This company contacted my boyfriend over the phone during what would have been an otherwise pleasant evening out. He stepped out for almost a half hour to discuss with them his "winnings" which included a $1600 (I'm not positive on the amount) voucher for use on a 3 day/2 night vacation to any one of 20 exotic locations, as well as a $1000 shopping spree arranged through www.myfreeamerica.com.
The first step in claiming his prize would be to agree to authorize Regional Travel Services to debit his checking account for $4.95 which would cover the shipping and handling fees for the package which included the voucher and specific information about destinations and how to claim the shopping gift card. They requested that he make a recording of his name, social security number, bank account number, date of birth and other personal information of that nature, through their automated system.
When I heard this, I told him to get off the phone with them immediately, and when he tried they continued to pressure him with hard-sale tactics. He finally managed to get their information, company address, sales rep name and phone number and requested that they call him back in an hour. He was disappointed that I made him give up his "prize" but I urged him to trust me when I said that any reputable company would not mind extending the offer to the end of the business day.
When we got home, I researched the company online and although I did not find any specific information regarding their practices, I did stumble on similar scams. I instructed my boyfriend to call them back at the number they provided so that we could ask them some questions which I thought would help me assertain the legitimacy of the offer.
Lo and behold, dialing the number they themselves provided only gets you to an answering service! Thank God we didn't give these rats any money (even $4.95) is too much for me! Their answering machine instructed us to call during "regular business hours." Boy, do I want to live in Utah where business hours apparently end before 4!
We had almost forgotten the incident when they called back. My boyfriend immediately asked how they were managing to call if their office was closed but of course they dodged that question. He asked if they are a member of the BBB, to which they responded "we're in the process" (they later said they've been in business for 7 years, as if that's not enough time to become a member). He asked if they would accept a money order in the amount of 4.95 to which they responded, "we only accept payment in the form of verified bank to bank transactions."
He then asked how they got his number, which they would also not answer. He asked if he could mail the check, an obvious bank to bank transaction, right? They absolutely would NOT give a straight answer at all. They kept trying to reassure us that using a check is NEVER safe, not even when paying your credit cards, so we should just record our info over the phone because that's obviously safer. Right.
In the end, they ended up seriously harassing us - they called on the second phone line while we were already talking to them on the first - and later asked us what kind of idiots we were for not trusting them with our bank account number.
I started to feel like I was in an alternate universe. The bottom line is that if he had been alone, my boyfriend may have given out this very sensitive information and if it weren't for the fact that I'm so cynical I research EVERYTHING we could have had endless unauthorized transactions.
Don't trust these people. Even though I haven't actually lost any money, I know they must be up to something and I want to warn everyone of their existence.
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