When I got a piece of rather official looking mail offering me money last fall, I was immediately suspect. I guffawed. I set it disdainfully under several catalogs that shouted "save money by spending money!" (seemed like the right place for that). But the mailing kept mysteriously surfacing...or maybe when I flipped through I kept curiously leaving it on top. Either way, I started asking around to my friends. My suspicions were confirmed! They'd gotten one too! Someone was trying to scam us all! Then I really looked into it...

It simply sounded too good to be true. But the class-action lawsuit being filed against several major credit card companies is really and truly legit. It's due to high currency conversion fees charged to Americans who traveled abroad -- namely, those who were out of country between February 1, 1996-November 8, 2006. If that's you, you're eligible to receive a return on the money you've already spent. Now, the payout clearly pales in comparison to the cut those dirty lawyers will be getting in the suit. But if they're working on my behalf, at minimal effort from me for monies I would not have otherwise seen, they deserve all they're able to scrounge. And the process for getting your return is, in fact, very simple. Just figure out what category you fall into.

I spent almost six months abroad living in Italy studying architecture in 2004 and another month in Russia (or, basically, at The Hermitage, doing the art history thing) in 2007, so I had to do some footwork to do before resting on my best option...

HOW TO GET YOUR PAYOUT

You have several options for filing your claim for this little gem of antitrust litigation:

• 1 - Plain and simple. You spent some money out of the US in this time period (on credit cards)...perhaps on a vacation or short business trip. It wasn't significant enough to go back and muddle through your files. You get a flat $25 return. Go order take-out -- doesn't it remind you of that trip to China? This make sense to claim if you spent less than $2,500. Or if you're too busy planning your next excursion.

• 2 - If you spent more than $2,500 (on credit cards), however, you're entitled to a bigger refund. If you have some time on your hands and you think it's fiscally worth it, you can document your spending with old statements and get up to 3% of what you put on your cards. However, as I quickly learned, you'll have to gain access to those old statements. If you are a good accountant, this is pie. But if you do most of your banking online (cough, cough -- that's me), you'll quickly find credit card companies charge for old statements -- they typically keep the most recent 6 months accessible instantly on their website. You'll have to calculate what you expect to gain to see if you should bother.

Or...

• 3 - If you spent more than $2,500 and don't want to do all that grunt work, you determine how much time you spent abroad in this time period and for what purpose and leave the rest to fate. The settlement administrators calculate the average spending for this period, your locale, and your setting and will correlate your payout according to what other travelers typically put on their cards. This is for very trusting or curious people. I am both...

Go to CCFSettlement.com for more information or to file you claim electronically. Do it right now. Really, what have you got to loose that you haven't already?

CURRENCY CONVERSION WHAAAT?

Travelers often use credit cards for convenience and safety abroad, but they should be aware, they might be subject to currency conversion fees. They are typically 1% of your transaction charged for translating the exchange rate. This suit charged major credit card companies with working to conceal these hidden fees. In addition, Visa and Mastercard are up against accusations of inflating their base exchange rates before applying these fees.

This suit is a nice way of working toward reparations, but educate yourself for the future by going to indexcreditcards.com. This website's culled a list of foreign transaction fees for issuers (ordered least to most) . Here's a smattering:

• Capital One: 0% transaction fee. (Capital One does not impose a fee, and it also eats the 1% fee that Visa or MasterCard impose.)
• Discover: 0% transaction fee. (Note, however, that Discover is accepted on a limited basis outside of North America.)
• Washington Mutual (NYSE: WM): 1% transaction fee.
• American Express: 2%.
• Pulaski Bank: 2%.
• Barclays/Juniper Bank: 2% to 3%, depending on card.
• Bank of America (NYSE: BAC): 3%.
• Chase (NYSE: JPM): 3%.
• Citibank (NYSE: C): 3%.
• GE (NYSE: GE) Money: 3%.
• HSBC (NYSE: HBC): 1% to 3% depending on card.
• U.S. Bank (NYSE: USB): 3%.
• Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC): 3%.

Even still, as the folks at USA Today will validate me by repeating, exchange rates at a small bank may be subject to even more exorbitant fees (http://www.usatoday.com/money/perfi/columnist/block/2006-05-29-currency-exchange_x.htm) . Lesson being? Do your research, and find out the charges associated with the plastic you already carry. Don't gamble. It's worth it to investigate exactly what kind of cards you hold.