I received a charge for 9.95 on my American Express card that I knew I had not made. Charge appeared only as Direct Billing (Specialty Retail Store). I called the phone number on the charge and the billing company told me the charge was for free magazines and a donation to a "charity" called Frankly Speaking.
I called the number provided for Frankly Speaking and only got a recording that directed me to their website. This is the fun part! According to thier site, they "collect" donations on an "opt-out" basis. Apparently, they call your phone number and if the prerecorded message is allowed to play to completion (ie. If an answering machine picks up and records the message), they take that as your consent to donate 9.95 in exchange for some magazine.
I have no idea where these people got my credit card number. They have a link on thier website for people to request refunds... We'll see how that goes. Please note, I make no statements regarding the validity of this organizations charitable work, but I do object to them trying to sneak charges onto people credit cards.
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