I got really suspicious."

Jamey spotted the fraudulent charge on his credit card account two weeks ago, so did Christa Clark. "It's scary now too because you think, if they can get that, what about your social security number and stuff."

 The victims appear to be in virtually every state using many different banks and types of cards. The web site Broadband Reports lists comments from hundreds of scam victims wondering the same thing.

What company is this? The Secret Service and FBI have opened a joint investigation into the charges. They would not comment on how widespread the fraud may be.

Fraud victim Nancy Elizabeth Pellegrino says, "People's first reaction is 'Oh well, it's all that shopping you do online.' and this and that. But you're encouraged to do online banking. Everyone's information is out there somewhere."

Neither Visa nor Mastercard could explain to us how the mystery company managed to get so many working credit card numbers. A Visa spokeswoman would say only that they were aware of the problem.

Jamey's bank, like most, didn't hold him responsible for the bogus charge because he reported it immediately. "Within a few minutes they had the account canceled and started the process of issuing a new number and a new card."

There hasn't been any similarity found between the victims. Some people shop online, some don't. The thing to remember is to check your statement carefully.