Scammers in Your Face, and You Don't Even Know it !!

How would you like to find out you were loosing 10% to 15% of your hard-earned income every month to scams while you watch? To make things worse, the culprits are sending you a printed statement each month showing you what they are doing, and you still don’t catch the scam. I had the same problem until it was brought to my attention by one of the credit card companies I deal with.

Do you use credit / debit cards, in your home business? Then you too may be a victim of this scam, and just haven’t discovered it
yet.

I first became aware of this situation back in December of 2006 when I got a call from one of my credit card companies, asking if I had authorized a certain $300 charge against my account. My answer was an emphatic “No”.

I was asked to look at my statement and get back in touch with them. I did. I opened my statement and what I saw astonished me. Two companies had been charging me $9.99 and $12.95 a month for nine months without me catching it. But then they got greedy. One of the companies tried to get $300 at one time. That was their mistake. Greed.

I wonder how much more money I have lost to other scammers that I don’t know about?

Do you always read the tiny legalize “terms of service” agreement that these so called “reputable companies” provide? Most don’t. Many of these are companies with household names that you trust, and you have done business with them for years. You assumed they are totally honest. They have earned your trust over the years and in doing so have made it for them easy to rip you off.

Here is one way they do it. They advertise a product or service for several weeks at, lets say $34.50. You see the ad over and over, and would like to order the product or service, but not at $34.95.

Then one day you see the ad with the $34.50 overwritten with a big red “NOW FREE” being advertised. The company is going to give it to you for FREE! All you have to do is pay the $5.95 shipping and handling cost. “What a great deal,” you think. That is really a great company.

You receive the order and are delighted with your “gift”. However, on your next bank or credit card statement you see a charge from the “reputable” company for $34.50. You think, this must be a mistake.

You contact the company, and they tell you to read the “terms of service” agreement. You do, and here is what is says, in effect. “If you do not return the item you purchased within 14 days, you will be charged $34.50, and $34.50 on the same date in the following months, until the order is cancelled by you. The first $34.50 is non-refunded. They told you about this in their “terms of service," so they are not breaking the law.

What can I do to stop being ripped off like this?

Here is the good news. If you are willing to spend a few minutes a month and make a few phone calls, you can probably get most of your money back and put the scammers out of business. This doesn’t mean you have to go to court or any of that. The scammers cannot harm you, so don’t worry about that. I have been doing this for over a year now and have had about a 90% money recovery rate.

Here is what you should do. First, don’t assume that everybody on the Internet is honest. Look for these red flags before you join anything or buy anything on the Internet. Does the vendor have a phone number and email address? Most vendors do. However, don’t think that just because they have a phone number and mailing address, that they direct you to where you think they will. Call the number. Send an email. In short, just satisfy yourself the vendor is honest, and really exists.

Next, you can establish a new bank account, or use the account you now have. Deposit enough money to pay for your monthly expenses. Put a certain amount, say $1000 in that account on the same day of each month. If you use a bank debit card, or a low balance credit card…say $300 to $800… that will allow you to notice any unusual up "spikes" in that account. If you see a charge in your account that is not familiar, contact that vendor as soon as possible. Ask them to check the charge. If it is just an honest error, the vender will usually correct it immediately, apologize, and refund your money.

However if you hadn’t contacted them, you would still have to pay for the “honest mistake.”

Well, what if they are real criminals scamming me? What do I do then? The short answer is put them out of business. If you think they are not legitimate, contact the State Attorney General of the state from which the scammers are working. Additionally, you can call the State Attorney General of your state. Tell them your problem and they will take it from there. Good luck. And remember, read "the terms of service," or any other small print agreements.

I have now tracked this process for over a year, and have recovered over $1500.00 and called the Attorney Generals in a number states.

I don’t know what happened to those companies, but I haven’t seen any of their ads recently. So be careful.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Louten Hedgpeth, a Certified Financial Planner, ( Ret ) continues to provide "Solutions" to problems, whose answers are not readily found in a book, on the Internet. One of the sites is www.commercial-res-loansolutions.com/ if you are having a hard time getting a loan. And here are two articles <<xrl.us/bfokb/lou10>>he wrote about the "Secondary Market" , which has been a blessing for many who are having a hard time getting a loan. This is for buyers and sel

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