scam!
Complaint
Patrick Jernigan
Country: United States
I recently received a phone call from 1-888-279-9221 and also 1-877-855-4547 that told me I had won a $1000 online shopping spree. All I had to do was answer a few questions; little did I know the questions were about my bank account information. Beware, everyone, if you get a phone call from this number(s). It is a scam. After doing some research on the company, I discovered that they use your bank account information to rob you. The report I read was written by a woman who had the same experience with this company. She was told that she would receive magazines in the mail. She received no magazines but money was still withdrawn from her account.
For those that get a phone call from this number, DO NOT answer.
For those that get a phone call from this number, DO NOT answer.
Comments
Go [***] yourself. Satan's waiting for you and your co-workers :)
Doesn't make anything they say true. In fact, if they deceived once to make the sale, it's likely they will do so again to get paid for what they now claim you "agreed" to.
Their deception is generally in not disclosing the full costs of what they will later claim you agreed to. They engage in deceptive misrepresentations of the total costs of the "subscriptions". They may also be misrepresenting that they are authorized agents of the magazines, or that they have already paid the publishers for the subscriptions, so they can't cancel. If you contact the magazine publishers directly, you may find a different story.
If you are paying an intermediary for these supposed subscriptions, yet they represent that you are subscribed directly with the publisher while they haven't actually paid or won't be paying the publisher for the full subscription, then you are subject to the risk that the seller will either go bust or fail to pay over your payments to the publisher. If they claim otherwise that is a material misrepresentation, that if you had known, you would have evaluated their "offer" differently, hence it was a deceptive misrepresentation made with the intent to defraud you. If the publisher isn't responsible for the full subscription, they are engaged in telemarketing fraud.
Legitimate businesses have customers willing to pay for products sold at a fair, disclosed value. They don't need to make threats to extort payment for "bait and switch" deceptive scams.
If their sales pitch misrepresented what they now claim is a "verbal contract", then that is your basis for nullifying the contract due to fraud. Contact your state Attorney General.
In general, there are NO telemarketing calls that are worth listening to. They are ALL engaged in fraud to one degree or another. Put your numbers on the Do Not Call list, so you will know you are also dealing with callers violating that federal law as well.
The most important step in dealing with scammers of this sort is to realize that it's not about the "subscription" or the "contract", it's just about getting the money. So cut your losses by cutting off access to the money.
They typically make threats of "legal action", "sending to collections", etc, but Ben's experience is also pretty typical. Most collection agencies won't touch their "accounts", and if you do receive a "collections" call, it's usually someone in the next room from the same outfit.
Report ALL deceptive telemarketing to FTC and your state Attorney General.
Completely false and deceptive LIE. Also credit card fishing.
Great lead-in to deceptively ask for your CC number to see if "you won the prize", after which they can spin any pitch they want, knowing they can submit charges without anything further from you.
File a complaint with FTC, your state Attorney General, and your local police.
If you are dealing with crooks, you can't just ask them if they are scammers and expect an honest answer. Nor does it make any sense to speak to a "higher rank", since they are part of the same scam. Nor can you trust them when they say they "work as a third party with your bank". If they will lie once, no reason to stop there.
Contact your bank immediately to dispute the fraudulent charges and close the account to prevent additional fraud.
No you don't need any "proof". They are taking your money without permission. That is proof enough.
Cut off the money, and dispute all charges they have already made.
File complaints with FTC and your state Attorney General.
Note how the initial pitch of $40 for one magazine (which would be high for 1 year of most consumer magazines) is turned into 4 years at $40 per month, then $800. While they are making it up, it really doesn't matter what they make up.
You blocked access to your money. That is the most important thing you can do to protect yourself.
File complaints with FTC and your state AG outlining the misrepresentations and arbitrary changes to the alleged amount "owed".
They set out to defraud you, took your money, and delivered nothing.
Don't shed a tear about not receiving the "gift card" or the magazines. You can get either at the grocery store with a lot less risk.
They did, however, take your money, defrauding you by not honoring their cancellation terms, and they delivered nothing for the money they took.
Contact your bank immediately to dispute their fraudulent charges, and close the account due to fraud to prevent additional fraudulent charges.
You may need to watch replacement credit or debit card statements for a few months, since charges against old numbers can roll over to replacement cards for a while, if they are run through as "automatic charges".