I am so happy to find this site. I was called this afternoon by a company that said they were "North American Center". On my caller ID it showed up as N A C Services. At the time they called, I was trying to purchase a cell phone online and trying to add money to my secured credit card (Capital One) but was unable to because although they had reduced my available limit due to a recent purchase ($200 credit limit - $110 purchase), my balance still reflected as though it was minimal (balance $10) and I could only make a payment for the balance 10 percent. I was feeling a little frustrated since I should have been able to make a payment of $90... Anyway, that's when the phone rang.
It was a woman telling me I had been approved for a Mastercard and Visa (I was waiting for the catch since I've been struggling with my credit for some time). She went on to tell me I applied for their credit card a while ago and was not approved (which was very possible) and now they have re-assessed it and have approved it. She asked if I had any major credit cards. I told her yes, MC and Visa. She asked what the credit limits were. Gullable me told her $200 each and I laughed. She asked why I laughed and I said because they're pretty funny limits.
She went on to inform me that I was approved for two unsecured credit cards — Visa $1,500 and MC $1,000 (or vice versa). She asked for my bank account info and told me it was the way the company made its money since there were no annual fees and after she asked me the interest rates on my current cards and I told her one was 19.8, she told me these would be between 11 - 15%. I didn't think it was that suspicious when she wanted my bank info because I pay for a lot of things with electronic transfers (probably because of my poor credit and low credit limits) I also have some companies take out regular payments out of my checking account like State Farm (not by choice) and just recently when inquiring about health insurance (I'm self-employed), the agent told me it would be automatically deducted from my checking account. He did not even know my credit situation, so I figure a lot of people are starting to do it this way.
Anyway, after I gave her all my info, she asked if I had any questions. I just went over "This is a real Visa and MC, right?" Yes. "And I am already approved, right, not just pre-approved? No, definitely approved. Then before she transferred me to the "verification" people, she told me she almost forgot to tell me I would be getting a free cell phone from Sprint with 3,000 minutes on it and then I could sign up for whatever plan I wanted to, if I wanted to, after that.
I am not a stupid person. I consider myself of above average intelligence. I actually make a good salary but when your credit is damaged, I think you get a little desperate and perhaps you desperately want to believe you finally got your break. That was my case. She would be deducting $199 from my account next Friday (10/11) and then I would receive the cards in 10-14 days. When I talked to the verifier, she told me right at the end that I would get my "certificates" in two weeks. I said "certificates", not credit cards? She said then you fill out the certificates and send to get your cards. I said but I definitely will get the cards, right? Yes. I also asked her at the beginning if these were real credit cards and not merchant cards and she said Yes, they're real credit cards.
While I was on the phone with the verifier, I was trying to find a website for this company. I couldn't find anything. I was trying everything, trying to find a site like this for people that may have had dealings with them. Is kind of made me suspicious when I couldn't find anything. Then I called back the "888" number they gave me and got an answering machine saying everyone was busy and I'd get a call back after I left a message. What kind of business is that???
I started really searching on the Web after that. I couldn't find anything. I looked under the BBB, and found very negative info. That's the first I found of anything. I found this site with a lot of info on NACS but it's called National Association or something. I'm figuring the people that called me are the same scam. They must change their names constantly to keep under the radar. When I checked the area code on my caller ID (thank God for caller ID) it was an Ontario, Canada number. Most of the complaints I saw on this site list the company as being from St. Petersburg, FL.
That's enough for me. I'm going to call my bank first thing tomorrow and stop payment on the electronic check. Thank you all for this site. When I can't find something on the Internet these days, I get very suspicious!!!
E. Marie
Tampa, Florida
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