MVQ scammed my 90 year old Mother out of over $3000 over the last couple of years. Only recently did we discover they were charging her credit card for over $50 a month.
Comments
0
tj
They deceptively get billing information from other merchants, or they get customer information and call to make deceptive "discount club" offers that misrepresent the worth of their worthless "discounts".
Your mother is practically a poster child for who they prey on, since with no actual product that anyone wants, they create the appearance that they "sell" something, hoping several of their monthly charges slip through before people catch them. This tends to defraud those who don't routinely check theier statements, hitting the elderly, young, and poor or unsophisticated the most. Many of these cramming scams are passed information from "seen on TV" advertisers, which target this market.
Dispute the charges through her bank, and close the account or block the card number to prevent additinoal fraudulent charges. The bank may be able to claw back 2 or 3 months of charges, under FRB Reg. E or FCBA. Do NOT leave them with an active account or card number, whatever they promise, as they may just start charging again in a few months when they think you might no longer be checking.
For the rest, kick up a stink, shouting elder fraud and abuse. Contact a local consumer reporter to do a story on the fraud, as this also warns others, and can create a shower of simlar fraud disputes.
Contact your local District Attorney or your state Attorney General. Many states have specific laws against targeting the elderly for fraudulent marketing, and the company may want to distance themselves quickly from the possibility a DA or AG may decide to look into them further.
A number of these scams have already been investigated by the MN AG and the NY AG, who have gotten settlements out of some. In addition, Sen. Jay Rockefeller's Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on cramming scams a couple years ago.
You may also want to contact the Minnesota Attorney General (they are located in MN) and the FTC, as well as the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller.
0
tj
| 1 reply
By the way, they may say they can only refund 2 months. Although that is about all you could get back through your bank dispute, you could still sue them for charges back for 1 year under the federal SOL.
Bu what you are alleging is fraud with elder abuse enhancements, and you are filing fraud and elder abuse complaints with DA and AG. Keep them focused on that, and on getting a TV reporter to do a story on them, and they will probably cave.
Their whole business model is built on deception, basically playing a game of chicken with every consumer they con, making money on the many who either don't catch them right away, or don't know what to do about it. They know exactly what they are doing, and have been doing this for years.
You can also bring pressure on them through her credit card (VISA or MasterCard).
In the Senate hearings, the role of the credit cards in allowing card information to be passed to these scams was highlighted, and they agreed to place merchant contract restrictions on unauthorized passing of card information. If this has been going on for years, the scam probably got her information prior to those restrictions.
Include in your dispute with them (be sure to send it IN WRITING, MAILED CERTIFIED) that you ahre passing this fraud case to Sen. Rockefeller's office for investigation.
They know who he is.
0
Thanks for the info!
| 1 reply
I was also scammed by these people... They said I agreed to the membership while buying from an infomercial. The only time I have bought anything from an infomercial was some Time-Life DVDs back in December. I called Time-Life and the guy there denied any knowledge of "Passfort to Fraud" offers although he did say that they often have third parties make offers during their phone call.
I do not remember agreeing to any other purchase than the DVDs from Time-Life. They started charging me $16.95 back in January. The customer service people were politand passed me to the supervisor who offered a one month refund, verified my cancellation, and said she would apply for the full refund to her manager.
I will be contesting the full amount with my Visa company. This is a card I don't use often, and (my bad) did not check it until Saturday 4/29/2012.
This is the type of company that will go out of business soon. If your business model is scamming unknowing people to purchase mostly unneeded gift cards, you will not last too long.
Comments
Your mother is practically a poster child for who they prey on, since with no actual product that anyone wants, they create the appearance that they "sell" something, hoping several of their monthly charges slip through before people catch them. This tends to defraud those who don't routinely check theier statements, hitting the elderly, young, and poor or unsophisticated the most. Many of these cramming scams are passed information from "seen on TV" advertisers, which target this market.
Dispute the charges through her bank, and close the account or block the card number to prevent additinoal fraudulent charges. The bank may be able to claw back 2 or 3 months of charges, under FRB Reg. E or FCBA. Do NOT leave them with an active account or card number, whatever they promise, as they may just start charging again in a few months when they think you might no longer be checking.
For the rest, kick up a stink, shouting elder fraud and abuse. Contact a local consumer reporter to do a story on the fraud, as this also warns others, and can create a shower of simlar fraud disputes.
Contact your local District Attorney or your state Attorney General. Many states have specific laws against targeting the elderly for fraudulent marketing, and the company may want to distance themselves quickly from the possibility a DA or AG may decide to look into them further.
A number of these scams have already been investigated by the MN AG and the NY AG, who have gotten settlements out of some. In addition, Sen. Jay Rockefeller's Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on cramming scams a couple years ago.
You may also want to contact the Minnesota Attorney General (they are located in MN) and the FTC, as well as the office of Sen. Jay Rockefeller.
Bu what you are alleging is fraud with elder abuse enhancements, and you are filing fraud and elder abuse complaints with DA and AG. Keep them focused on that, and on getting a TV reporter to do a story on them, and they will probably cave.
Their whole business model is built on deception, basically playing a game of chicken with every consumer they con, making money on the many who either don't catch them right away, or don't know what to do about it. They know exactly what they are doing, and have been doing this for years.
In the Senate hearings, the role of the credit cards in allowing card information to be passed to these scams was highlighted, and they agreed to place merchant contract restrictions on unauthorized passing of card information. If this has been going on for years, the scam probably got her information prior to those restrictions.
Include in your dispute with them (be sure to send it IN WRITING, MAILED CERTIFIED) that you ahre passing this fraud case to Sen. Rockefeller's office for investigation.
They know who he is.
I do not remember agreeing to any other purchase than the DVDs from Time-Life. They started charging me $16.95 back in January. The customer service people were politand passed me to the supervisor who offered a one month refund, verified my cancellation, and said she would apply for the full refund to her manager.
I will be contesting the full amount with my Visa company. This is a card I don't use often, and (my bad) did not check it until Saturday 4/29/2012.
This is the type of company that will go out of business soon. If your business model is scamming unknowing people to purchase mostly unneeded gift cards, you will not last too long.