Aussies urgently warned to ring their bank NOW if they see these two words on their bank statement
Aussies have been urged to contact their bank immediately if they notice suspicious credit and debit card charges for ‘Jet Frog’ on their bank statements.
A Sydneysider said they noticed a $0 pending transaction from the unknown organization even though they had not made a purchase.
They immediately contacted their bank ING to have their card canceled.
Others weren’t so lucky, losing up to $1,000 in future transactions after failing to cancel their card.
Although the scam has mainly been reported by social media users from the United States or Europe, several Australians have reported it has happened to them.
Aussies have been urged to check their bank accounts for unknown transactions for small amounts that precede larger, fraudulent transactions (stock image)
The transactions come from a mysterious company called ‘Jet Frog’ (pictured) previously used to check US and European card data in recent years
The Sydneysider who was targeted shared his experience with social media users, with other Australians claiming it was a “well-known scammer” that had been around for at least two years.
“I got a $0.64 charge from them, but I couldn’t find any other information,” one Reddit user wrote in 2022.
Others said they were lucky they knew about the scam and had their accounts frozen before follow-up charges were filed.
Little is known about the mysterious company, despite it being a sign that users have been scammed for years.
Finance Reference, an economic news website, reported that the company is a “third-party credit card processor,” meaning they process credit card payments for companies that cannot do so themselves.
However, further searches for the company reveal no website or company history, despite it being the name behind banshee-like charges on bills for years.
Users have reported that jewelry such as necklaces costing more than $1,000 were purchased with their account shortly after the Jet Frog transaction was approved (stock image)
User claim hackers often use the tactic of sending a small, random transaction to find valid credit or debit card information and then using it for a larger scam (stock image)
A spokesperson for the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) told Daily Mail Australia that ‘Jet Frog’ has not been mentioned in any recent Scamwatch report.
“Contact your bank immediately if you notice any unusual activity on your bank account, such as unexpected or unknown charges,” the spokesperson said.
Scamwatch found that Aussies were scammed out of more than $455 million in just 280,240 incidents in 2023.
A lion’s share of that, over $275 million, was due to investment fraud, while the preferred method was targeting victims via text message.
“If you’ve lost money or personal information to a scammer, you’re not alone,” the ScamWatch website says.
“Hundreds of thousands of Australians are robbed of their money or personal information every year.
‘Contact your bank or card provider immediately to report the scam. Ask them to stop any transactions.
‘Once you’ve secured your details, you can help us stop the scam or warn others by reporting the scam to us.’