$500 Voucher
Complaint
MNJ
Country: United States
My first call of 2day was from CENTRAL REWARDS cliaming that my phone # was radomly selected by there company 2 recieve a $500 grocery card and that all I had 2 do was pay $4.95 and the card would arrive in the mail. I asked what company was the card going to be from and he responded Wal-Mart Target Homedepot etc. So now I'm thinking scam because you would or should be able to tell me who this card is going to come from. He was very hesitant on the answer as well. He was so eager to get my card # i just felt like something wasn't right and everytime I would ask a ? the background went completely silent. I asked for their telephone # after the 3rd time of the background going silent and the guy said that i had to pay the $4.95 to get it.That is when i knew to look on the computer and see whats up with this company. I still have this gentleman on the phone sayn how this $500 grocery card is a good deal and that im getting it for a low price just shipping and handling cost and that it would be here in 1 to 2 days. Before the screen could show me all the complaints on this company i asked for the # for the last time and he flat out said that I had 2 pay for it the screen poped up and i saw complaints with recent dates and I told him that I was going to have to pass cause i just lost my card!!!!
He called me from a # with all "0"'s and I do not remember his name but im quite sure he is not giving the same name all the time but he did have an aribic accient! Be safe people and PLEASE ASK MORE ?'S AND DO NOT BE AFFRAID TO CHALLENGE THEM.......IT'S YOUR MONEY!!!!!!
He called me from a # with all "0"'s and I do not remember his name but im quite sure he is not giving the same name all the time but he did have an aribic accient! Be safe people and PLEASE ASK MORE ?'S AND DO NOT BE AFFRAID TO CHALLENGE THEM.......IT'S YOUR MONEY!!!!!!
Comments
They make deceptive and misleading claims about their "product" to get consumer account information, then start charging monthly for the "discount membership".
The "discounts" aren't worth anywhere near $500 if you can even get them at all, since they set up a complicated way you have to send receipts to get vouchers spread out over months, allowing the monthly charges to continue.
The actual terms are not disclosed up front, so the undisclosed monthly charges are fraudulent.
In addition, there are continued reports from consumers that they got transferred to this scam when calling their utility company, bank, or insurance company. The consistency of such complaints suggests that they may be using 800 numbers 1 digit different from large U.S. customer service numbers, so that they can con and defraud U.S. consumers by telling them the "deal" is being offered by their bank or insurance company.
In all cases of charge cramming fraud, immediately contact your bank to dispute the fraudulent charges, and close the account or block the card number to prevent additional fraudulent charges. Follow up with a written dispute sent to your bank's dispute address, and a fraud affidavit sent to your bank's fraud department.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2011/12/americall.shtm
"...
For instance, when telemarketing on behalf of an insurance company, Americall masked the company's identity by transmitting the name "Gas Rebate Center" over Caller ID.
..."
Question: Does this suggest the possibility of a call center handling both legitimate customers like insurance companies, etc, and also running a "gas rebate" scam out of the same call center, perhaps diverting incoming client customer calls to the scam? This scenario is consistent with the many reports of callers calling insurance companies, banks, or utilities getting connected with the "Central Rewards" scam.
Despite the FTC allegations of violating internal Do Not Call list requirements, it does not make sense that such a "customer survey" company would choose "Gas Rebate Center" as a deliberate alias, unless they were actually running some "gas rebate" scam and accidentally used the wrong caller id.
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/national-union-fire-insurance-co-of-pittsburgh-pa-raleigh-north-carolina-c256597.html
Although FTC has nailed this telemarketer on Do Not Call violations, repeated harassing marketing calls to existing customers of banks or insurance companies are an indicator associated with the activities of fraudulent telemarketers looking to record some "acknowledgement" from the target that they can fraudulently claim is an "authorization" for charges.
When you find any deception, look for more, since it indicates both the intent and the capability to engage in and profit from deception.
In this example, failure to comply with Do Not Call results in call harassment, which is primarily of value in perpetrating fraud.
Any deception shows that the company's legal compliance controls are faulty, and/or that their incentives reward fraud, both for telemarketers, and probably for first line supervisors.
There are some complaints suggesting they may be using 800 numbers chosen to be 1 digit different from common U.S. company call centers, to capture dialing errors and pretend they are connected with a company already doing business with a consumer, or they may even be an overseas outsourced call center with a rogue scam operating in the back room and targetting the customers of clients.
Repeated harassing calls are consistent with attempts to record some piece of the call that they can claim is an "authorization" for charges. This may indicate they already have access to some consumer account information, and only need this snippet of recording to get away with charging.
Note that the above pattern suggests a focus on blatant fraud rather than sale of any real "product", while hiding the operation overseas to avoid prosecution.
Just your name, card number, and expiration date is enough.
If they are aiming at slipping through the larger charges against the unwary who are only expeting a "$2.95 charge", then they just have to do it a lot, and confuse, delay, or threaten anyone complaining long enough to run out the 60 day CC dispute period.
Fraud is not rocket science.
When it's set up as a scam from the start, the only effective way to deal with fraudulent charges is to dispute them through your bank and block the card number to prevent additional fraud.