A few months ago, I had an incident where 3 companies were taking money out of my checking account through debit transactions. I went to my bank for help. I was basically laughed at and told I didn't know what I was talking about because I told my bank that someone had created a "fake" email address using my Yahoo ID and had used my debit card info to take money out of my account. My bank didn't believe me. I was never able to convince them of this; they kept stating that "someone" had to have used my debit card to make these transactions. I swore to them that I had not, in fact, used my debit card. I finally stopped trying to convince them. They did, however, convince me that if I would just cancel my debit card and get a new one that the problem would be resolved. It didn't resolve the problem.
Here I am again fighting the same problem. Only this time, it's with two companies and not three. And, the company I'm reporting this time, I swear I think they are the same company I reported just 3 months ago to the BBB. I would have to look at my records. Thus, I'm in the process of closing my checking account which the bank attendant kept telling me wouldn't do me any good. She kept saying that I need to have two checking accounts, one for paying bills and one for shopping. I say that's boggus!!! I shouldn't have to have two checking accounts because somebody out there wants to rip me off.
Anyway, I reported the 3 companies the first time around, which happened just a few months ago. I have a theory as to what happened. I'm not sure, so please do not think that I am saying anything negative against the Doggy Step company. I'm not even sure that they are involved in this, but the transactions against my checking account did not occurr until I ordered Doggy Steps for my dog and cat. Keep in mind, I normally do not order on-line from infomercials. If I do order from anywhere, it's typically from a legitimate store such as Wal-Mart, Ebay, or Half.com.
Here's my story: As I said above, I ordered some Doggy Steps. The company sent me the wrong steps. I didn't think anything of it. So, I called them and requested that they send me the correct steps. I thought I was ordering the 4-step set and not the 3-step set of Doggy Steps. Another issue was that I had ordered (4) of these but only got (2). Well, I got all that straightened out. A couple of weeks goes by. I happen to check my checking account and notice that transactions have been taken out. I finally get that mess straightened out... So I thought. I filed complaints with the BBB on all three companies. I actually got a rebuttal from one of them saying that "I did" give my debit card info as well as my email address and they listed my email address in the rebuttal. Funny thing is... It wasn't even my email address. They had my Yahoo ID correct, but they had my email as "@gmail.com" and not "yahoo.com". I knew right then that the issue I was involved was indeed fraud.
It's two months later... December. Here I am, once again, involved in a situation with money being taken out of my checking account. And, I swear I think the above company, I've already filed a complaint against with the BBB just a few months ago. I would need to check my records to verify that. But, I'm pretty sure it's the same company or it's the same company but just a similar name. When I filed the first round of BBB complaints, I found out that there was a strong hint that the (3) companies were actually (possibly) all woven into the same company.
And now... I think the same company has hit me again because I never closed my checking account the first time around. Thus, if anyone is reading this, go ahead and close your checking account even if you think that it's only debit card related. I let my bank convince me to just order a new debit card, it didn't work. I wish I had listened to my gut instinct and closed my account. I had two sets of transactions taken out of my account as follows: (Dec 15) $1.95 and $. 04 from GrantForYouToday; and, (December 19) Mediamogulme.com for $29.95 and $. 60. I've never heard of either of these companies. But, I do think that the GrantForYouToday is one of the prior companies that hit me just a few months ago.
So, here I am filing BBB complaints again. My bank did give me some good advice which I never really thought about and made me feel really dumb at the time, whenever a web-site pops up a window that says the site is not a guaranteed secure site... You need to leave it alone. I've noticed windows like that from time-to-time on my computer but never gave it much thought until now. You live and learn...
Countrygal
Raleigh, North Carolina
U.S.A.
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