These crooks have my phone number and my credit card number. they repeately called my and after telling them im not interested they still charged my credit card
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tj
They typically get consumer card numbers through merchant partners who either allow some "discount offer" pop-up ad on their website, or whose phone order takers attempt to obtain authorization through some vague quickly read script.
The Senate Commerce Committee has held hearings on fraudulent charging by this and similar companies, and the New York Attorney General is investigating them for consumer fraud.
The fact that they called you repeatedly, and yet you did not provide your account number, indicates both that they already had it, and that they knew they did not have authorization to charge against it.
From your complaint, it appears that they already had obtained your card number without your authorization, so they repeatedly called in an attempt to obtain and record some sort of phone authorization, or something they could fraudulently represent as such. They might, for example, ask if you agree to have them send "some information about a trial offer", or ask you to verify the last 4 digits of your card number, "to verify your identity". That alone would be sufficient to be misrepresented as "authorization".
Fraudulent telemarketing with unauthorized fraudulent charges is common when the telemarketers already have consumer account information, as all they need to do is claim you agreed. Because of this problem, FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires that pre-acquired account telemarketers having preacquired account information must record the entire sales call, including the offer, the consumer's acceptance, and specifically the consumer's disclosure of at least the last 4 digits of their card or account number.
Despite this FTC requirement, they may either doctor some recording of a sales call to insert your responses into a different script, fabricate a phony recording of such an "authorization", or they may just claim they have an authorization recording, and count on you missing the charges on your statement, or not catching them soon enough to dispute them through your bank.
Do not be surprised if they claim to have such a recording they claim is your "authorization", claim they will send you a copy as "proof", or even that they produce some semblence of such a recording, playing it to convince either you or your bank.
Immediately contact your bank to dispute their fraudulent charges, and block your card to prevent additional fraudulent charges, as they generally set up these charges to continue automatically every month until you block them. Follow up with a written dispute or fraud affidavit sent to your bank's dispute address from your statement, and send it certified (or fax it in addition to mailing certified) to ensure you have proof of the date you sent it, and of your bank's receiving it.
Under FCBA your have 60 days from the statement date of the statement showing a disputed charge to dispute it. Your bank can reverse fraudulent charges, but generally only if you dispute them timely. Although federal law requires that consumers are only responsible for the first $50 of unauthorized charges if they dispute timely, both VISA and MasterCard have "no liability for fraud" policies, and in any case, your bank can reverse the whole amount.
Do NOT trust any claim that they will "cancel" this "account", or that they have to sent you a "refund form" first, as that is generally a ploy to stretch out their charges and delay your disputing through your bank past the 60 day FCBA dispute window. You delay, they win.
You may wish to file credit card fraud charges with your local police (it is also identity theft), with your state Attorney General, with FTC, and/or with the Secret Service (they are responsible for investigating large credit card fraud cases). You may also wish to contact the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, or NY Attorney General Cuomo.
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Robert Stevens
this looks like the same thing that has happened to me. I just discovered it and will proceed to contact my bank and my credit card carrier. Thanks for the info. I may also contact those mentioned in the last paragraph.
Comments
The Senate Commerce Committee has held hearings on fraudulent charging by this and similar companies, and the New York Attorney General is investigating them for consumer fraud.
The fact that they called you repeatedly, and yet you did not provide your account number, indicates both that they already had it, and that they knew they did not have authorization to charge against it.
From your complaint, it appears that they already had obtained your card number without your authorization, so they repeatedly called in an attempt to obtain and record some sort of phone authorization, or something they could fraudulently represent as such. They might, for example, ask if you agree to have them send "some information about a trial offer", or ask you to verify the last 4 digits of your card number, "to verify your identity". That alone would be sufficient to be misrepresented as "authorization".
Fraudulent telemarketing with unauthorized fraudulent charges is common when the telemarketers already have consumer account information, as all they need to do is claim you agreed. Because of this problem, FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule requires that pre-acquired account telemarketers having preacquired account information must record the entire sales call, including the offer, the consumer's acceptance, and specifically the consumer's disclosure of at least the last 4 digits of their card or account number.
Despite this FTC requirement, they may either doctor some recording of a sales call to insert your responses into a different script, fabricate a phony recording of such an "authorization", or they may just claim they have an authorization recording, and count on you missing the charges on your statement, or not catching them soon enough to dispute them through your bank.
Do not be surprised if they claim to have such a recording they claim is your "authorization", claim they will send you a copy as "proof", or even that they produce some semblence of such a recording, playing it to convince either you or your bank.
Immediately contact your bank to dispute their fraudulent charges, and block your card to prevent additional fraudulent charges, as they generally set up these charges to continue automatically every month until you block them. Follow up with a written dispute or fraud affidavit sent to your bank's dispute address from your statement, and send it certified (or fax it in addition to mailing certified) to ensure you have proof of the date you sent it, and of your bank's receiving it.
Under FCBA your have 60 days from the statement date of the statement showing a disputed charge to dispute it. Your bank can reverse fraudulent charges, but generally only if you dispute them timely. Although federal law requires that consumers are only responsible for the first $50 of unauthorized charges if they dispute timely, both VISA and MasterCard have "no liability for fraud" policies, and in any case, your bank can reverse the whole amount.
Do NOT trust any claim that they will "cancel" this "account", or that they have to sent you a "refund form" first, as that is generally a ploy to stretch out their charges and delay your disputing through your bank past the 60 day FCBA dispute window. You delay, they win.
You may wish to file credit card fraud charges with your local police (it is also identity theft), with your state Attorney General, with FTC, and/or with the Secret Service (they are responsible for investigating large credit card fraud cases). You may also wish to contact the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller, or NY Attorney General Cuomo.