Hey looks like the wheels of fate have picked me up in their treads and dealt me out as a scam victim. Someone got a hold of my debit VISA #, which I only use online at places I trust (Amazon.com, etc.) but apparently I trusted one too many sites, or someone in one of the places got a hold of my info and levied some charges against my account. Luckily I noticed these pretty quickly, which is surprising actually since I normally don’t watch the activity on my account all that often (or at least up ’til now I didn’t).
First off I’ve cancelled my card and will have to wait up to two weeks to get another. No ATM / debit charges for me for 2 weeks. AND now all the sites I’ve set up to auto-charge this card (Mobil Speedpass, Maine Transpass, AT&T Cellphone, Audible.com, etc) need to get updated before they send me nasty notes. Probably about time I retired that number anyways, seeing as I memorized it about a year ago and thus it’s far too easy to impulse buy online.
Today I’ve been making phone calls trying to get more info and get charges reversed. Luckily they are small charges (mostly $1 pre-auth charges, though the ‘real charges’ could come through at any moment).
Here’s the summary so far: (I figured I’d provide the info here in case anyone else has similar charges and googles around and finds my page)
Charges to TLG SHOPPERS ADV PURCH
Turns out that TLG is Trilegiant. I found this website (http://www.consumeraffairs.com/scam_alerts/tlg.html) and they are basically an umbrella company to a bunch of somewhat sleazy looking websites like shoppersadvantage.com and NetMarket. Calling these folks was n’ar completely useless since they wouldn’t listen to me explaining that these $1 charges were just someone checking if the card was valid and that the actual charge, probably for much more. They insisted these must be ‘membership charges’ and that I could have signed up for these from a number of sites like AOL and etc. I tried to explain that I KNOW I DIDN’T MAKE THESE CHARGES but they said my name wasn’t in their customer support system yet and I should check back at the end of the week, though I may need to wait 2 or 3 weeks for my ‘membership to be processed’. I’m going to call these folks again in a little bit to see if I can get someone with more of a clue. (Note – I just called them again and got a more abbreviated version of the same dance, but this time I felt like the person actually heard what I said, but he said I ‘wasn’t in the system’ yet but should be by Thursday (much different than the 2 or 3 weeks mentioned above)
Next charge was to BLOCKBUSTER ONLINE. They found me in their system and were able to reverse the charges and cancel the account promptly. They gave me the e-mail address the person used to fill out the membership form, I dropped it a note and it didn’t bounce. I’m debating dropping them a longer note 🙂
Next charge was to TWX MAGAZINE ORDER. Found out they had subscribed to TEEN PEOPLE, SEVENTEEN and ESCAPE BOATING magazine. They asked if I was sure that someone else hadn’t placed the order for these magazines and I explained that I was 36, my son is only 20 months old, and I don’t own a boat! I had the order cancelled though they said I may still receive a few issues. Golly, can’t wait.
Final call was to STAR CLUB REWARDS who said they hadn’t actually charged my card the $1, that was just what it looked like since they had verfied it was active when they created the membership (with the same fake e-mail used elsewhere)
That’s it. I know I’m lucky compared to most, especially considering this card was my debit VISA it could have been alot worse. Note to self, don’t use that online anymore.
I just discovered a $25 charge from TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT888-265-9269 dated December 25, 2007. Jacek, have you had any luck figuring out what that is?
I called 888-265-9269 (AOL) and finally navigated the automated “operator”, which was difficult since I do not have an account with AOL, to talk to a live person. He asked for my credit card number, and I told him I did not want to give it to him. He said that if I was worried about the security of my credit card information, not to worry, they would protect it. As I started to explain that since I had gotten the phone number off of my credit card in relation to what I believed was a fraudulent charge, I was not going to give my credit card number, he hung up on me! I immediately contacted my credit card company, and they recommended that rather than just dispute the charge, I should flag it as a fraud case, which I did.
