HOUSTON – KPRC 2 viewers contacted the station, asking about mysterious charges appearing on their bank accounts from a movie company in Mexico.
The transactions are amounts ranging from a couple of dollars to over $40. The common thread is the company trying to collect the money. The charges shown to KPRC 2 come from Linea Cinemex Complejo Mexico in Mexico City. Some users were also stung for foreign transaction fees.
Complaints about these charges are piling up on the internet. Posters from Texas, Washington, Virginia and California are asking about the charges. Posters wrote that the charges are showing up on Bank of America, Chase and Barclay credit and debit cards.
"This is a set of cards that's been amassed over time," said University of Houston computer security expert Chris Bronk.
Bronk said given that the charges are appearing on accounts from different institutions, it is likely the cards were compromised during any number of earlier breaches at retail chains. Bronk said the stolen information was then bundled and sold on the black market to cybercriminals who are only now trying to cash in.
"This is an everyday occurrence now, it's happening to everyone," said Bronk.
Bronk said small dollar amounts can sometimes slip past banks' fraud measures, especially if a card is rarely used and the bank doesn't have a detailed spending pattern for the account.
Some taking to the Internet to express their concern wrote that the charges went through before being caught, while others wrote that their bank denied the transaction. Bronk said there is also no guarantee the money is going to Mexico or to a bona fide business. Bronk said whoever is behind the charges could be overseas and masking where the money is ending up.
"In a way the bad guys kind of blew it a little bit in hitting so many people at once," said Bronk.
Bronk said this is why it imperative people monitor their accounts regularly for fraudulent charges, set up fraud alerts on their accounts and report suspicious charges immediately.
Neither Bank of America nor Chase would comment on these charges, but both sent KPRC 2 written statements.
Bank of America statement:
"Bank of America customers are protected against fraudulent charges on their cards with our free $0 Liability Guarantee. As always, we recommend that consumers should monitor their accounts and contact their card issuer immediately if they see an unauthorized transaction on their card. We couldn't comment on a specific merchant."
Chase statement:
"We have sophisticated systems in place that are able to prevent most fraud attempts. In the event of fraud, please call the bank and report it. There is zero liability for customers who report incidents of fraud in a timely manner."
