I was approached in a parking lot of a popular shopping center by a young man named "JJ". He seemed very bright and sweet so I decided to listen to what he had to offer. JJ had an official badge from the company, so I thought he was legit. He explained to me he was trying to win a contest with the amount of people he signed up for magazine subscriptions.
Since my husband reads a numerous amounts of magazine's he was offering I decided to get a 2 year subscription to 2 magazines. JJ also explained to me that this improves his communication skills and helps him "with a second chance" since he never went to college and wanted to build a business.
I was willing to help since he did say it was a donation to help him. I explained to him that I did not have cash on me and I did not feel comfortable giving him my credit card number. He pushed saying both were safe but I preferred writing a check. I wrote him a check for $100.00 and give him $20 in cash for the rest. I thanked him and explained I could cancel if my husband didn't like the magazines I had chosen.
A week later, I went on vacation not knowing about what I had signed up for until yesterday. I saw numerous reports that Fidelity Reader Service was a fraud and a scam. At this point, I called the service to cancel; the customer service phone rang and rang until a man by "Matthew" picked up.
I explained to him that my husband did not want the magazine subscription and I would like to cancel. He explained that there was nothing he could do since he works strictly on "data entry". He said customer service would be the best to speak to, I asked him to transfer me and he refused, claiming their number didn't exist. I asked to speak to a supervisor and he explained to me again that customer service would take care of me.
He stressed that I emailed and send in the yellow receipt that I had received; it takes 5 days to get a response for email and mail. I explained to him thats way too long to get a response and by the time I mail them the receipt I did not want to hear "its too late". I immediatley hung up the phone and called my bank.
The bank had explained to me the check had been deposited for $167! The check I had orginally written was for $100! HOW DID THEY CHANGE IT? The bank closed my account and I am filing a police report today.
I feel very scammed and stupid that I thought I was helping an individual, that didn't need help at all.
0 comments