Scams can come in all shapes and sizes. One person who might know that better than most is Sam (@samtiktoksthings), a TikToker who recently went viral after investigating a mysterious $7.99 charge that got deducted from her bank account.
Since calling attention to the suspected scam, she's made several videos breaking down exactly what happened and how she discovered she had been involved in an alleged personal data leak.
In this particular video, which has amassed 642,000 views, she revealed that the fraudulent payment came up as a recurring payment under the name DBX Digital—but also reported that it might possibly come up as Happily Company.
"Apparently, that company used to sell date night boxes, which I do remember purchasing about eight years ago, and that was the last time I ever paid them any money," she said.
She continued, "But what's even crazier is that when you Google DBX Digital, the only thing that pops up are people talking about these fraudulent charges. But if you Google Happily Co, you see the date night box website pop up, but when you click on it, it's completely shut down. "
She then went on to describe how she gravitated towards Reddit, through which she discovered she was not alone with this problem. Many others said they had a suspicious $7.99 deduction from DBX Digital. It was also through Reddit, she says, that she also found the solution, which was to "treat it like you would any fraudulent charge." This included steps like contacting your bank and freezing your cards. Nonetheless, she described the situation as "super frustrating and super weird."
In the comments section, several claimed that Amazon was actually involved. "Amazon popped up as this when they charged my card after the free trial," one claimed. While another advised, "Check subscriptions on Amazon."
Moreover, a third revealed, "I recently had a charge for 14.99 from Amazon on my debit card. I don’t use my debit card online, only credit card. My back texted me to ask if I made the charge, I said no and they locked my card."
@samtiktoksthings Replying to @crr53089 It’s crazy how many people are dealing with this DBX Digital credit card charge right now (and homestly lots of other scams too ????) Despute the charge and lock your cards, friends!! ???????????? #creditcard #creditcards #fraudalert #datasecurity ♬ original sound - sam✨
The Daily Dot reached out to Amazon for comment.
Another commenter suggested that it wasn't necessarily an Amazon problem, but subscription services more generally. "I work at a credit union, I had a call like this, and it ended up being a steaming subscription," they said. "It was Peacock, or Paramount Plus, Disney Plus, can't remember which one, but that's what it was."
However, for the most part, commenters were more distracted by the fact that Sam even had, presumably, an eight-year-old bank card. "How do you have a bank card from 8 years ago?" one asked. "Don’t they issue you a new card every 4 or so years?"
"They were able to charge a card from 8 years ago?" another added. "I didn't think that they were valid for that long."
While a third wrote, "Something in this story is off."
Sam didn't immediately respond to the Daily Dot's request for comment via TikTok comment. The Daily Dot could not find contact information for DBX or Happily Co.
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The post ‘I just checked and sure enough’: Woman exposes what it means if you see a $7.99 charge on your bank account appeared first on The Daily Dot.