I got the same TWX*IIA charge and upon calling American Express was told it was an AOL charge. Clearly, it couldn’t be – I have never had AOL ever. Seems like a massive credit card fraud scheme right around Christmas for someone…
as Robin said I also just discovered a $25 charge from TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT 888-265-9269 VA dated on December 28, 2007. So, I will appreciate any info to get some insight about it. I am absolutly sure I did not buy any service or product of this company because I am in Mexico since one year ago and I am using only local dealers/stores.
Just like the others above, I was hit with the same charges from TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT 888-265-9269VA. I still have 2 pending charges from them for $25.00 as well as a pending charge from YAHOO *VOICE 888-562-7228.
I first noted suspicious charges on the 2nd of January 2008 and called Chase bank right away. These bogus charges were from NAMES4EVER OVERLAND PARK, KS for $150.00 and there were 2 of these charges. These dropped off in a couple of days.
I had my card cancelled and am awaiting a new one. I will be calling back Chase in a few days if these charges don’t drop off. This is crazy
update, the yahoo voice charged dropped off, but one of the TWX AIM 25.00 charges actually went through. the other one is pending. i think this will be my 6th call to the bank now. uggggg
Update: Filed a claim with chase over these charges. Faxed them the appropriate paperwork they faxed me as well as sending them pages and pages of their deceptive practices and class action suit with Chase and Trilegiant. I also filed complaints with the illinois attorney general’s office and consumer affairs
woooo hooo hoooo!!! update, i just checked my online account and I was credited for the bogus charges. wow that was fast.
hopefully the pending 25.00 charge won’t go through, but i will dispute it if it does and resend all the documentation about their deceptive actions
how do i contact twx*magazine order?
“Robin Says:
January 5th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I just discovered a $25 charge from TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT888-265-9269 dated December 25, 2007. Jacek, have you had any luck figuring out what that is?
Robin Says:
January 5th, 2008 at 5:07 pm
I called 888-265-9269 (AOL) and finally navigated the automated “operator”, which was difficult since I do not have an account with AOL, to talk to a live person. He asked for my credit card number, and I told him I did not want to give it to him. He said that if I was worried about the security of my credit card information, not to worry, they would protect it. As I started to explain that since I had gotten the phone number off of my credit card in relation to what I believed was a fraudulent charge, I was not going to give my credit card number, he hung up on me! I immediately contacted my credit card company, and they recommended that rather than just dispute the charge, I should flag it as a fraud case, which I did.”
The EXACT same charge happened to me on Dec. 25, 2007 for the same amount and same company! It was quite frustrating! He told me to forward a letter to an address and that they would deal with it. However, I wasn’t smart enough and gave him my some of my information. What should I do??
I always thought that I was pretty good about keeping my credit private but also just found a charge from: TWX*IIA AIM CALL OUT888-265-9269 VA on Jan 6th, 2008. Which is really odd since I’ve never actually used this card (AmEx) to make purchases before even though I’ve had it for a few years, just online payment of an old balance. Called my card, had them reissue a new one with a new number. Called AOL and finally got a live person after their horrendous maze. I told them what the deal was and they transferred me onto AIM Call-Out at 1.866.215.6359. The AIM person was able to verify that an account was open with my card and that the name on the account was not mine (thanks). She wouldn’t give me any more info like the real name nor contact info, but said they were filling out an affidavit and mailing it with that info. We’ll see in a week or two.
In the meantime, I’ve filed a complaint with the FTC (www.ftc.gov), put a fraud alert on my credit (www.experian.com or http://www.transunion.com or http://www.equifax.com – just contact one and they will contact the others). In the coming week, I’ll check my credit reports and if I get enough info walk on down to the police station and make a formal police report. If anyone has more info on identity of whom made the charges on their cards, please post it. I’ll let you know if I find anything.
…and Matt, thanks for keeping this site up – only one I found with real info on what’s going on.
Hi. i’ve found this blog, and i got to say thank you mike for making this.
But I was looking at my Debit card and it had a 19.00 fine on it for some ESPN magazine. The funny thing was that I haven’t ordered the magazine, but instead recieved it as a free ‘gift’ after i used my dc on a skateboarding/snowboarding online store.
