charged $29.95 to my checking account
Complaint
Hazel E Hales
Country: United States
I found a charge of $29.95 on my checking account. Originally it was listed as "Health Plan". I would not have signed up for that as I have Medicare and private health insurance therefor I do not need or want anything from this company.
Comments
Your bank can reverse promptly reported fraudulent charges.
Also, file fraud and theft complaints with your local police, and with your state Attorney General, and FTC.
Telemarketing fraud and "discount club" cramming scam.
They appear to be running a "discount club" scam, with many reports of unauthorized charges and fraudulently "signing up" consumers for their monthly charges.
Reports of deceptive telemarketing resulting in charges when consumers thought they had not agreed to anything, indicating telemarketing fraud.
Reports include charges to consumer accounts due to "membership accounts" supposedly agreed to by some other person. In other words, they make some account number "mistake", or just decide to start taking your money, and charges can start occurring.
Unauthorized charges for multiple "products" at once are reported, consistent with common patterns associated with telemarketing fraud and cramming.
Various names reported in connection with this operation. Various locations reported: Vancouver WA, CT, Minneapolis MN.Jackson MI
This type of scam typically employs a number of telemarketing call centers, possibly including outsourced ones, to deny knowing about fraudulent telemarketing practices.
May be associated with the same company behind the WC* cramming group.
Multiple reports that when contacted they promised to cancel and refund, but after repeated requests had failed to do so.
Reports that a number of banks are familiar with their fraudulent charges.
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/KkEUXrO8AACEuAjLknLoBg
MVQ BEST BENEFITS
Reported in connection with on-line purchases from Target.
Advantage Care Plus for $19.95
Typical "preacquired account information" telemarketing fraud. They already had account information when they called, so they just went through the sales pitch and started charging. In this type of telemarketing fraud, it is common to fabricate fraudulent "recordings" to claim the consumer agreed to the charges, but they already have the consumer's account number, so this is easy since no one checks these recordings, even though they are required by FTC TSR rules.
"becca c - 2 Dec 2009
I remember getting a call one day while i was at the store and I thought it was about the purchase I had made online. I had no idea I was agreeing to coupons or anything. I just kept telling them not interested. They said they will bill me 1 first that 19.95 every month after that. The only problem is I never received the coupon book. I saw the bill on my state on 11/27 called the number 1-800-475-1942 on 11/29 and cancelled the membership. I noticed a refund on 12/02. So I hope this does not happen again. These companies are good at misleading people"
https://complaintwire.org/Complaint.aspx/KkEUXrO8AACEuAjLknLoBg
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/mvq-c233725.html
MVQ*CLUBSAVE 888-239-3917 CT
MVQ*PRIVACYMID 888-239-3919 CT
MVQ*CRDIAGNOSIS 800-379-5036 CT
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/never-signed-up-for-mvq-club-c278066.html
10-14-09 MVQ*BIZMAX 24692169286000407850560 $14.95
MVQ*BIZMAX $14.95
MVQ*SHOPESSPLUS $14.95
MVQ*VPCLUBUS $14.95
Reported fraudulent sign-up in connection with classmates.com
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/unauthorized-charges-c264816.html
MVQ Privacy 19.99
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/never-joined-or-signed-for-c282331.html
MVQVPCCLUBS $14.95
MVQSHOPESSPLUS $14.95
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/scam-c279419.html
"I also have no idea hwo these people got my credit card. We are being charged 14.95. think it is funny how on their website they expect you not to know who they are. The first thing you see on their website is explaining if you found a MVQ charge on your bil...etc, etc..I now have to go back over my statements as I am not aware if this is the first time they are charging me..."
