A customer service representative contacted me on 11/14 telling me that I was selected to receive a government grant in the amount of $12,500 which would be transferred into my account within 4-5 business days. I asked them how this was possible and they said because I have paid my taxes on time for the last (5) five years.
I asked them how did they get my name and they said they got my name from the Research Department from the U.S. Government. They then proceeded to tell me that they were going to send a representative to my home the following day at 11/18/05 @ 5:30pm.
The gentlemen's name they said would be Larry King. They told me that Larry would have some legal papers for me to sign authorizing them to deposit money into my account.
Next, they told me that they would be patching me through to an automated survey with them still being on the line and that all I needed to do was give them my name, address, bank account information and just accept or decline the health benefits and the Easy One Rate long distance service offers.
I declined BOTH of them. When I was asked if I understood the health benefits I said that I understood them but that I DID NOT WANT them.
They told me to make sure I told that to Larry King when he comes to my house the following evening. They also said that when Larry King came to my house he would also have $500 in grocery coupons and $100 cash certificate that I was to deposit into my account and that would cover the one time fee of $49.95.
They said that I did not have to do anything else but give them my account information so that the $12,500 would be deposited into my account. The next evening Larry King never showed up to my home.
I also noticed that my account was debited $49.95. I called their customer service department that day and told them that they made a mistake and to please credit my money back because Larry King never showed up to my house.
They said that money was non-refundable. I asked to speak to a manager and they said they were all busy at the moment and to call back in one hour.
I called back in one hour and asked to speak to a manager again and this time they said that they stepped out for a minute and they would put me on hold.
I got extremely upset at this point and asked for at least a manager's name and phone number or an email address and they said they could not give out that type of information.
So, I wrote them a letter and mailed it Certified Return Receipt. That letter came back to me saying "Address Unknown". I called them again and told them that I was uncomfortable about the entire deal and to please cancel my account and they said they would cancel it as soon as I received their welcome letter. I received the welcome letter and the $500 in grocery receipts on Friday, Nov. 25.
I called them and they said they would cancel my account and gave me a cancellation conformation number. On Friday, December 2 I checked my checking account as I do everyday, religiously and I saw a check in the amount of $299.95 taken out of my account.
I called Advantage America and they told me that they have in their system that I did cancel my account but not until November 30th. That just so happened to be the same date as the check they wrote against my checking account. Then they told me that $299.95 was non-refundable as well.
I then called my bank's Check Fraud Department and they put a security hold on my account and reimbursed me the $299.95 and told me that Advantage America Benefits was already on their list of fraudulent companies.
I opened a brand new account with no problems. However, I am short of $49.95. I am glad that it wasn't any more than that. But I want people to be aware of this company.
My bank was unable to reimburse me the $49.95 to me since I willingly gave my account information to them; however they were able to reimburse me the $299.95 because I had already canceled my account with them and received a cancellation number from them.
Also, when I called Advantage America Benefits to try and find out why they took $299.95 out of my account, they told me that my account was cancelled but with a completely different cancellation number.
Staci
Dumfries, Virginia
U.S.A.
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