I received a charge for $299.00 to my checking account. It came in as check number 1 (I'm on check number 280). I went to my bank and the bank president helped me by identifying the company and printing me a copy of the check. It was from "Helen of Trades". This was a company I've never heard of. It said they had my pre-approval for the check, which they did not. It also listed a phone number. They had my old address and an old phone number.
I called the number and the company on the phone said it was Multidata Services. I picked choice on for customer service and waited on hold for 25 minutes before someone answered. The man said his name was Zach and he listened to my story and said he would start an immediate investigation. He said to call back Monday after 2 P.M.
I called back Monday and was on hold so long that I finally hung up. I tried Tuesday and had the same problem. On Wednesday, I stayed on hold for 45 minutes and finally they answered. The man on the phone said Zach wasn't there that day but he would help me. He said he'd file a refund request and the money should be back in 10-14 business days. Something didn't seem right to me, however. I did some searching on line and found this web site and saw that Helen of Trades was involved in other scams doing exactly the same thing to others.
I went to my bank and the president of the bank said he was filing to get my money back. He says it should be back in 5 days, tops. He took the information I gave him from this site to post an alert to all the branches of the bank to not allow this company to charge customers accounts. Also, I opened a new account to use, since my info is obviously available on the old account to unscrupulous individuals.
Stephen
New Milford, Connecticut
U.S.A.
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