I have a few questions..
how did this TMX company get my card number?
i called. and the voice message was just horid, but i got to cancel the order. is it really canceled? or just another trick? and will i actually get a refund?
and how can i be 100 percent sure this doesn’t happen again? i’m already going to talk to my local bank ( bank of america ) should i get a new card?
any info will help. thank you all i have learned so much!
Hey everyone, I just checked my online account, and there was a “Pending Debit Card: TWX*MAGAZINE ORDER -$5.97″charge that I am sure I didn’t.
Called up the number behind the card, and the agent told me I have to wait until the charge is process to have it investigated it. So I’ll call TWX MAGAZINE (Phone # 1-800-773-3142) tomorrow and have a talk with them.
I am careful with my CC, and I won’t change it this time, if it happens again, it will be nice to haunt somebody down, and pass the awareness to everyone.
Thanks for the # Matt.
I was just browsing eBay and found something I might want to purchase. I went and checked my PayPal account to see if there was enough money there and found one of these bogus charges.
Mine is a pending authorization to TWX for $2.01 with a temporary hold being placed by PayPal. I called the 800 number listed and after waiting on hold for nearly 10 minutes was told that they are just verifying that the card I used to order a magazine last year was still valid.
The nice lady Barbara, tried to assure me that there will be no charges placed.
Looking back at my PayPal history I did place an initial magazine order in March 2007. I don’t recall if I used my PayPal debit card or just my PayPal funds I had available at the time. I do know that there is only $3.18 available in my PayPal account at this time so hopefully I should be safe.
Wow Matt, I just looked you up to connect with an old friend… who knew that you were the master of busting open fraudulent schemes. Go Matt go, win your victory for humanity :0)!!! (i bet even you are surprised at the response over the YEARS to your post) I now am completely paranoid and will be checking my financial statements every 5 min. I also now wish to see my full credit reports (any idea about how to do that without sharing your personal information?!?) This is the first link I found when I googled your name. I have stayed up hours reading it and will have to track you down later:0)…
EFP Melanie
I got a 24 buck charge for a magazine from TWX. yeah i never pay for them online! so i’m going to try and reverse it with twx, my bank wants to shut down the account and send me a new card but i’m going to see if i can reverse the account.
Interesting thread. Apparently this has been going on for a while, and still continues. I was notified last week by CitiBank that I had suspicious charges appearing on my card. I only use this card for online purchases. They told me about two charges that had just occurred in the last hour, and I told them they were not mine. They canceled the card and sent me a new one, which I just received today. However, the charges that I told them were fraudulent are still there! (They sent me an affidavit to send in if I wanted to dispute any charges. Looks like they’re trying to see how many charges they can get out of biting). I’ve seen these charges mentioned in this thread: TWX AIM CALL OUT for $10 and EARMASTER for $70. I also noticed that CitiBank took the opportunity to try to sell me unemployment protection when I called to activate the new card, and identity theft protection when I went up to the website to register the account. What a racket!
Matt and all–
THANK YOU SO MUCH, for sharing what you’ve learned! You’ve hopefully saved me a lot of headache. Now I just hope my banker is kind enough to investigate this fraud, and credit back my $119.99 TO MY NONPROFIT THAT HELPS CHILDREN!! I’m sure they didn’t know who they were stealing from, but come on, folks… this literally was taking money from children! Uggh!
So anyway– To all of you– thanks for sharing what you learned.
It’s much appreciated.
Me too…Me too….
Mine involve my mother-in-law, her bank,our bank and a “trusted” Hotel reservation service.
1. AmeriServ Financial.. Offered a credit reporting watch dog service. READ THE FINE PRINT(damn my eyes hurt)!The “Company offering the “service” is owned by TLG.
2. M&T Bank and Financial Services ,2 separate mailings over the last 3 months.
Both for the same service offered by our other bank.
