It happened again, I am pretty sure that I was almost the victim of another popular scam! On March 15, I received a phone call from Discover Enterprises, (866) 525-6608, also affiliated with a company calling themselves 24/7 TechSix Support, (877) 801-4171 (or something like that anyway. I am not quite sure of the pronunciation or spelling), stating that a friend of mine was the recipient of a $200 Wal-mart gift card and a $500 gift card to a grocery store of his choice.
It was quite strange, because the sales associate had my friend's name and address, but my cell phone number. When I informed her that she had the wrong person, and that I could provide her with the correct phone number, she still proceeded to give me the gift anyway, even though it was supposed to go to a friend of mine. To accept the gift, all I had to do was agree to preview some of their services for a 30 day period, some magazine subscriptions and a membership to 24/7 TechSix Support, a computer/electronics service company that provides 24 hour support, 7 days a week.
I foolishly accepted the gift, and the sales person then told me that she needed a credit or debit card number because I would be charged $4.95 for both services for a total of $9.90, and that I could cancel the services any time within the 30 day period by calling both of the numbers listed above. Something sounded fishy to me, so after talking it over with my father (who remembers hearing on the news about a scam from Discover Enterprises around Christmas of 2009), I decided to call and cancel the services. When I called up both companies to cancel, it was quite strange that both of them happened "to be experiencing technical difficulties" at the same time, and that I should try to call back within 30-60 minutes.
After hearing this, I decided to view my checking account online, and saw a mysterious debit for $1.99 from "Magent Antioch, CA (866) 525-6608." I promptly canceled that debit card, so that transaction never cleared and went through, and had a new card issued to me. Later that day, and the following day, I received phone calls from Discover Enterprises wondering why I canceled the transaction. When I spoke with a male associate about this matter, I told him that I heard that his company was scamming people, and that I didn't want any part of their hoax. Upon hearing this, the associate yelled in the phone "WE ARE TO A LEGITIMATE COMPANY, YOU CRAZY—what followed next was a string of curse words." Yeah, really professional, right?!!
My friend, David, was not impressed by this, grabbed my phone out of my hand, and asked to speak with a manager about the male associate's inappropriate behavior. The manager said his name was Robert McClain, ID#099540543, and apologized for his associate's rude behavior. He asked David to put me back on the phone, where he proceeded to ask me to reinstate my transaction. I told him that I wanted nothing more to do with his company, and promptly hung up the phone.
I can't believe it almost happened again!!! Three years ago, I was the victim of a scam by Universal Subscription Agency, a magazine company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. (You can read my other consumer complaints, #319310 posted March 19). My advice to the general public: watch yourself because scams are everywhere!!! If you aren't careful, you may just become yet another innocent victim, losing your identity, money, or both!!!
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