I recently signed up for some magazine subscriptions through United Readers Services, a telemarketing magazine company that sells popular magazines at a discount in which you pay monthly. A few days after I signed up with this company, I received a telephone call at my home stating that they were my magazine company needing to have my updated debit card info. A couple of days prior I had given my debit card information over the phone to URS, and they did have to call me back because they couldn't get the payment to process correctly. So, when this fake company called saying that they couldn't get my payment to process, I believed it to be valid. The interesting part is that they had part of my debit card number, my address, phone number and other personal info.
So, I gave the information again to this company, believing them to be URS, and they said they would set my payment to come out in about a week and it would start to come out monthly on that date. I said ok, and hung up. I immediately got a bad feeling when they hung up rather quickly and didn't go through the usual "thanks for doing business with us..." so I signed onto my bank account online and noticed that there was a payment pending already in my checking account that was trying to process. I immediately called the company back, and couldn't get a hold of anybody. A generic voicemail message came on saying that the mailbox was full (?) and I'd have to call back. I was furious—I then called my bank and they said that they couldn't stop the pending credit, but once it cleared I could fill out identity theft info and file a report.
I called United Readers Service and talked to the head manager I could possibly talk to, I think her name was Kim, and I told her everything. She said she had a couple of calls that same week from people telling her the same thing, and urged me to call the police. She verified my info and helped me every step of the way, she even called my bank and talked to the fraud department with me on 3-way. I called the police, got a report number, and my bank credited the funds back into my account and issued me new credit cards. However, this Patriotic Readers Club keeps calling my house, at LEAST 4-5 times a week, somehow got a hold of my cell phone # and called me there, and they keep sending me nasty letters saying that my account is delinquent and will be turned over to collections and if I want to pay off my "contract" I owe them $1313.70.
Every time I get to talk to somebody (they call sometimes from a private, unlisted number) they ask about my late payment and say that they won't give me any info about my mags or account info until I update my payment info. They hang up once I mention the police or fraud, then they just call back the next day asking the same thing! It's harrassment, it's embarressing. I'm being treated like someone who can't paying their bills and their rude on top of it! I can't get their number blocked from my phone because it seems to always be an unlisted number or a different Colorado number. I have never received any magazines from this company; the only literature I receive from them are threatening delinquent notices.
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