A bunch of strange numbers called more for a few days and finally I answered one. They don't have a set number they call you from so theres no reason for me to post it...
They claimed I was elligable for entry in the Dream Come True Sweepstakes for being a loyal visa, mastercard, or whoever customer.
(90% of people will be since they listed every credit/debit and or prepaid giftcard service on the planet)
It was true that I owned a visa card but it didn't make sense because I am 17 and the card was under my mothers name yet they had my name and andress on file?
I asked them if it was ok that i was under 18 and consenting to a card that was not under my name and of course they said it was fine. (Isn't that illegal?! I should've known it was sketchy from the beginning)
The woman continued to say I would receive a free watch from visa, and free magazines if i bought a monthly subscription for one. She asked me my basic interests to figure out which type of magazines i would like and a few other pointless questions. Then she said she needed to transfer me to her "Superior" since she just started training and she only did that part of the process, her superior would finish the order.
I was then transferred and told to another employee. This employee asked me if i wanted the watch in female or male style, my marital status, if i was employed full time or part time, and planning on school full time or part time. During this time he was extremely polite and acted like he had actual interest in my plans and acted like he could relate to my struggle for money and that this really could be my "Dream Come True". He stated that he didn't want me to miss out on this "deal". He then described to me the payment plan which was assinine.
I would pay 39.99 a month for 33 months and receive all 5 magazines. He made it sound like it would be a deal by saying i should be paying for 60 months and blah blah blah and they cut off this much money and this many months but 39.99 for 30 months (which they dont tell you is 1000 something dollars) is the "deal".
I asked him what proof he could give me to confirm this wasnt a scam after he asked for my card information... Such as a website, physical adress, so on. He said they dont have a website because something was not working and that the magazine publishers that he was providing had them on their website... Which makes no senes. The he gave me his name and "employee number" and an adress in Draper, Utah that was extremely long and complicated. This adress does exist but it has nothing to do with "Dream Come True" Sweepstakes or anything.
They say they wont charge you until you receive your welcome package in 5 business days and you can cancel at any time if you aren't happy. Your welcome package includes the watch, the actual sweepstakes information (which at this point you've forgot about with all this crazy magazine talk), and a complentary 100$ gas giftcard.
He continuted to push me to take advantage of the deal and to add more magazines I just said no that was enough. Then he made me go through a recording where I confirmed that I knew how much i was being charged a month, how many magazines I was receiving, and other information. (Basically stuff that if i wanted to pursue them in court would make me look like an idiot)
AFTER ALL THIS he informed me that I had more visa cards?! I didn't own any so I thought that was strange. I know now that if I had said yes their goal was to get those numbers as well.
So after all these strange feeligns throughout the process i checked my prepaid visa card transactions... They had already tried to take out the 39.99 minutes later. I looked up this scam on google with titles like "Dream Come True Sweepstakes", the adress they gave me, and the title "TPS or Top Publications Services". Here i found tons of entries based on this same scam.
I called their real phone number in the contact information provided for this entry and they were almost pissed that I had found this number... I told them i wanted off the contact list and the girl that answered and I honestly got into a bit of an arguement. She demanded to know how i found the number knowing she was caught red handed but i kept saying just take me off the list and she finally gave in. Then when i told her i wanted to cancel my order (even more angrily) she gave me the customer service number where i did that.
Still not trusting the situation I reported my card compromise just in case cancelling the order and taking my number off the calling list wasnt enough. I do beleive if i didn't get a new card number they would continue charging regardless.
0 comments