Check your credit card statements

2009-01-12T10:07:00-05:00

Rumor has it that millions of credit card holders are finding a $0.25 charge on their credit card statements from a non-existent company – Adele Services in Melville, NY. Currently two theories exist as to why the mysterious charges are appearing on credit card statements.

One theory says the fraudster is testing illegal credit cards in small amounts before making larger purchases. Another theory suggests the fraudster is stealing a quarter from millions of credit card users in an attempt to get rich.

As to the validity of either theory, neither have been proved by anyone. Some credit card organizations speculate it’s easier to steal a quarter from millions of people than millions from one person.

Mitch Lipka, Globe Correspondent of Boston.com said in a recent article, “The latter theory has more credibility at the moment. The Better Business Bureau in Louisville reports that, at least so far, those who have been hit with the small charge have yet to get slammed with a bigger charge. The bureau speculates that the number of possible victims could be in the millions.”

No one knows how the fraudster got their hands on the credit card numbers. Lipka advises credit card holders to review their statements for the $0.25 charge and report it to the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gof) and the Internet Crime Complain Center (www.ic3.gov) as soon as possible.

“Take a look at your credit card statements, and if the charge is there, don't let it slide,” Lipa said. “It's what the thieves want you to do. Instead, file a dispute with your credit card company, and lodge complaints.”

According to Lipka, Federal law enforcement agencies only react when consumer complaints reach high volumes. Responses to the article have been staggering with one commenter stating, “If I could help anyone for 25 cents a month (about all I could afford), I'd do it in a heartbeat.” Other responders say the crime is “intelligent” and “they should make a movie out of it.”

Consumers have two choices: sit back and do nothing while the thieves collect a quarter from millions and profit immensely or contact the authorities and send a message to all would-be fraudsters who think they too can profit from such a crime.

About Dave Young
Dave Young is a professional writer and founder of Young Copy, a leading promotional and technical writing services firm. Visit www.youngcopy.com to learn how you can boost your company’s revenues.

http://www.gawkwire.com/business/check_your_credit_card_statements.html

Controlling Costs With Turnkey Internet

2009-01-11T22:11:00-05:00

With so many hosting companies on the market today, how do you differentiate yourself from the competition? Turnkey Internet (http://www.turnkeyinternet.net), a technology-savvy company dedicated to providing hosting solutions that enable businesses to stay focused on their core business while controlling costs, is setting new standards in the hosting market.

“In this economy, where the bottom line is becoming a moving target to so many businesses - our fully managed hosting products have become more popular than ever,” said Adam Wills, President of Turnkey Internet. “From outsourcing the company web site, corporate intranet, or even the office mail server - TurnKey Internet's managed hosting solutions are right on target to help businesses control costs.”

“Several economy-buster value targeted specials exclusively for Ping! Zine readers.”

Turnkey Internet has solutions that meet the needs of any business; from a 1 person at-home business up to a company looking to outsource 100+ servers for rapid growth. The company’s most popular product is their fully managed Linux and Windows dedicated servers starting at extremely competitive pricing. Customers with smaller, less trafficked sites can start with an Intel Celeron and as more power and space is needed, move to a Quad Core.

Each server comes standard with 8 IP addresses and a free ServerCP control panel. Other control panel options include cPanel with WHM, and Plesk. Other hosting solutions available from Turnkey Internet include virtual private servers (VPS), colocation, and shared hosting plans.

Wills said, “Ping Zine readers will find a compelling value with our product line even if they don't need the extra bells and whistles that typically come with a fully managed service.” Wills continued, “Even though our fully managed dedicated servers are our most popular solution, customers can start with a shared hosting account or a VPS account to experience the full benefits of a reliable hosting provider.”

Turnkey Internet has developed four managed services plans, each with a 100% network uptime guarantee and a 100% money back guarantee. Real-time monitoring, backup services, administration services, and Enterprise class services are provided as part of the managed service plans.

“Rackspace managed hosting quality, but with Turnkey Internet prices.”

“All of Turnkey’s dedicated servers come with our 2^nd Tier, Gold managed services package which includes full monitoring, reporting, an hour of system administration work, database and server replication and mirroring and many other features not typically available with other hosting providers’ managed service plans,” said Wills.

One differentiator of Turnkey’s managed hosting services is that it includes server hardening. A server that has not been hardened is vulnerable to trojans, hacks, and data thieves. Including server hardening as part of Turnkey’s all-inclusive managed services gives customers added security without the added costs of purchasing the service separately – as other hosting providers often require you to do. Other differentiating factors include firewall configuration, DoS monitoring and protection, and bare-metal disk image backups.

“Many so called ‘managed hosting' competitors pad their service fees with add-on charges such as $50 a month for remote disk image (bare-metal) backups, $30 a month for a control panel, additional hourly fees for support, $50 a month for firewall services and other fees every month just to keep your software up to date!” explained Wills. “We deliver Rackspace managed hosting quality, but with Turnkey prices.”

Turnkey Internet was recently awarded a plaque from the New York Better Business Bureau for three years without a single customer complaint. Providing top-notch support without complaints, all-inclusive managed hosting services, and delivering Enterprise-class virtualization services (SWSoft’s Virtuozzo) have positioned Turnkey Internet as an up-and-coming leader in the hosting industry.

Turnkey Internet is now offering several economy-buster value targeted specials exclusively for Ping! Zine readers. Specials including dual core servers under $100 can be found at http://www.turnkeyinternet.net/pingzine.

About Dave Young

Dave Young is a professional writer and founder of Young Copy, a leading promotional and technical writing services firm. Visit www.youngcopy.com to learn how you can boost your company’s revenues.

http://www.gawkwire.com/reviews/controlling_costs_with_turnkey_internet.html

Gawkwire: Web Hosting and Internet News Resource

Check your credit card statements

Controlling Costs With Turnkey Internet