Of all the various forms of credit theft that can happen to consumers, would you believe there is a headline-grabbing crime that most credit card holders would not even bother to complain about even if they knew?

The reason for that is simple - if you read about a $5 charge to your credit card that you don't remember making, you would probably chalk it up to finance charges or a merchant's miscalculation. And how much time are you really willing to invest in a missing $5? For most people, the answer to that would be fairly straightforward - it's usually not even worth the aggravation of making a phone call.

How Surreptitious Credit Fraud Happens

The Internet has been buzzing with rumors and stories about purloined credit card numbers, as at least two major online businesses announced in 2000 that the security of their customer databases had been compromised. In the case of CD Universe nearly a year ago, it was thought that credit card numbers in the 300,000s had been electronically captured and leaked to the Internet underground. And soon enough, customers of CD Universe began complaining about unauthorized charges.

However, a new trend in credit theft has become even bigger news, as credit card issuers recently caught and stopped a $30 million credit swindle that stemmed from a more surreptitious approach on the part of credit thieves. The scam, which involves billing very small amounts of money across a vast number of credit card numbers, can take place under the guise of a fake adult web site, or under the name of an obscure or non-existent foreign company.

Even though the charges were generally not high enough per card to trigger an onslaught of customer complaints, the credit card companies were able to track the pattern and take action. In the $30 million dollar case in December of 2000, card issuers were able shut down the scam down before it succeeded, and most of the money was allegedly recovered. However, the swindle was clever, and like-minded criminals may well come up with electronic refinements to the scam that could allow them to circumvent credit card company radar.

Monitoring Your Credit Account for Unauthorized Charges

In the wake of such high-tech credit fraud scams, the importance of reading your monthly credit card statements cannot be overstated. Though you may or may not care about a mysterious $10 charge, chances are your credit card issuer would. In fact, a first wave of customer complaints may help the card issuer identify aberrant merchant behaviors before such scams can be carried off successfully.

Of course, it is important to remember that sometimes a mysterious charge may not signal credit fraud at all. For example, a purchase you make at a business called "Rainbows and Things" may show up on your credit statement as "Consolidated Novelties, Inc." Many businesses are divisions, subsidiaries, or mail order branches of other businesses, and can sometimes use different names for billing purposes.

That's why it may help to:

• Hang on to sales receipts - Though the names may be different, a purchase on the same day for the same amount is a strong clue that it's the same transaction.
  
  
• Verify balances - Even if the names are the same, double check that your card was charged for the amount shown on the sales receipt. Though it doesn't happen often, inaccuracies in transaction processing may be the fault of the merchant, however unintentional.
  
  
• Review all transactions - If there is a business listed on your credit card statement that you've never heard of and don't have any corresponding receipt for, consider calling that business to research the transaction. Then call your credit card issuer to ask for their assistance in disputing the suspect transaction with that merchant.

Article brought to you by ConsumerInfo.com