Today I noticed that 9.95 had been debited from my account, and only because I had only 11.00 in there saved for milk and eggs for my kids until next payday. When I investigated this transaction I was floored to find out that I was being continually ripped off. This is what I found out.
I contacted my bank, which has been very helpful in the past with one other similar situation. As always they were more than helpful and understanding. Immediately sending me an affidavit in the mail to initiate a return of the funds. They also gave me the originating bank name, the transaction number and the company ID# so I could investigate further.
I called the originating bank which happens to be 1st citizen's bank. They were less than helpful, to say the least.
First they gave me a name which answered nothing... (SSC Rebill) and then they gave me a phone number (770-427-6448) that was a recorded machine for a company called Debitran, asking for the parties extension. No matter how hard I tried and how many number combinations i used, i could get NO ONE!
When I called back, they "tested" the number for me, with me on hold, got back on the line and said they were able to retrieve a better number for me. How convenient.
So I called the second number and got a different company name (Debitvault) and it seemed better at first asking me to specify through voice recognition technology my reason for calling and gave me several options to choose from. First I said operator. I wanted to ask them for their location before anything. I got a strange, and quick message that there was a "technical error" and then I was hung up on.
I called again. And I tried other options including billing inquiries. Same message and same response. I was hung up on. When I called back Citizens Bank to find out what was going on I got into a less than friendly conversation with the woman on the other side. Who changed the subject with a laugh every time I asked to speak with her supervisor.
She just told me that my attitude was not going to help. When I asked her how she would feel if she had had money stolen from her, she told me that first off, there has not been anything established yet to prove that money had been stolen from me and that my bank would do a very thorough investigation before taking any action, even including a refund. I told her that I have full confidence in my bank and their ability to handle this situation, and that it was blatent fraud.
OF COURSE! She pulled out the textbook reply of well if it had been fraud, how would they get my account number... Probably the worst most ignorant reply a bank can give a person considering the millions of cases just like mine that are all over the news and the internet.
I just laughed and told her that I know exactly how they do it. It's done through phising sites, it's done through unauthorized selling of information, it's done through scam sites and many other ways.
Then out of frustration I asked her how she can sleep knowing her bank was helping fraudulant companies to operate and steal money from hard working citizens including my children's lunch money. I was then hung up on. Big Surprise. Without ever getting to speak with the supervisor.
But that is not the end. I have done nothing but research these numbers, these companies, and I will continue to update my findings. I will take every action I know of to seek retribution for these acts against me and others as well. I will get my money back.
After going through my bank statements dating back to june of last year, they have taken so far... 5 payments of 9.95 for a service I have no knowledge of and have never used. I plan to look further into my statements for other amounts that were taken out. And I will update the total amount taken later.
After researching I have discovered the following:
Most likely my information was sold when I put a stop to the first company that stole money from me months ago. I guess the only way to stop this is to change your bank account completely.
I found debitvault on google and guess what I found...
Debitvault. ComDebitvault.com. Debitvault.com expired on 09/16 and is pending renewal or deletion. Popular Categories:. Paypal Singapore; Php Paypal; Spain Paypal...
Www.debitvault.com/Paypal_Debit. Cfm? Pt=2&vid=1190830930_3X04X1223209688&rpt=3&kt=4&kp=5 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Debitvault. ComDebitvault.com. Debitvault.com expired on 09/16 and is pending renewal or deletion. Popular Categories:. Awards; Booker Prize; Man Booker Prize...
Www.debitvault.com/Prize. Cfm? Pt=2&vid=1190829234_3X01X1212273888&rpt=3&kt=4&kp=17 - 26k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
[ More results from www.debitvault.com ]
Yet another big surprise!
I tried to email debitran and this is what I got back...
This message was created automatically by mail delivery software.
A message that you sent could not be delivered to one or more of its
recipients. This is a permanent error. The following address (es) failed:
[email protected]
mailbox is full: retry timeout exceeded
Coincidence? I think not!
I also found reports against Citizens bank.
Citizens Bank Overdraft Fee Scam
Filed under: Rants, Scam Alerts vvhitekid2 @ 8:56 pm
Nine years ago, I signed up for a checking account at Citizens Bank in Flint, MI. Since then, I have been a happy customer until now. If you are looking for a bank to do business with DO NOT CHOOSE Citizens Bank. The trouble isn't worth it, and there are MUCH better banks out there.
Here is what happened to me:
Monday morning I had 200 dollars in my checking account.
On Tuesday I used my Visa check card 3 times:
- Once in the morning for a 4 dollar purchase at a coffee shop
- Once later in the afternoon for gas. A 21 dollar purchase
- Once for lunch: 10 dollars
- Once in the evening at Meijer for 180 dollars (groceries, clothes, etc).
Ok, at this point you can see that I went into the red. I spent more money than I had in my checking account. Well, because I had overdraft protection with Citizens, all 3 charges were approved. Now, there is obviously going to be a fee associated with me spending more than I have in my checking account. But how much do you think it is? 10 dollars? 30 dollars? Not even close.
On Wednesday of that week, I was charged 7 fees totaling 231 dollars.
How can this be? Well, according to the customer service representative I spoke with, Citizens bank charges 33 dollars for both pre-authorizations AND the actual charge on the account! That's right, they charge 33 for each charge made on the card for EVERY charge the day you went over. Pre-authorizations are holds that are put on your account at places like gas stations or restaurants, where they want to make sure the card isn't going to be declined before the services are provided. They do not show up on my online account or my monthly statement.
I would have expected ONE fee, my last charge that day, that put me over, not 7 of them. I asked the customer service rep what would have happened had I used my card 20 times that day for small purchased. You guessed it. I would have been charged 40 fees for 33 dollars totaling $1320. Scary to think about. I've used my card 15 times in one day before.
Anyway, I wrote them an email stating that I would like all of my money back that they took for these outrageous charges, or else I will be closing my personal AND business account with them. I got an email response about 5 minutes later with instructions on how to close my account. This just proves to me that after 9 years, they really don't value ANY customers.
In my email I also asked how I am supposed to be aware of data that I have no access to. I have no idea how much the gas station pre-auths my check card for, same with restaurants. Do you know how much your card is preauthorized for? Have you ever even heard of a pre-auth? Since they don't show this information ANYwhere, I feel that it is unfair that I am penalized for not knowing it. Their only response was that I should just estimate twice as much as what you spend will be on your card. The rep actually said that. Great. Now in order to spend 100 dollars on my check card, I need 200 dollars in it because the pre-auth doesn't clear for 3 days. SCAM.
After some internet research I saw that in this last quarter's prospectus they mentioned to their investors that they have modified the fee structure and have made if more difficult for customers to get fees reversed. Wonderful.
Beware of Citizens Bank. They lost this long-time customer because of one outrageous incident, and I hope they lose many more.
Crazy isn't it???
I also found some kind of resell agreement pdf on google for debitran when i googled the phone number. Of course there was no result when i googled debitvault's phone number i plan to keep trying. Here is what the pdf said...
Follow the link:
http://debitran.com/Debitran/Docs/Reseller Agreement ISO. Pdf
I also found a very valuable report on this website on how to deal with these. I have included the link to help others find it.
Follow the link:
http://usacomplaints.com/reports/0/013/RipOff0013224.htm
I will keep adding information as I get it to this report so that others who are scammed by the same companies can pick up where I left off.
These companies have no right to be in business and their victims have every right to justice. I hope that if I am not able to achieve it, that my information can assist others in achieving better results. And please, if anyone has any more information on these companies or similar ones please post it here too. Together, we can all make a difference and bring down people who try to steal our hard earned money!
Good luck to you all!!!
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