A heavily accented man called me trying to verify my identity. He said that he was doing this so that he could then wire me grant money ($3,000.00), which he said that I qualified for and that I had been selected for. He then collected me bank account information; verified my home address, phone within the next three days the money would be wired to my account.
He also told me that I needed to go to my bank and present them with a verification number for the transaction. He also told me that there would be a one time fee of $29.95 for the transaction. I agreed to the one time fee. He then informed me that I needed to say, 'Yes', to all of the following pre-recorded messages which would verify all of the information above mentioned and some additional services.
Once I arrived at the additional services I said, 'No', and he began to tell me that I needed to say, 'Yes', to everything on the pre-recording but that I could cancel everything at the end, I refused to say yes and finally I hung-up. He immediately called back saying that I had to say yes to everything. I again refused to say yes to everything, he said unless I said yes, he could not cancel the transaction and "who know who would have access to my personal information". I again refused to say yes and asked to speak to a supervisor. After much back and forth the supervisor agreed to cancel the transaction.
Three days later a $29.95 charge showed up on my account, I called to cancel and was told I could not do so until I received the welcome letter
On October 4, I received the welcome letter from National Health Net Online informing me that I was signed up for a trial period with their company, and that if we did not contact their customer services before the end of our trial period they would then bill us $299.95 for their services.
Clearly, I called them to cancel. I was informed that they had already processed the $299.95 charge and he would have to send my request to their headquarted (which of course I cannot call directly) and that I could call for a status report on Tuesday of the following week.
I immediately called my bank (Washington Mutual) to put a stop payment on the charge. The customer service tech told me that I could do it over the phone for $30 or online for $15 and proceeded to walk me through cancelling the charge online.
The charge went through despite my stop payment and the bank is unwilling to reverse the resultant service charges for other returned checks.
And so here I am. I would like to take legal action if at all possible. If there is anything that can be done please contact me immediately.
I will continue to follow up and see if I get any of my money back.
Hicute
San Rafael, California
U.S.A.
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