When I got my bank statement about Oct. 6, I saw a charge of $79.95 on our joint credit card, dated Sept. 20 by CIC Credit Monitor Service. Having never heard of this company and having not used the card in several months, I first did an internet search to see if there was any info on it.
I found these reports pages, which only confirmed my suspicions. I copied some of the reports, and a report about Exerian, the parent company, formulated a letter and immediately took it to my bank. They immediately, put a reversal on the charge and am waiting to see what happens next.
Well, imagine my surprise when a bill for my husband's credit card (another bank) came yesterday (10/21/03), and lo and behold, the same charge, same date, same company appeared on this one! I have called them and will follow up in writing supplying the same info. They charged 2 of our cards, the same amount on the same day.
Needless to say, these were NOT authorized! Due to an incident a while back, regarding identity theft, I enrolled in a credit monitoring service offered by one of my bank cards, which covers ALL my cards, and for a heck of a lot less per year than this. I have found out this charge was supposedly for a credit report, which I knew nothing about. I never ordered one at anytime. It would not make sense as through this registry, I get a credit report quarterly and notification of any action for credit on my credit report.
A report I read states CIC Credit Monitor Service is owned by Experian, which in turn is owned by someone in the UK. The report said the owner was very pleased with the American Experian as profits were up a huge percent for that period. Well, no wonder! Figure $80.00 (rounded off) times, say 250,000 customers per month equals $20,000, 000 a month! No wonder credit reporting companies aren't well liked.
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