Who’s Behind the Bogus $49.95 Charges?

22 Sep 14 Hardly a week goes by when I don’t hear from a reader wondering about the origins of a bogus credit card charge for $49.95 or some similar amount for a product they never ordered. As this post will explain, such charges appear to be the result of crooks trying to game various online affiliate programs by using stolen credit cards.
http://krebsonsecurity.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/fatburngarcina-285x337.pngBogus $49.95 charges for herbal weight loss products like these are showing up on countless consumer credit statements.
 
Most of these charges are associated with companies marketing products of dubious value and quality, typically by knitting a complex web of front companies, customer support centers and card processing networks. Whether we’re talking about a $49.95 payment for a bottle of overpriced vitamins, $12.96 for some no-name software title, or $9.84 for a dodgy Internet marketing program, the unauthorized charge usually is for a good or service that is intended to be marketed by an online affiliate program.
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