BillGuard: We are Smarter than Me

Mark Frauenfelder 5:15 pm Tue Sep 20, 2011

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Over at Credit.com, I took a look at a new web service called BillGuard that scans your credit card statements for bogus transactions.

What do you do when you notice an unusual transaction on your credit card? If you’re like most people, you call the credit card company to complain. If you’re really worked up about it you might also post a rant on one of those bitch board web sites where people complain about fraudulent or otherwise sneaky credit card charges.

But those sites don’t really do much good, other than let you blow off some steam. The parties responsible for double charges, unauthorized recurring subscription charges, hidden fees, fraudulent charges, unauthorized charges, and “accidental” charges merrily move on to other hapless victims for fleecing.

And many victims don’t even realize they’ve been ripped off, because credit card statements are often confusing to read. According to one company, “the average consumer loses over $300 a year to unwanted charges they’re not even aware of.” The name of the company is BillGuard, and it has come up with a way to solve the problem of dodgy credit card charges by harvesting the wisdom of the crowd. It calls its free service a “people powered, anti-virus for bills.”

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