November 29, 2006

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  Michigan Gas Fraud Has Authorities Puzzled

  Wesco, a gas station chain throughout Michigan, recently began urging their customers to closely examine their statements for fraudulent or incorrect transactions that may have occurred between July 25^th and September 7^th of this year. Details weren't immediately released, but the vague warnings panicked many customers, who began deluging their financial institutions with queries about the incident.

  Interestingly, Wesco didn't become aware of the suspicious transactions by customers, but via the banks themselves, who had begun in the last month to ask Wesco about odd and suspect transactions that were becoming more frequent. Bank security departments exist to notice irregularities in customer activity, and it was a boost in these snafus that alerted the financial institutions.

  To date, Wesco has still kept mum on more specific details of the credit card fraud, but financial institutions in the Muskegon area of Michigan alone have issued new cards to more than 1,500 customers whose security has been in some way compromised. The really pressing question is why Wesco took so long to address this issue.