Every week, I get fraudulent or scam-type correspondence. It comes through all my communication devices - letters in the mail, e-mail, text, and phone calls. It's so annoying, but it will probably never stop, no matter how many protection programs I install on my devices.

A couple of weeks ago, I got hit with fraud for the first time. As I was looking over a financial institution statement, I noticed a couple of charges from a large, well-known company that provides software and hardware for computers along with gaming systems and other services.

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This company charged me and many other customers who have an account at a certain financial institution, two similar charges for a service I did not order and have never ordered in the past. As a matter of fact, I've never purchased anything from this company.

Fortunately, my bank was able to refund my money after I made a call to inquire what these charges were for. They stated that these were fraudulent charges. Would I have a case for suing this large legitimate company?

Basically, they stole money from my account and had I not noticed these charges on my statement and contacted the financial institution, I'm assuming this company would have kept my money.

My account had to be temporarily suspended and my cards were canceled until I came in to have them re-issued. This is time and money that maybe I should bill this large company for. Had this scenario been reversed, I surely would have been arrested for stealing money, correct?

The moral of this article is? On a regular basis, check your financial institution statements. You never know when a suspicious charge may pop up. To keep updated on the latest scams and what to look for, visit the USA.gov website.

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