I decided to do a link roundup about this and make it a resource post so new visitors can easily find the posts if the search engines don’t take them right to ‘em.
My original post – just a warning to everyone
- My next post, where I talk about calling the police and Verizon. This is also the post where tons of people posted about their experience and investigations into this scam. Very valuable information here!
- My update on the fact that blocking screened calls doesn’t work like Verizon suggested, and my suggestion to tell them you’re recording the call even if you aren’t.
Some other links culled from the comment threads (but again, I highly recommend reading the comments on post #2 above, because it’s chock full of info).
- http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/archives/2007/07/02/cardholder-services/
- http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/443000327831
- http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-487-2273
- http://www.haloscan.com/comments/lincmad/6500520568862720776/
- http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-442-074-2550 - it would appear this thing is international, because even if they’re just spoofing international numbers as well as domestic, that involves other countries
Where to go to complain: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints_tcpa.html. I’ve emailed them and gotten only an automated response. No idea whether they’ll help or not.
I’ll keep adding to this post as needed!
I is time we started to fight back, I am going to talk very low to them so they have to turn up the volume on their phone and then blow a whistle. After they go deaf they won’t be able to use the phone.
I engage them in as long a conversation as I can, hoping to consume their time.
I get these stupid calls once a week, they even leave messages of a lame recording.
I’m going to try filling a complaint, but I somehow doubt it will work.
It won’t, I’ve contacted the feds about 8 or 9 times and these people are still at it.
Okay…I think we need to update our information on how people should respond to this.
Rather than use the FCC’s internet complaint form, I used the telephone number to speak directly to an FCC representative. She told me that I didn’t want to file an FCC complaint (which is only a complaint that they called me and I’m on the Do Not Call Registry), but that I wanted to speak with the Federal Trade Commission to report a possible fraud.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) actually has a website set up to take reports of phone fraud:
https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/
On this website you’ll find a link to the complaint form and also the suggestion that you report an incident to your State Attorney General’s office (there is a link from the website to find yours).
Enough of these reports will make a criminal investigation more likely.
Account Services Scam – The thing is, you need a phone number for the company so you can actually track down where the company is really located. When you ask for their main company phone number or address they hang up.
When I asked for a supervisor I was told with a heavy middle eastern accent that they were in San Francisco but she wouldn’t give me a phone number – “You can’t call us. This is a call center with outbound calling only.”
I repeated that I wanted the main phone number for the company and she said the same thing. Get a real number for them and get an address and the FTC can close them down (or some irate people can pay them a visit).
If they’re calling you, put together fake information ahead of time and string them along as long as possible. It’s entertaining and at least it ties up one caller for a few minutes. My record is 20 minutes before they catch on.
I have been receiving numerous calls from these scammers. From 4 or 5 different numbers, and today I discovered they are the same scammers doing the “extended auto warranty” calls. The automated msg I got was about the auto warranty, but the agent asked about my credit card.
I am also on the DNC list, but I can’t find out what company is doing this, because they are “spoofing” the CallerID info, and unfortunately it is legal…for now. I have been following legislation in Congress to make it illegal, but in the previous 2 sessions of Congress, the House has passed a bill but it never was voted on by the full Senate. The latest version (S. 30) was sent to committee in January.
Call your Congressperson and demand “The Truth In CallerID Act of 2009” be passed in both houses and signed into law.
Just got another one of those calls…this time it came in on my caller i.d. from Miami, Fla. Caller was “James” and he had a “nice” story about not believing it was a free service when he was called either and now he’s working for them because they helped him so much. (!) Couldn’t give me an address, so he sent me to his Manager, Jerry. (!) Jerry promptly hung up on me when I insisted on the address there in Miami for their “business” Account Services. Ha!
I see all the posts about the caller being “Heather” and from GA but this one came in supposedly from FLA.
I ALMOST gave them information. I did clarify my middle name and my addresss. But that’s all. Think I stand a chance of Identity theft with just that info?
Yikes!
Looks like the calls will stop the FTC found the poeple and shut them down. It is all over the FTC website today. The same people that did the warranty dialed for the card services lower interest rate, Network foundations.
Here is the link to the ftc website.
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/05/robocalls.shtm
It has most certainly NOT stopped. I received the “auto warranty” call yesterday, and I got the “account services” call this morning.
I am writing regarding the nationwide “Card Services” credit card scam. I have recorded a new campaign call with these fraudsters. You can listen to the full recording (12 minutes long) and read the analysis of thier techniques.
Recording of entire call:
http://www.jacobapelbaum.com/download/files/TheFraudsters.MP3
Analysis:
http://apelbaum.wordpress.com/2009/03/20/an-afternoon-with-a-fraudster/
Jacob Apelbaum
I spent over an hour with Account Services and spoke with several different people, who all seemed legitimate. Unfortunately, I was foolish enough to provide one of my credit card numbers for a card with a high balance and high interest rate thinking they would be able to live up to what they were promising. I am currently on hold with my credit card company to find out what I can do to stop any of the scam. Any advice, besides not to be so foolish next time. My credit card interest rates are so high right now, I thought they could really help. I don’t even have any late payments. What is going on??? The credit card companies are scammers too!!
