Dealpass.com's subsidiary PrivacyMatters (billed as 24ProtectPlus) began taking $16.95 from my checking account in April of '05. June's statement was the first time I took notice of this activity.
I called the company number provided on my statement and was told I have been a member (and have been charged) $14.95 monthly since of August and $16.95 monthly since August. According to my bank, the first charge came in April '05 and no prior activity under that name could be found. After finding this out, I called them one more time. Apparently, they have records of collecting this monthly membership fee since August '03.
The most frightening thing of all of this is that my bank issued me a *completely* new debit card (new numbers AND new CCV) on January 1st of this year. They will not provide billers with the new number. I had one domain hosting service closed and calls from AOL requesting I switch my card as the old number was no longer functional. AOL is the only company I have authorized to automatically debit my account. Somehow, though, Dealpass.com/PrivacyMatters got my number - without me ever giving it to them!
I am currently waiting on a complete account history from this company - the IP address I was signed up from, the referring site, the referring banner and a complete report of account activity.
Ironically, the company that has fraudulently gotten my credit card number is an identity theft protection agency. =)
Rebecca
Woodstock, Illinois
U.S.A.
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