BBB doesn't yet appear to have all their names.
http://www.bbb.org/eastern-michigan/business- ... on-mi-90009927/
Company behind this is Adaptive Marketing. They don't provide their address on their website.
http://membershipcenter.com/index.aspx?nipkw=888-239-3917
Adaptive Marketing is part of Vertrue, formerly known as MemberWorks.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/makeitc ... ourmoney21.html
Memberworks reached settlements with several state Attorneys General, related to similar scams.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/memwrks_mn_ag.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/mwi_florida.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/memberworks.html
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/memberworks_ca.html
Class action lawsuit against Vertrue, Adaptive Marketing.
http://classactionblog.mdpcelaw.com/2008/08/a ... vistaprint-ltd/
Iowa Lawsuits against Vertrue.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/05/ia_vertrue.html/
It has finally gone to trial, 3 years later.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/10/vertrue_suit.html
"Vertrue Trial Opens in Iowa
Company allegedly signed customers up for service without permission
By Jon Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com
October 28, 2009
A three-year-old suit involving allegedly fraudulent “discount buying programs” is finally underway this week, with three Iowa plaintiffs testifying that Vertrue, Inc. signed them up for discount programs without their permission and hit them with ever-growing monthly fees.
Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller filed the suit in May 2006, after a survey revealed that, of around 400 Vertrue members questioned, precisely zero were satisfied with the company’s services.
Connecticut-based Vertrue, which also answers to the aliases MemberWorks and MWI, provides a number of “membership” programs that offer supposed discounts on items ranging from restaurants to jewelry to home improvement products.
Miller says Vertrue went to great lengths to trick consumers into signing up for the service. Many consumers were inadvertently enrolled when they made a routine call, such as one to their own credit card company or to place an order over the phone. Toward the end of the call, the consumer was offered a “risk-free membership,” usually on a trial basis. According to Miller, any consumer who then failed to affirmatively cancel the membership became subject to monthly fees taken directly from their bank account or credit line.
Many consumers didn’t notice the charges because they often were listed next to an innocuous-looking name on statements. Debits were often charged to either “MWI” or “ap9,” followed by one of the “club” names – HomeWorks, Simple Escapes, Connections, Essentials, or Leisure Advantage. Thus, a typical debit might be to “MWI HomeWorks,” a name that won’t catch the hurried consumer’s eye, especially when the charge is for a relatively small amount of money.
Worse, Miller said that consumers never actually gave their credit card numbers to the company; account information was instead obtained from the business that the consumer called in the first place. Vertrue’s well thought-out scheme ensured that, as Miller put it, “busy consumers too often pay [the charges] without realizing it.”
Pamela Douglas testified that she was enrolled in three separate memberships in 1999, which she attributed to “very aggressive” tactics by a telemarketer. In 2008 – a full nine years later – Douglas received a letter from “ValuMax” informing her of her longstanding membership. She then noticed that yearly charges on her credit card had gone from $59.95 in 1999 to $239.95 in 2008. Douglas complained to Miller’s office, and Vertrue refunded her money.
..."
Sen. Jay Rockafeller's committee has investigated various "pre-acquired account" marketing schemes with high levels of fraud complaints, including Vertrue's "affiliate" marketing, and similar affiliate marketing by banks.
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2009/11/senate_abusive_marketers.html
"...
"After six months, this Committee has found that the companies we are investigating have figured out very clever ways to manipulate consumers’ buying habits so they can make a quick buck, said committee chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). "American consumers have been complaining for years about these misleading practices and asking for answers -- and rightly so."
Rockefeller and other committee members were responding to mounting consumer complaints, such as those received by ConsumerAffairs.com. Take this one from Tracy, of Vienna, West Virginia:
"Simple escapes authorized my credit card unknowingly for 189.95," she told ConsumerAffairs.com last month. "I have never even heard of this company. We had no membership number to even look up with them. They were using an address from 4 years ago. How did they get access to my credit card number?"
In nearly every case, these abusive practices stem from a relationship between two marketers. Tracy probably made a purchase using her credit card. Unknown to her, the company she was doing business with had a marketing agreement with a "third party" company, which was marketing a travel discount member service called Simple Escapes.
The agreement allows the third party firm to also market to Tracy, and if she agrees to do business with them, they can immediately access her credit card, getting her credit card information from their marketing partner. However, Tracy has no way of knowing that.
Buying something without realizing it
The company hawking Simple Escapes was required to present its offer to Tracy in a "clear and conspicuous" manner and get her consent before charging her credit card. But Tracy said she was completely unaware that any transaction was taking place. Tracy, in effect, bought something without realizing it.