I’m called by the Account Services people probably once a month, for the past several months. This last time I tried to string them along (“Wayne” was his name this time) to try and get some info from them.
They’re good at keeping secrets. I got nowhere. After it was all over I recalled something Wayne said that I didn’t think much of at the time, but it is a good clue. At some part of the conversation he said, in effect, “Well, you are interested enough in your credit to have checked your credit score with Experian recently, didn’t you?” How did he know THAT? I had done exactly that about 2-3 weeks ago. So somehow that info has made its way to Acct Services. Does anyone know how that is possible?
I tried a company that helped me with our credit cards. Not all thenm are out to hurt us. I could barely make my payments and after they got done i was able to afford to buy some things for my house for the first time in 2yrs.
Misty, that’s true. There’s also a middle ground – companies that are not scams, but are “fly by night”, leaving the people whose debt they’ve consolidated in a confusing position, as none of their creditors are now being paid off.
I’m not sure how to tell them all apart, unfortunately. If I knew, I’d write a post about it!
I just got a call from Auria Miriam from Account Servicing for Visa/Master card. This call was from 775-317-7603. She asked questions regarding by interest rate and balance and said that this was a Federal Program that will reduce my rates to 6%. She never asked me my account numbers but I think that was because my accounts are almost to the maximum, she said that someone will be calling me in 48 hours. I felt a little uneasy about the call and decided to call back the number. The number is not reachable. I then decided to google the company and found out about this scam. They do sound convincing if you don’t pay attemtion – glad i decided to check into it. I feel that if my balance wasn’t so high, the caller would have took it a step further. I’m sure someone has fell into this trap.
I still get calls from this once a week. If you press 9 like it says to do to talk to them and ask to be removed from their list they start calling every day instead of every week. It always says “consider this your final notice” and yet every week it’s the same auto-dialer with automated recording.
I am the IT Security Director for a company in the NY metro area and have been what I call attacked by this company as well to the rate of 125 calls an hour to our phone system. Here is what I can share on this topic:
Outgoing calls are made by a company called Account Services in Orlando Florida, they also have an office in Ft Lauderdale. They are affiliated with a company called National Debt Institute also in Orlando Florida http://www.americandebtcouncil.org (website URL changes often) currently http://www.goverment-modification.org Following the trail a little further upstream they are linked to American Debt Counseling, Inc in Orlando at 14051 NW 14th Street Sunrise Fl 954-656-8080 (real phone number)
I’ve traced their spoofed caller ID numbers as far as I legally can but in all cases these numbers are cell phones that are out of service. Now I was able to track down who the CEO is of American Debt Counseling Inc – since they are the company that uses Account Services to make the calls to us, his name is Alan Silverberg – his email address per his domain registration is alan@americandebtcounseling.org
They do have another real phone number of 954-227-7221 –
Hope this helps
I have been receiving a number of calls (I live in the Washington DC area) from this company, with the same “lower your interest rates” and “I’m Heather” stuff. The person I spoke with just now said the company was based in Orlando, which is consistent with what Lou H found, but refused to give me a website or a phone number.
They’re at it again (and again, and again). I’m in NE, in Mass. Now it’s “Rachel” or they leave off the “Hi, I’m X.” I have noticed that many folks posting here over the past year(s) use Verizon as their phone service provider. Well, I use Verizon too. Just a detail to add to the mix. I’m planning on communicating with my state’s attorney general’s office using some of the phone numbers listed in these email posts. Obviously those numbers will change quickly, so I don’t know if the AG’s office will be able to do anything.
I too have been receiving these calls and have attempted to get them to stop. I have started “adding” these phone numbers to my contact list under “stupid credit card scam”. Now when they call, I see caller ID and automatically disconnect the call. Wish I would have understood that if you answer the phone and especially press 1, they know they have a live one on the phone and your number becomes validated. They always say that this is the final call…IF ONLY IT WAS!! Good luck everyone.
Oh, PS, the URLs provided by Lou H are no longer in use (no surprise).
I received one of these calls today, when i started q uestioning the girl we got disconnected. Then I got a call back where she said she could transfer me to a supervisor (from a way different location in the country based on area code). I hung up after transferring took too long (this was on my cell phone) then I got a voice mail message with an 866 number to call, and the guy said he found me an interest rate in the single digits, but again, they weren’t calling about a specific card, just whatever cards I had balances on. I didn’t call it and I got a fourth call that I ignored. I then went into my cell account and blocked all the numbers. I’m sure this isn’t the last I’ll hear from them. Single digit interest rates sound nice but, PUHLEASE.
We need to get everybody calling their state’s Att General to start filing complaints. Enough calls might light a fire. I just called Illinois’ (800-243-0618) I had the company name, same as mentioned, National Debt Institute aka National Debt Counseling. They said they could do nothing without an address. Searching for address is how I got here.
Per Lou H’s research and comments left on 8/25/10 we do have an address and phone:
American Debt Counseling, Inc
14051 NW 14th Street
Sunrise Fl
954-656-8080
I have about 25 calls documented in last 2 months.
