You've got to look more carefully at your credit and debit card transactions on your bank statements. That's the lesson two friends learned the hard way when they were defrauded through the Internet.

Typically the scamsters make a series of small charges over a few months using a variety of company names hoping you won't notice. Then it might be too late to recover the money.

Stealing through electronic commerce is not all that mysterious. Whether the thieves gets the card number off the Internet or by another means it's still plain old fraud -- the scamsters have just found another way to get your money.

In February a colleague received a telephone call from the Bank of N.T.

Butterfield and Son Ltd. during which he was asked whether he had the Internet and was using his debit card on it. He does have access to the Internet at work but had never used his credit or debit card to make a purchase.

Through an ongoing monitoring of consumer spending habits the bank had spotted some unusual purchases charged on the Internet to his card. The charges were for small amounts -- $4 here, $10 for another, $50, and exceptionally $250.

One purchase was made in Lithuania.

The bank was unable to stop the transactions from occuring so the debit card was cancelled and the friend was given a new account. He also filled in a claims form so the bank could negotiate with the overseas banks which cleared the transactions to try get the money refunded.

He thought it was all over until last Friday night when he noticed a $18.34 Internet charge on his debit card statement. He telephoned the bank Saturday to cancel his card but was told by the security guard who answered that he would have to call back on Monday.

Apparently this advice was a breakdown of the bank's procedures. On fielding a weekend call the guard was supposed to have alerted a staff member at home, who would then have had the ability to immediately cancel the card. Needless to say the experience has left my friend's trust a little shaken.

"I still don't know how they managed to get my debit card number,'' he said.

Sabrina Phillips, the bank's Manager of Electronic Banking, said the consumer is generally protected from fraud if they follow the proper procedures in using their cards.

"The Internet is as safe as you make it,'' she said. "There is a big mystique about the Internet but it is no different from using the fax or telephone to make a purchase. The procedures and policies are the same.'' While the friend's debit card number must have been obtained other than through the Internet, another friend actively courted the scamsters and got burned in the process.

This person works in the computer industry and was using the Internet to make purchases so he could advise management on how secure it could be. He began by making debit card purchases from well known companies that were selling through the Internet.

Then he moved on to the pornographic sites and his troubles began. He ordered some pictures, joined some clubs last year. The costs were usually in the $5 to $20 range. It was only in January this year when he noticed that a number of companies were still continuing to make regular charges on his Bank of Bermuda card.

The bank was able to contact 12 of the companies and reverse the charges. One company fought back and refused to cancel. It referred him to a complicated procedure which he had to follow in order to cancel his subscription. Another which had reversed its charge showed up on his statement the next month making the same debit. The bank was unable to reverse charges by other companies which seemed to have gone out of existence. He figures he lost about $300 in total.

He cancelled his card and was given a new one. However the scamsters were soon on his back again, even though he hadn't used the new number over the Internet. A $12 charge appeared on his bank statement in March and again in April. It was a company that had previously reversed its charges.

"I don't know how they got my new card number,'' he said.

He said it's a well known in the Internet world that scamsters typically put up a site, make small charges so as not to alert their dupes, then change names and become a "new'' company under which to continue the fraud. Since the banks can't find the original company, the charges can't be reversed.

"You can't chase companies that don't exist,'' he said. "There is nobody there to accept the reversal. My advice is if you don't know the company then don't use your card on the Internet.'' The two banks and service provider Internet Bermuda Ltd. have recently issued a statement to their customers warning them of the dangers of purchasing through the Internet using their cards.

The Bank of Bermuda's Manager of Electronic Banking David Lima, said impulse buying is tempting on the Internet because it's so easy to do. That's what the scamsters are hoping to hook you on.

"It's buyer beware,'' he said. "With the Internet you don't known who is on the other end. You can't find them again if you get ripped off. It's can be quite frightening not only to banks but to consumers.'' Once a client disputes a charge the bank must follow international procedures for resolution to try and sort out who was liable for the charges -- the cardholder, the merchant, or the overseas bank which processed the purchase.

He believes the Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) technology currently being tested by MasterCard International Inc. and GTE Corp. holds the key to future online shopping. SET scrambles credit card numbers and also allows the verification of merchants and cardholders' identities. However he believes the technology is "years away'' from being introduced.

"Until then the Bank of Bermuda does not endorse the use of credit or debit cards on the Internet,'' he said.