>>small amounts.
Yes, small amounts, often a dollar or less is a big red flag.
If you can:
Set your alerts at your bank/cc to notify you w/email of every debit/charge.
A small charge is a test; big one coming next.
That helps, but it's not fast enough.
With my bank, the alerts come one, maybe two days after the actual charge is made.
Fraudulent charges were made on my card recently, and I got a call from the bank. By then, the account had already been frozen. No email alert was ever sent.