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Campaign Credit Scam

By Bill Riales Anchor

Published: Tue, June 17, 2008 - 5:00 am Last Updated: Mon, June 16, 2008 - 11:15 am

Short URL: http://wkrg.com/a/14910/

Bill Riales

Most people may not realize their credit card number has been stolen until the charges show up on their statements. One Mobile businessman found out he's been supporting the Presidential campaign of Barack Obama. Wayne McBride is co-owner of DiRect Management, a collection agency. According to his latest credit card statement he's also a supporter of the Obama for America campaign and he didn't even know it.
"As far as I know we've had five unauthorized charges in these two bills." he said. In his last two statements McBride discovered charges made to Obama for America, a Chinese airline, and a Singapore hotel. He immediately asked the employees who use the cards about it. They didn't have a clue.
"We've got five credit cards that we use and we look at them pretty closely to make sure everything is related to the business," he told News 5.
McBride said the credit card company cancelled the original card and issued a new card. But he said, "It is ironic we also have a charge on the new card and one on the other cards that we have issued to another employee here."
The businessman said he found out the practice of making small donations to campaigns is used by criminals to verify whether a stolen credit card number is valid. He asked the credit card company about it. "They told us that they had seen some of this before," said McBride. "they really wouldn't tell us much about."
No one from the Obama campaign returned our calls but in published reports a spokesman said if you believe a charge is fraudulent, contact your credit card company. In those same reports a spokesman for Symantec, the computer security company, verified this technique is being used by criminals with stolen credit card numbers.
The bottom line is, check your statement thoroughly. And if you have on line access to your credit account, check it often. You may be able to dispute a fraudulent charge as soon as it happens.
By the way, the charges on McBride's credit card ranged from $25 to $100 donations for the Obama campaign. There were charges of almost $500 apiece for the Chinese airline and the Singapore hotel. The hotel charge has since been credited back to the company's credit card.