"Millions of Americans are getting hit with these mystery charges every month -- we have to do all we can to protect the hard working families relying on us to look out for their wallets and well-being," Rockefeller said.
Committee investigators singled out three firms as among the worst offenders. The committee said Vertrue -- which at one time operated Simple Escapes --, Affinion, and Webloyalty "exploit consumers' expectations about online shopping to trick them into joining their membership clubs.
Affinion, Vertrue, Webloyalty, and their e-commerce partners have earned over $1.4 billion in revenue with their misleading tactics, the committee report said. There have been more than 30 million consumer enrollments in these clubs and several million people are unknowingly enrolled in these clubs at any one time.
More than 450 e-commerce websites and retailers have partnered with Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty to employ aggressive sales tactics against their online customers splitting the revenue about 50-50, according to investigators. Eighty-eight companies have made more than $1 million by partnering with Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty, including Classmates.com, which made more than $70 million.
And what of the "benefits" consumers are supposed to reap by being members of these discount programs? The committee found that almost no one receives the "cash back award" that Affinion, Vertrue, and Webloyalty offer to online customers at the time of enrollment.
..."
Press Room: Press Releases
December 4, 2009
SENATOR ROCKEFELLER CONTINUES FIGHT TO PROTECT AMERICAN CONSUMERS AND COMBAT AGGRESSIVE SALES TACTICS ON THE INTERNET
Requests Information from Major Credit Card Companies on Cardholder Inquiries Connected to these Aggressive Sales Tactics
WASHINGTON, D.C.— Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, sent a letter to three credit card companies—Visa, Inc., American Express, Inc., and MasterCard, Inc.—asking them what they know about the aggressive online sales tactics many online companies use to charge consumers’ credit cards for unwanted club memberships.
Millions of online consumers have been enrolled in these membership clubs and their credit card or debit cards have been charged even though they never provided the companies with their sixteen digit credit card or debit card numbers.
Senator Rockefeller sent these letters after a Commerce Committee staff report and hearing showed that a key component of the aggressive online sales tactics is the use of a so-called “data pass” process, which enables websites to transfer consumers’ billing information, including consumers’ credit or debit card numbers, to the companies selling the club membership. “Data pass” has allowed these companies to present misleading enrollment offers to consumers, has led to significant consumer confusion, and has caused millions of American consumers to become enrolled and charged for membership clubs they did not want and were unaware they had signed up for.
“There are more than 4 million American consumers whose credit cards are being charged by mysterious membership clubs after shopping online and most of these 4 million consumers don’t even know it’s happening,” said Senator Rockefeller. “Through the Committee’s investigation, we learned these online club scams have made more than $1.4 billion dollars through these tactics and charged more than 30 million Americans. This next step in our investigation will help us better understand how millions of American consumers’ credit card accounts can be charged every month for services they don’t want. For many Americans, shopping online is a tool to learn about products, to compare prices, and to find a good bargain – and in these tough economic times when Americans are doing all they can to make ends meet and provide for their families, every dollar counts.”
The letters sent to Visa, American Express, and MasterCard request information related to cardholder inquiries about unauthorized charges stemming from “data pass” and any efforts made by the companies to reduce the number of “chargeback” requests from cardholders. Visa, American Express, and MasterCard have likely processed millions of charges for membership clubs that were not authorized by cardholders. Links to the letters and the Commerce Committee’s November 16, 2009 staff report are provided below.
..."
Letters sent to the credit card companies requesting information on "club membership" charging.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?F ... th=12&Year=2009
SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATIVE REPORT & EXHIBITS
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?F ... th=11&Year=2009
Rated "F".
http://www.bbb.org/nebraska/business-reviews/ ... ha-ne-107000028
"Class Action Filed Against Vertrue, Inc., Adaptive Marketing LLC, VistaPrint USA, Inc. and VistaPrint Ltd.