3. CHOICE HOTELS and all the other “Choice” entities that offer hotel reservations.
So far we have had three $1.00 charges on my mother in laws account. She also was charged $119.99 to a “Shoppers Advantage” and when I pitched a serious bitch it was refunded only to have another $119.99 “Travelers Advantage” charge the VERY NEXT DAY. Coincidence??? I don’t THINK so.
4. Now laying on the counter in front of me is another mass mailing by our bank(M&T) offering yet another Credit Protection service.
Lastly…. I did my homework on these sites and when I did I ran across a list of all the “present “companies “partnered” with TLG. The list is VERY long and at last posting involved over 30 companies and 40 TLG entities.
What I fail to understand is why we have so many companies like AOL,AVON, NetFlix, Game Fly, Choice Hotels,etc. that willingly partner with TLG fully knowing the company is more of a headache then a help.
There must be ‘lots” of money offered and a residual contract signed for some of these companies to give up their lists. The Choice Hotel link is for an exit survey when you pay for your room that just happens to offer you the goodies like Shoppers Advantage, et-al.
Anyhow, I continue to report all this “CRAP” to our State Attorney General and post what I can on blogs, Rip Off Reports.com,ConsumerReports.com etc..etc..
From: “claimsadministrator@trisettlement.vertismail.com ”
Date: April 14, 2008 8:31:27 PM EDT
Subject: CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT: DO NOT DISCARD
Reply-To: claimsadministrator@trisettlement.com
The following message is not SPAM and is not a solicitation from a lawyer. This e-mail message was sent to you because you previously contacted a law firm (or left information on the law firm’s website) with questions about a membership program charged to you. There has now been a settlement of a class action lawsuit concerning membership charges, and you may be a member of the Settlement Class.
Below is a copy of a Class Action Settlement Notice that will be published in Parade, USA Weekend, USA Today, TV Guide, People, American Profile and PR Newswire in April to provide Notice to Class Members. Please read this Notice carefully. The notice provided below is a summary of settlement terms. A more detailed summary of the settlement terms (the “Notice”), a Request Form for seeking monetary payments under the settlement, a copy of the Settlement Agreement, and further information are available at http://www.TriSettlement.com.
This is a Summary Notice to inform you of a Class Action Settlement that may affect your rights. You can review the list of membership programs included in the Settlement and obtain a copy of the full Notice, which explains your rights and how to obtain Settlement benefits in more detail at http://www.TriSettlement.com , or by calling the Settlement Administrator toll-free at 1-888-952-9102.
What is this about?
The proposed Settlement resolves class action lawsuits in which Plaintiffs claim consumers were enrolled in membership programs offered by or through Trilegiant Corporation and were charged for membership fees without proper authorization or consent. Trilegiant denies these claims. The Settlement is not an admission of wrongdoing or that any law was violated.
Who is affected?
You are included in the Class if you contend you had unsolicited or unauthorized charges for Trilegiant products posted to your credit card, debit card, phone, bank, mortgage or other billing accounts and paid for those products at any time from July 10, 1998, until February 14, 2008. The products included in the Settlement are the membership programs marketed, offered, sold, serviced, or provided by or through Trilegiant (or by an entity with which Trilegiant has a business relationship) to consumers offering products, benefits, goods or services to members of the program, and for which Trilegiant or its business partner charges a fee. The products include but are not limited to Privacy Guard, Credit Alert, Auto Vantage, Travelers Advantage, Buyers Advantage, Complete Home, Digital Protection Plus, Great Fun, Great Options, HealthSaver, Hot-Line, Just for Me, National Card Registry, NetMarket.com, Shoppers Advantage, Travel ER, and other membership products or services marketed or created with Trilegiant that have the same or substantially the same characteristics of these memberships, regardless of the name of the product. A list of the membership programs included in the Settlement is found at http://www.TriSettlement.com .
What can you get from the Settlement?
If the Settlement is approved, you may be eligible to receive a Settlement payment check. The monetary benefits under the Settlement range from $20 to up to three times the annual cost of a membership product (if you were billed for and paid membership charges for three years). Settlement benefits will vary in amount based on documentation you choose to provide, if any. If the total amount of all Class Member claims exceeds $25 million, each Class Member’s actual Settlement payment will be reduced proportionately.
