On April 30 my wife received our monthly telephone billing from SBC. Normally the charges are between $38-40 with long distance service from AT&T, however this bill was for $142.58!
We noticed on the billing summary a charge from Integretel, Inc. For 103.50. Having never heard of Integretel, I called SBC. The customer service rep. Stated that Integretel was another telephone carrier, and that their billing was for two 1-900 charges from a company called InfoServicZZ. I had never heard of InfoServicZZ and neither my wife nor I have ever made 1-900 calls. The SBC customer service rep. Stated that she would put a "dispute" on the charges, but that we would have to contact Intgetel to have the charges removed. She further stated that if I did not receive a satisfactory response from Integretel, SBC could remove the charge, but that Integretel may still send a seperate billing.
I contacted Integretel and talked with one of their customer reps. He stated that there were actually three charges from InfoServicZZ, and the third call (for approximately $47.00) would be billed on the next SBC billing cycle. As the conversation went on, I became more infuriated, as he stated that there was no question that the charges came from our phone, as Integretel "uses the same system that 911 uses to trace calls." (NOTE: Not a direct quote, but nearly so). After I stated that I was just as certain that the calls were not from our phone, he stated that it actually was from a computer dialing the 1-900 number, and asked if we had a computer in the home. I stated that both my wife and I have computers, but since we are only home nights and weekends, that two of the three charges could not have been from us, since we were at work during these times.
Then the rep. Stated that he was "authorized to offer a reduction in the bill of 50% if we agreed to pay 50%. I blew up and told him that he was trying to black mail me for charges that we did not place! I further stated that I would rather get a lawyer and see them (Integretel) in court, rather than pay half and thus admit to making calls I KNEW my wife and I did not make.
In the end, the Integretel rep. Did state that they would credit our account for the full amount, but that it would take a month or two. He further stated that he would block the number to InfoServicZZ, but that if I wanted all 1-900 numbers blocked from our phone, I would have to speak to our normal service provider. I did contact SBC and now have all 1-900 numbers blocked on our telephone.
To find out more about this, I used my work PC (with more advanced firewalls and anti-spy software) and found out there were others who have experienced the same hoax. Reading from this site (usacomplaints.com) I read about a person in California with almost the exact same thing that happened to them (see Dale's report from South San Fransisco, CA).
I also found out that this scam has been used in Florida. Now it appears to be in Michigan. I can only suggest that readers contact their telephone service provider and block all 1-900 calls. En get anti-spyware software for their computer (my next move). Also stick to your guns. If you KNOW that you didn't make the charges, don't let someone try to convince you otherwise (NOTE: My wife was willing to pay the 50% charge, just so our credit rating would not be affected). Lastly, contact your state and local government agencies if this happens to you (I am currently doing so), and tell everyone you know about this type of scam.
I hope no one else has to go through what I have, and maybe this report will help.
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