I just got one of those “card services” calls, offering to reduce my interest rate. I did give them some information but when they kept me on hold for a while, I asked them their name and phone number. The guy had a heavy accent and the said his name was “Dave Parker.” Well that’s my son’s name and the bells started clanging in my head. So I hung up and called my two credit card companies and had them cancel my cards and send me new ones. They also put a watch on my accounts. I not really this stupid normally, but I was busy and not thinking clearly when they called.
P.S. I did just file a report with the Illinois Attorney General also.
Same type of company called me today, they wanted $495 to lower all my credit cards. I gave him one card number for BoA. He called BofA with me on a 3 way line introducing himself as my financial advisor. He did know how to work the bank system, going up two levels. My interest rate was 10.25% so he could not get them to lower it, this is where he got sleezy telling me to lie to them and claim hardship. 50 minutes later we were still at it with BofA. I told him he failed and I’m not interested. Then I called BofA and reported the card comprimised, they had already put a fraud alert on my account.
I just filed a complaint with the FTC and the do not call organization.
I get about 2 calls a day on my cell phone and about 2 a week only home phone. I always press one and ask them to remove my name. All I get are rude or obscene comments or they just hang up.
They call me everyday. and i dont have a credit card and have told them that but they keeping. sometimes twice a day. something has to be done
I’ve been having the same problem with this company for the last five months. I’ve tried everything to get rid of them with no sucess. I will be all the attorney general’s office in Ma.., but I don’t expect much.
Hopefully when enough people complain something will eventually be done.
If you want information on this scam and the people behind it I recommend checking out these websites:
http://onthespotblog.com/the-hunt-for-rachel-at-cardholder-services/
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r26458611-Scam-Card-Services-relentless-phone-calls-revisited
The players we know that are now involved, including names and cities are:
Ambrosia Web Design LLC, Chris Ambrosia, Mesa, Arizona
American Debt Negotiators, Ran David Barnea, Boca Raton, Florida
Associated Accounting Specialists Inc., William R. Page, Port Saint Lucie, Florida
Castle Rock Capital Management, Roy M. Cox, Laguna Niguel, California
Concord Financial Advisors LLC, Lee Cestine, Mesa, Arizona
Financial Services Solutions LLC, CEO Unknown, New York, New York
PHL International, Mark Burton, Deerfield Beach, Florida
Premiere Debt Solutions, CEO Unknown, Orlando, Florida
Red Leaf Capital LLC, Leroy Castine, Mesa, Arizona
I have received more than 150 (I have them documented) calls from these scum sucking criminals. I have filed more that 50 complaints with the FTC however due to the fact that they hide behind spoofed numbers I doubt that they will ever stop any of them. They ask for up front fees and charge your credit card without performing any services.
A special thanks to a reply from MGD at dslreports.com which gives great insight as well:
“Some on your list have already been the subject of FTC action, such as Roy M. Cox of Castle Rock Capital Management. Not surprisingly, many are habitual repeat offenders, and are the subject of multiple FTC actions. FTC action is grossly inadequate in these cases. The millions of unsolicited “Heather” “Rachel” et all, Card Services robo calls will not begin to subside until these criminals are charged with Federal Felonies, are convicted and subjected to significant jail time.
Civil action by the FTC against such criminals is totally ineffective. All of those involved know that they are violating FTC regulations. The FTC prohibits unsolicited calls for any kind of debt / interest rate reductions which require up front fees, period, and that is what these robo calls are about. The FTC civil actions have been nothing more than whack-a-mole interference. Which is why numerous individuals are the subject of repeated actions, despite signing prior agreements that prohibit future involvement. The FTC levies huge fines, then rescinds them based on inability to pay. The FTC settles for the minimal cash on hand, and enjoins them from future “telemarketing”. The criminals sign off, then go right back to business. The entire operations are clearly criminal, intent to defraud, etc, and should be dealt with in criminal court and not by civil actions.
The banking system is also at fault here, without merchant accounts and ACH processing these criminals could not collect the scammed funds. Though the criminals use obfuscation, layered corporations, multiple bank accounts and offshore stashing, patterns of obvious fraudulent activity become apparent after a short time.
If you are interested in obtaining useful tracking information on the callers, I suggest another angle in the conversations. Act very interested in the rate reduction scam, as you have multiple high interest cards with large balances. Tell them that you don’t give out card numbers in response to unsolicited calls. However, tell them that if they provide you with a verifiable number that you will then call them back and provide the info.
Since many of the operatives work on commission they will provide direct contact numbers if they believe you are serious about completing the deal. Verified return phone numbers are an excellent tool in tracking the people behind the operations.
Many of the inbound robo call numbers are spoofed, as most of the bolierhouses, both off and on shore, are using Voip SIP Trunks services. Throwaway DID numbers are also used. Some of the robocalling is operated by the end use scammers directly. Others are contract services who earn a referral fee once you are transferred to the scammers.
In a follow up post I will document one group associated with the Rachel “Card Services” and the pond scum, including a lawyer behind one of the operations. Follow the money ….. track the recipients … and take a close look at the processors and banks involved.”