In August, 2008, Meisleman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz, P.C. filed a class action complaint in federal court in Massachusetts on behalf of Deloris Gordon and all others similarly situated (the “Class”) alleging that Adaptive Marketing, LLC (“Adaptive”) and its parent company Vertrue, Inc. (“Vertrue”), along with VistaPrint USA, Inc. (“VistaPrint”) and its parent company VistaPrint Limited (collectively “Defendants”), are perpetrating; specifically, the practice of imposing unauthorized charges upon unsuspecting consumers who order services or merchandise from VistaPrint and whose personal and confidential credit card and bank account information is then accessed by Adaptive Marketing and Vertrue without Plaintiff’s or the Class’ prior permission.
Soon after Plaintiff Gordon’s complaint was filed, the United States Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation issued a Transfer Order, dated December 11, 2008, that Gordon’s complaint -- along with six other class action complaints filed across the country -- be assigned to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas for coordinated or consolidation proceedings. On or about March 2, 2009, Plaintiff Gordon, along with three other plaintiffs, filed a consolidated class action complaint (“Complaint”), which can be accessed here.
..."
Also, immediately contact your bank by phone or in person to dispute and close your account due to fraud.
You should also contact your state Attorney General.
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/_files/120309LettertoVisa.pdf
I would very much like to read that letter. I'm just as pissed. I just called my card company and reported MVQ*SAVEACE charges as fraudulant, then closed that account number. They got for $19.95 three months in a row it looks like. I've been researching online to see about joining in a class action suit against them when I came accross the blog. The letter/PDF you have linked does not come up. Any ideas?
I would very much like to read that letter. I'm just as pissed. I just called my card company and reported MVQ*SAVEACE charges as fraudulant, then closed that account number. They got for $19.95 three months in a row it looks like. I've been researching online to see about joining in a class action suit against them when I came accross the blog. The letter/PDF you have linked does not come up. Any ideas?
http://commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?F ... th=12&Year=2009
Your bank should reverse such fraudulent charges, but they may only do so for charges you have disputed within 60 days of the statement date showing the disputed charges.
You will know how good a bank you have by how effective they are at dealing with such fraudulent charges.
If you have problems getting your money back, file a complaint with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (www.occ.gov) against both your bank (for failing to correctly handle an FCBA dispute), and the scam company (who is abusing the credit card rules by getting your account information through deception from their partners).
Demand that your bank and the scam company provide the name of the company that passed your card number to them. These scammers typically claim "you authorized the charges", but they "don't know through which partner". THIS IS KEY: If they "don't know", then they can't prove you "authorized" anything. If they do know, but are hiding the information (from you, who they claim "authorized" this scam charge), they are doing so to protect their "partner" whose website could then be used as evidence of the deceptive manner in which they obtained your "authorization".
Forward your results, including the barriers and attempts to block getting a full refund, to Senator Jay Rockefeller's office, as he has been investigating a range of fraudulent and unauthorized charging of consumer accounts.
In addition, contact your state Attorney General to report the fraudulent charges, particularly if they refuse to refund the whole amount.
By the way, although scammers know that FCBA allows disputing directly through your bank within 60 days, and often cave on refunding 2 months payments, you should also know you can sue them directly for fraudulent charges, in your local court (Hint: Look for the phrase "any court of competent jurisdiction", or similar, which includes YOUR state courts, even small claims). What they are counting on is that it is marginally worth it after the costs of an attorney, but you might find small claims cost effective. You actually sue your bank AND the fraudulent merchant, but you must do so within a year of the charges to fit within the 1 year federal statute of limitations.
Basically, this type of scam depends on getting account information by deception through partners, piling on charges for a few months until consumers catch them, and putting barriers in the way of getting refunds while they keep charging until the account is blocked. When they fold, they typically offer to return only 2 payments, still claiming "you" agreed to their charges.
What they DON'T want is publicity, so be the squeeky wheel, to your bank, to www.occ.gov, to VISA or MasterCard directly, to local TV investigative reporters, and to the Senate Commerce Committee, as with the recent investigations, VISA, MasterCard, and the banks are feeling heat.
http://www.classadvocate.com/?direct=y&catego ... oot%5B%5D=15813