In May a young man claiming to be from AT&T called saying I had a free listing in the AT&T online phone book, and could have an "enhanced" listing for $30/year. I told him NO. He said that he needed me to confirm via a recording, that he was connecting to a federal service and that I should say "yes" when he told me to. A recorded message began to play, which I could not hear because he was talking over it. There came a point where he said "just say yes now" - - I said "yes, to FREE Listing Only."
Next thing I know I'm getting charges of $42.35 PER MONTH on my AT&T Bill.
I called the number listed on the bill (1-888-288-3724, "Enhanced Services Billing, Inc") and spoke to an incredibly rude woman who said her name was Ashley.
She told me they had a recording of me saying "yes" for this service, and that a letter had been sent to me confirming the order. I never received any letter.
I told her that I was adamant with the young man who called that I did NOT want the enhanced listing. She was belligerent and rude, but ultimately gave me a confirmation number for the cancellation - which was for only $39.95. She claimed the remaining $2.40 was taxes that would be reimbursed by my "local phone company."
All this time, I thought I was speaking to an AT&T representative... It wasn't until after the call that I realized this was a scam.
Sadly, I did not keep a record of the date of the first call, or the man's name who made it. But this post will be followed by a letter to Enhanced Services Billing, copied to AT&T and the FCC.
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