How do you get a payment?
A detailed Notice and Request Form package contains everything you need. Just call the toll-free number or visit the website at http://www.TriSettlement.com to get one. Request Forms are due by January 15, 2009. In order to get more than $20, you will have to provide proof of the membership fee amounts that you paid.
What are your options?
If you are a Class Member and do not want a payment and do not want to be legally bound by the Settlement, you must exclude yourself by June 6, 2008, or you will not be able to sue Trilegiant or its business partners about the claims in this lawsuit. If you exclude yourself, you cannot get a payment from the Settlement. The detailed Notice describes how to exclude yourself. If you stay in the Settlement, you may write to the court and object to the Settlement by June 6, 2008. The court will hold a hearing in this case (Pederson v. Trilegiant Corporation, No. 01 L 1126, in the Circuit Court of the Third Judicial Circuit, Madison County, Illinois) on July 18, 2008 at 9:00 a.m. to consider whether to approve the Settlement and payment of attorneys’ fees and expenses to the lawyers who filed this and related litigation, as well as incentive awards to the named plaintiffs. You may appear at the hearing, but don’t have to. Please consult the full Notice for more information.
For more details, call toll-free 1-888-952-9102, go to http://www.TriSettlement.com, or write to Trilegiant Claims Administrator, c/o Rust Consulting, Inc., PO Box 670, Minneapolis, MN 55440-0670.
Sincerely,
TriSettlement Claims Administrator
It’s still happening. I caught a fraudulent pre-auth from TWX*MAGAZINE two days ago. Cancelled my card.
I am really glad that I found this thread because I just found pre-authorizations at my bank for TWX. It is over 3 years from the beginning of this thread and the companies are still trying this scam. I find it interesting though that the same bank is involved and one that I am leaving. That is why these charges stuck out to me…i haven’t used this account for anything going on 1 full month now. Anyway, thank you for posting all this wonderful information. I am off now to get these charges removed from my account – and armed heavily to make sure they stay off!
I have read a lot of this conversation because I am dealing with TWX charges for magazines they say someone ordered when they placed a phone order for something and were offered free 90 day subscriptions. Yes you can cancel if you say no enough times and they will refund you but you have to call separate for each magazine. But be careful because when you think they are offering to cancel and refund the charges and you say yes you are stuck with whatever the machine says you said yes to. There is no changing your mind because it is all automated now and no human option. Except I am going to try the ‘# sign an number of times” trick. I have also dealt with the $1.00 charges for reward or discount memberships all gotten the same way (a free offer) and was told they were processing fee’s and not refundable. So I figured what a good business. If you sign up 100,000 people and all cancel you still have $100,000. I have recently been looking for a job through internet postings and there are a lot of companies offering work from home jobs like filling orders for dietary supplements or whatever. Now figure that this person invests some money and is sold a listing of names and cc #’s and starts filling orders that may be the way the cards get used. That person could be making up the email addresses too.
I also fell victim to TLG*hotline. An unauthorized charge of $59.99 appeared on my Amazon Visa this month. I disputed it through my credit card, but they said I had to call TLG and try to get the charge refunded. I told my card company that I wanted my card cancelled, fearing future charges by TLG. My card company said this would interfere with the refund process. See the dilemma? Could any of you suggest a course of action, or have I lost this money? I just don’t understand. If a scam company has your card number, shouldn’t there be a way to initiate the refund process and also cancel future use of the card? Help please. Many thanks for this forum!
Like most of you, I found an unknown charge of $59.99 on my credit card statement. I contacted TLG*hotline and spoke with a manager. I explained to him that the charge was unauthorized and that I would be placing a dispute on my credit card. He refunded my money on the spot. The amount was credited back to my account five days later. That still doesn’t excuse the charge to begin with and the authorities should look into our complaints seriously.
