Being fairly new to the credit card scams, I purchased a credit card from First Premier Bank. The first bill came in with $175 of charges before I ever used the card. I paid it, because the open credit would only be $75. When I mentioned these charges to a friend, she called the bank for me. She was told that the $119 charge was an acceptance/advance finance charge to use the card. She informed them it was illegal to charge fees or finance charges in advance of any services. They rudely told her to "read the fine print". I then got on the phone and cancelled the card. Every 2 days, I checked my credit card balance, to find it was increasing. I again called the bank to be told that there were 2 charges that had come in from internet companies. I told them I had charged nothing and to remove those charges. The girls told me they had already gone thru and to contact the companies directly, which I did. Both removed the charges. But, when I received my last bill, there was a $25 over the limit charge for being over the limit on 3/9/01. This, after I cancelled the card and had made a double payment, which they claimed to have received on 3/12/01. Since I had made my payments on time, was never over the limit, I feel that this was a punishment from First Premier for cancelling my card. I have since contacted the South Dakota Banking commission and the FTC. JohnLas Vegas, North Dakota
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