Unauthorized charges for services
Complaint
Christen Ehley
Country: United States
We were mailed a bill from Regional Yellow Pages Online and when we called to let them know we had never used them nor authorized a contract, they told us they had a recording of an employee saying yes to the contract. We refused to pay because everything we can find about the company online is fraud and now they have sent us to collections with ACA Recovery Inc. The people at the collections service are also not helpful or willing to listen to our side of the story---stating "if we took advice from debtors..." We are not paying for the service because we never authorized it, nor can we even find information about our business on their site!
Comments
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/ocbgPRSIQAD4ogjMKixQeg
ACA Recovery is reported to be collecting for at least two "business directory" scams, one operating under the above name, and a second calling themselves goyellowpages. Both are reported to call small businesses claiming to be "updating your information", then claiming to have recordings of employees "authorizing" charges for some "on-line listing".
Many reports also indicate that on playing such alleged recordings, they sounded like the had been edited or doctored, with recorded "yes" responses edited into a script different from the original call. ACA Recovery is reported to attempt the same con, using the same "recorded authorization" allegation, as the original scammers.
According to their BBB report, the company has reached settlements with the state of Iowa, and agreed to stay out of North Dakota, in connection with fraudulent invoicing allegations.
Regional yellow pages is reported to have possible connections to Montreal Canada call centers, or possibly Michigan. They appear to be attempting to hdie their actual location using various mail drops in other states. The BBB report indicates various possible addresses, some now dead.
If you actually want their real address, probably the Attorney Generals of Iowa or North Dakota would be your best contact.
File fraud complaints against both with FTC, your state Attorney General, the NY Attorney General (home of ACA Recovery), and www.ic3.gov (used for reporting internet related fraud). In addition, file a mail fraud complaint against ACA Recovery with the U.S. Postal Inspector, since it is illegal to use the U.S. Mail in a fraudulent scheme.
This isn't a debate, where they throw B.S. at you until they win and get your money. You don't care what they think, nor do you have to convince them of anything. They know what their client is up to, and they know what they are up to. What they say is irrelevant.
If you get a fraudulent invoice, send one letter, certified, disputing it as fraudulent.
If you see indications of fraud or other criminal acts, report it to all appropriate authorities.
As the telemarketing age continues to grow, more and more businesses use this approach to successfully sell or advertise their products and/or services.
Many of them ARE legitimate however, this way of selling is not only used today by companies and charities, but used by people eager to commit fraud. They depend on a person's naiveness and rob them blind using their best telephone sales tactics as their weapon.
Now lets take a look at the common definition of telemarketing fraud.
According to some experts, the term telemarketing fraud refers generally to any scheme to defraud. In a telemarketing fraud scheme, the persons or person carrying out the scheme use the telephone as their primary means of communicating to their prospective targets. They tend work with their sales tactics to persuade people to send money for the "sale". Usually these fraudulent companies solicit people to buy their products and/or services, or to donate funds for charitable causes, or even to invest money. Most of these operations use representations and promises just to trap their unfortunate victims.
There is one particular telemarketing tactic commonly used called the "reloading". Reloading is a term that refers to the re-contacting of victims after their initial transactions were completed. They re-contact the victim for additional payments.
You can find out more information on our website: www.spgconsultants.com
By informing each other, we protect each other.
Sincerely,
SPG Consultants
If you are having problems with this entity, including harassing or deceptive sales or collection calls, or attempts by ACA Recovery to collect on their bogus accounts, contact FTC.