Just found 2 charges from TLG GreatFN and TLG Shopper for $11.99 each. Called my bank to have the debit card cancelled and a replacement sent. Does anyone have the phone numbers of this TLG Hotline or complaint department? The numbers I have are 800-290-8603 and 800-526-4848 but the automatied systems hung up on my wife 2 times. This outfit needs stopped. PA State attorney general is my next stop.
Call 18002146422 to cancel membership to GreatFun
Call 18772592689 to cancel membership to Travelers Advantage
Both will try and offer more things to keep your membership. The best thing to do is to let them talk and then just repeat that you would like to cancel today and thankyou. They should give you a cancellation code for you records. Good Luck to all that have fallen victim to these scammers. I just cancelled mine today and I had no problems out of the operators.
Thanks for the phone numbers. I had a TWX magazine order pending on my Visa. They were very nice when I called using Skype from Amsterdam. It turns out it was an automatic renewal on a subscription sent to an address in San Francisco that we haven’t lived at for three years! Apparently, they’re notorious for this. The subscription was to Kiplinger Letter, so be sure to check all of your subscriptions, not just the obvious Time Warner ones.
I received a $2.01 unauthorized charge on my bank statement from TWX. I called TWX and had to go through an automated voice system but I found out the charge is from Consumer’s Report Magazine. I didn’t subscribe this year so they automatically did it for me. Gutsy!! I had it cancelled but you have to be careful how you answer those automated questions. Just in case I will cancel my debit card.
Did any of you buy something from an infomercial off the TV just prior to seeing this charge?
I am going through several forums reading the same problem I am having. ORCHARD BANK is always sending me these $5.00 checks as some “reward” but…I do read the small print on anything before signing. Over the endorsement line there are agreements to memberships for different company on each check. I NEVER cash these checks. I just got an email from ORCHARD stating that large purchase has been charged. I checked it out and it is
TLG*AUTOVANTGE for the amount of $129.99
I immediately cancelled my card via email and told them I would contacting them during normal business hours. Now that I have tried that, I cannot speak to anyone with an invalid card number. My only option is payment.
They did give the the number to TLG*AUTOVANTGE & that I will have to take it up with them.
I believe ORCHARD BANK is in cahoots wit these companies. I’m sure they get some portion of the deal otherwise they wouldn’t push these checks on bank members.
Does ANYONE know of a class action lawsuit for the people who have not been reimbursed? I don’t know if I will be one of the lucky ones who is reimbursed. Today is Sunday and they are closed.
I will never have an account with Orchard bank for this reason alone.
Beware.
TWX Mag. just charged me today some how they know all my information.
who do i call to speak with to get this disputed?
I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau regarding an $11.00 a month fee that TLG Great Fun was stealing from my bank account. It sure seems that this TLG sure has an awful lot of scam business out there. The BBB is getting my money back for me. Now I just have to see how long it takes TLG to put the money back into my account.
This Makes my second time around with bank fruad…
TLG ” Buyers advantage CHARGED my bank card
$$$$ 139.99 $$$$ Without my permission….
I don’t even know who they are…
BUT the bank willllllllll
THEY GOT ME TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
a $139.99 charge from TLG*BUYERSADVANTAGE 4
I never signed up for anything although I did stay at a Quality INN in Palatke Fl.
How canIfight thisor getmoney returned. I shut down my card and filled a fraud claim with Regions Bank.
What else can I do?
TWX just got me today for $35. Searched it on the web and called the 800 nuber for them from one site. The automated operator is horrible, what happened to the good old days of real ppl as operators. How cani insure that i get this charge refunded to my bank?
SAME HERE BEING CHARGED FROM THIS TLG ON ME BEING CHARGED!! WHOM IN THE WORLD ARE THEY, MARTIANS??? SEEMS THEY ARE WANTING TO CONFISCATE EVERYBODY’S MONEY TOWARDS THEM BEING RICH. I WAS CHARGED $36.00 & I’D SURELY WANT IT BACK!!! ALL OF US SHOULD DESERVE TO RECEIVING A REFUND. PLEASE CATCH THESE DARN NABBERS TLG WHOMEVER THEY ARE!!!