A rep named Matt called from Oxford Bank claiming I had been recently denied a credit card. I told him no, that I didn't think so. But he continued on anway. He said he was in risk department and my file was tranferred to him. He was real nice. He said I was approved for a Mastercard by Oxford Bank for a limit of $2000 and a 0% APR for the lifetime of the card, etc, etc. Of course, I asked how this was possible. He went on and on.
He then said that in order to receive the card, I would have to pay a one time fee of $249 which would be debited from my checking account and all they would need was my information. Stupidly, I was fooled and agreed. I was notified that I would receive my card forty days after the payment was received. We went onto the confirmation, which was recorded.
A few days after the payment had been drafted, by a paper check mind you; I did not agree to a paper check. I was told it would be done electronically, which I knew my bank could retrieve if this didn't work out.
To make a long story short, the call center that answers for "oxford" said that at the 40 days, I would be receiving a welcome packet and a letter to sign and then would receive the card in 2 weeks. I asked at what cost. She said nothing. I called again to make sure and 2nd rep said that there was a small cost to get the card after the welcome packet arrived.
I got angry. That was not what I agreed to. I was able to listen to the recording and at the end, there was an additional recording that I never heard, which was some bull@hit about a long distance service that I would be charged for on a monthly basis, and some other mumbo jumbo.
I called my bank. Fortunately, my bank was very cooperative and understanding. They refunded me my money back and required me to close my account and reopen a new one. Unfortunately, my bank is now short of the $249 that Oxford scammed because they bluntly told me they never get their money back from scams like this and have a huge list of these kinds of scams.
The only assuring thing the bank told me was that the SEC and the FTC are working on cracking down these thieves.
If anyone calls offering you a credit card with no annual percentage, something too good to be true, it's a scam. Most reputable cards do not charge a fee upfront, and the ones that do, automatically charge onto the card and allows for cancellation time. If you've got bad credit, fix it up and wait out the 7 years or so. It's not worth becoming desperate.
Thank you.
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