My credit card information was stolen over the weekend, and apparently some of my personal information. Whoever did it wasn't quite smart enough to get it all right, so luckily I didn't lose anything major.
So Monday rolls around, and I go through the normal process - cancel credit card, transfer all funds into safe bank account, freeze credit histories, etc. So, I think to myself "Phew, its over". But then I get a phone call.
The number on my cell phone was 801-765-6000, and I received the call around 12 noon, eastern time. I call it back and get through to Doba's automated system. I press "2" to get through to an operator, and the call hangs up automatically. I redial, same thing happens. The third time, I just get a busy signal. Oh well.
At this point, I have no idea what this company is, what it does, etc. So I google the number - "801-765-6000". What is the first result? Identity theft safety. The website that comes up has a short main body, followed by a list of 1,000 plus phone numbers. According to them, it is a list of shady companies that have such weak security in their billing systems that identity thieves frequent them constantly.
So I start thinking "uh oh". I then try calling again and again between the hours of 2 pm and 5 pm, still with no result - hang ups, busy signals, or simply ringing with no answer. I give up, hoping that my frozen credit report will protect me.
Then around 7 pm, while I'm sitting down to dinner, I finally get a call back. It is a salesman from Doba.com, calling to welcome me to the company. He told me that I have purchased some sort of long term agreement, and he thanked me for my purchase. I quickly informed him of the identity theft, and he transferred me to "customer service". Boy, was I in for a treat.
The customer service woman wanted me to verify all of my information with her before I could even speak about anything. I told her I refuse to give out any information, since I really don't trust them. She then told me that I could verify that it was me with my phone number (which they obviously already had) and state. So I gave her that contact info, and she confirmed it was me. She asked me for my email address, and once again, I said "no way". So she informed me that the email address was through MSN.com, a company I've never used, but would not give me the full address.
This is where it gets fun. I think to myself "great, she can give me the fake email address, and I can put it in the police report. Maybe we have a fighting chance of catching this guy" So I ask her for it. Here is her glorious response "I'm sorry, we can't give that out." What? It's my account (technically). I ask her again. She says "you've confirmed that this isn't your account, so we can't give out the account holder's email". Ridiculous! The guy steals my info, and Doba.com protects him! I tell her "you've already confirmed that you are speaking with me, the account holder"."Yes sir, but we don't give out that information, especially since you are trying to close your account".
She tells me that I can possibly get that information from their fraud department. So I ask for the phone number. "Sorry, we don't give that out either. You can have their email address, [email protected]". Of course, no response from any email sent to them. [email protected] is probably just a shortcut to their trash can. At this point I'm really irate. I ask her what is required to open an account - she says "very little is actually required to open an account and hold your credit liable". Great, so Doba.com requires almost no information to charge you for stuff, but is more than willing to send collection agencies after you for not paying for things.
So, in short, Doba.com has almost no security because they actually PROFIT from identity thieves! It is now widely known that they facilitate the identity theft process, yet nobody does anything about it! They keep their "fraud department" hush hush to give you the appearance of caring, but in reality, they love fraud. If somebody opens a fake account and they send it to collections, maybe only 5% will actually get paid, but thats still money in their pockets, and out of the pockets of the victims.
Also, how can you call yourself a wholesaler without requiring a tax id upon registration? And how can you sleep at night holding people liable for purchases made fraudulently with only a telephone number and address, info that can be obtained from the yellow pages?
Steer clear of this morally reprehensible service. They may not steal your info, but they make it easy for others to do so. I'm still waiting to hear if they will refund my "purchase". Oh gee, I hope they are nice enough not to charge me!
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