getting to the bottom of unexplained monthly $10 charges on my bank statements

I was looking at my bank account online and noticed a $10 charge that I didn't recognize from something called "reservations rewards". Looking back over my transactions, it seems I've been charged this $10 every month since December. Turns out it is a company that scams people by opening a discount window when you buy stuff from particular websites. I think it got me buying movie tickets online. Here's the thing, you don't have to type in your cc number for them to get you. This is how it works:

• You buy something online from a site that you trust.
• A window pops open telling you can get a $10 coupon for the site you just bought something from, you just have to give them an email address.
• The fine print says that putting in an email address is equivalent to an electronic signature and that you are agreeing to allow the site you purchased from to send all your cc info to Reservations Rewards.

It gets better:

• Reservations Rewards sends you an email stating if you don’t cancel they will charge $10 a month from now on (and it doesn’t appear that you even get anything for this ten bucks).
• Even better, your spam software will most likely filter out this email so you will never see it.

So I’m going to call my bank when I get home tonight (and it is business hours in the US) and get them to dispute the charges. From what I’ve read, it’s better to have your bank or cc company dispute the charges instead of calling the company directly as this will cost the scammers an extra $25.

I feel foolish for taking this long to recognize the scam. Obviously you should check all the charges to your account, and call your bank about anything suspicious. And it’s probably a good idea to disable pop-ups too.

Here’s a link to a consumerist.com article about the scam.

You can search for Reservations Rewards online and fine a lot more information as well.