I too was victimized by "CEG". My story is the same as everyone elses. I got a call from a guy named Alan promising me a $2,500 visa card. I was suspicious, but he assured me that this was a "real credit card". So I thought about it and decided 'what the hey, I need this" So I gave him all my checking info, then I showed concern with not being able to have the money on time. He then told me I would receive the card in 7-10 days and that I could take the money out of an ATM with the card.
So we set the day for the money to come out 2 weeks from then. Two days before the money was to come out I had not received anything. I called the 1-866 number and constantly got a busy signal. After about an hour or two I finally got through. It was around 2 pm CST. I told the lady my story and she told me I would not be receiving my "Package" until the 7-10 days after the money was taken. I didn't ask what she meant by "package" I just took it. Well the money came out on May 2. I waited a little under 2 weeks and I still received nothing.
I called again and I constantly received a busy signal again and certain times an answering machine. After a day or two I finally got through and I went off on the lady. She took all my info and said she would send the request in and hung up on me. A week later I get a package in the mail from CEG. My fiance and I opened it up and found a booklet, a CD and a couple of credit card applications. I paid $300 dollars for this? That's all I could think of. Well the next day my fiance searched for CEG on www.google.com. She then called me and told me what she had found.
So I went to it and saw how tons of people were getting ripped off by these guys. Immediatly I knew I was scammed and all I could think about was how to get it back. My fiance had suspicions from the beginning, but I didn't listen. I called the 1-866 number again and yelled at the lady. She gave me a number for complaints. I called that number and could not get through all day.
So here's how I got my money back...
I looked at my bank statement and found that first choice had taken the money out. I proceeded to call my bank. The lady I talked to seemed interested in my story and was appreciative... Maybe she too had been taken by these guys. She put me on hold and said that they were going to do a trace of the transfer. I didn't think anything was going to come out of it, but when she returned she told me that it was good I had called and it seems to have done a lot of good. She gave me the name and phone number of the bank that had taken the money for these guys... HSBC USA 716-841-4961 I did an area code lookup and they appear to be located in buffalo She also gave me the trace number and the company ID. The company ID is 610784676 the trace number will probably vary
She told me I can call them or I can dispute it with my bank for the money. I decide to try calling them first
I called the 716 number and told the lady my story. She gave me an number for their fraud or something department.
1-800-368-7808 as soon as I got on the phone I started to tell the lady my story and I told her my bank did a trace to them she asked me for the company name I told her credit education group and first choice. She said yes they are a real place and they are the bank for them. She then gave me a number for them. 514-841-9363.
I called that number and got a voice menu. I chose the option for customer service. A couple minutes later a lady answered. I started to tell her my story. She seemed interested, but wasn't sure what to do. She took all my info. She asked if it would be ok if the dept supervisor, Nancy, called me back. I said yes, but will she really call me. She said that if she didn't call in an 2 hours to call them back. So I waited about an houth later I got a call from this number 702-254-3163.
It was nancy. I told her how I was lied to and mislead. She said that she didn't think that they could do anything because of the terms and conditions I agreed to when purchasing the package. She said that she will however talk to her bosses because she can determine that. She said they will review my tape and documents and call me back. About 15-30 minutes later I got another call from the same number. Nancy told me that she talked to the higher ups and that they agreed to give me a refund. She said it should be posted to my account in either the next day or day after.
Two days later I had another $296 in my checkings account. I am now changing my account numbers to prevent anything else from happening. I'm sorry that this was long, it took me a lot of digging, but it was worth it. I got my money back and I learned a valuable lesson. If this helps anyone, then I will be happy.
Thanks anonymous
lexingon, Kentucky
U.S.A.
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