Spyware, viruses, & security forum: CREDIT CARDS: Watch for fraudulent $9.95 charges

Something like this happened to us a couple of years ago.

We check our bank (debit) account via the 'net several times a week. One day 2 charges for $4.95 showed up, from a company in Kuala Lampur! Since neither of us had made such a purchase, we called our bank. They were familiar with this fradulent ''company'', immediately credited our account for the funds, cancelled the card which been used, and overnighted us new cards.

So it's not only CREDIT cards at risk, it's DEBIT cards as well!

The fact that your debit card is not as protected as your credit card is probably because you have a crappy bank. The card I have from the bank I used to work for IS covered by the MasterCard $50 liability and the bank provides $0 liability as long as you inform them within a reasonable amount of time. Also, the card cannot access other accounts unless you enable it to do so, and then only at an ATM with your pin number. Better switch banks if the same isnt for you. I know this to be a fact not only because I worked for the bank, but also because I have used the feature before.

I've been through this more than once this last year. Upon signing up for a LEGIT membership site, I was given the option to sign up for a ''FREE'' travel coupon program, never once told that I'd be charged. (Well, I'm sure it was somewhere in that VERY fine print that is too small to read even with text view settings at their max!) That was bad enough, but when I discovered that I was being charged $9 monthly for said proposed FREE service I immediately went to their site and unsubscribed... got an email confirmation that I unsubscribed and wouldn't EVER be charged... I get charged EVERY month.

Also, when I purchased and installed MS Money last October, I was offered to sign up for a FREE YEAR with a well known credit company to ''monitor'' my credit report and inform me of changes, etc. Well, I think I got a free MONTH! They're still charging me, and I don't even use their service or log in to their site, etc.! When I contacted them RE: the so called free year membership that came with my PURCHASE of MS Money they just shrugged it off. I was stuck with a year of ''contracted'' monthly charges that was supposed to be a year of free membership/service with the purchase and registration of a particular software.

The really ''fun'' one was the latest: I did a trial offer, didn't like the product, did EXACTLY as instructed to unsubscribe, received a confirmation email (I still have ALL of the email exchanges WITH full headers intact) saying the unsubscribe was successful and I'd NEVER be charged. Next thing I know, I'm not only charged $68 for the next shipment that I'd CANCELED, but was charged an additional $24 monthly charge for being a MEMBER of their program/company PERIOD! I called immediately, the so called head honcho agreed that this was not only unethical but also illegal, and promised to fix it immediately. Never heard from him again, aside from ONE or maybe TWO emails asking me if anyone has contacted me yet; I'd reply that no, I've not been in touch with anyone at their company except for my initial contact with him... I finally got fed up and wrote him an email saying that I will take any and all legal actions against them if they don't give back to me what they STOLE.

So I finally called my bank after attempting to contact him NUMEROUS times and told them what happened. (BTW, because I'm a ''broke student'' and therefore my account tends to be pretty close to empty by the end of the month, this company's ILLEGAL charges overdrew my account and I therefore got $99 in insufficient funds fees DIRECTLY due to that company; my statements prove this!) The bank credited me back right away, telling me that I would be mailed a claim form to fill out and return. I never received that, but instead about a month later received a letter from the bank stating that they did a ''FULL'' investigation and that my credited money would be TAKEN BACK, because their ''full'' investigation showed that ''services had been rendered'' by the company. Of course I called the bank, and was treated horribly and like a complete idiot... I was told that their ''procedure'' is generally NOT to send out a claim form to the customer from whom's account money was STOLEN! (???) Their decision stood, even though I told them that I have proof of contact with the company via email with FULL headers to show that nothing was tampered, altered, etc. So, the bank made it MY responsibility to come to THEIR office and fax all documents to their investigation department. THEY did NOT do a ''full'' investigation, as all they did was ask the company THEIR side of the story and never contacted me RE: the issue even though I informed them that I had PROOF of this fraud!

Currently, I have AT LEAST FOUR UNAUTHORIZED monthly charges, all of them $9 or $9.95... oh, and this month I received a $2.95 charge from a company I've never heard of in my life, with NO contact information on my bank statement like charges have always shown (i.e., a phone number, etc.), and it's listed as a ''service charge'' but for what service I couldn't guess for the life of me!

Am I going to call my bank RE: this new charge? Why should I? They'll just pull on me what they did last time; and over $2.95? If it shows up again then I'll have to call my bank, but I'm crossing my fingers. (LOL)

I'd list the companies who are FRADULANTLY charging me here, as at LEAST two of them are quite well known.... but even though I'm telling the truth AND have proof, I can still be sued for slander and/or libel because I am warning others of my TRUE experiences with these companies!

It used to be that if you signed up for ''trial'' memberships, shipments, products, etc., you got exactly what you asked for: either a product you liked and wanted, or a TRUE unsubscription and/or even refund. Nowadays, even reputable companies are stealing from us.... as if they don't have enough paying customers who truly do want their services and monthly charges! And then the banks and/or credit card companies tell you to contact THEM re: unauthorized charges before the company who's doing it, and they'll take care of it for you... but the bank screwed me over just as much as the companies stealing from me did!

I'm leary of conducting business with well known, reputable companies anymore. As I said, I'm a student; meaning I'm broke. I can't afford those ''little'' monthly charges, they build up! Even if I were rolling in the dough, it's still WRONG, plain and simple!

CAVEAT EMPTOR.... BUYER BEWARE!!!

You can only "slander" someone if what you say is not true. If it's true, too bad for them. Share your experience...tell us the names of these losers that steal from good, honest people.

same here
i saw it the other day and waited for it to show what i bought, and to day it says some company name so and the tele # and date which i bought what ever and the only reason i know i didnt buy some thing was cause i was a sleep all day on sat.
so i got a new card ordered to night and my account credited right away
thanks to this site and the post i was able to know what i am dealing with
thanks again

I just saw a charge of $9.55 from RSIPARTNERS 800-507-0825 MD on my checkcard. I called the bank and they wanted to replace my card. I called the 800# and just got a recording that says to leave my name and #, I still don't know what that company is.

here are a few links that i found regarding the ap9 charge
this one is a press release
http://www.pressreleasespider.com/feed5206.aspx
and this one is a company home page i think!
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/5/prweb239547.htm
i hope this helps

I too received the 9.55 charge from RSIPARTNERS. My credit card company acted like they'd never heard of anyone getting scammed and that I must have authorized it. I disputed the charge and cancelled my credit card.

Somebody tried to charge $2,000 to a credit card of mine for an online purchase. Fortunately, the merchant called to verify the charge so it never went thru. On that same credit card they charged $12.34 for an online purchase in the UK. I disputed that one and my account was credited. My card # was changed after the 1st problem, I found the 2nd one when my last statement for the old card # arrived.

No fradulent charges were ever set on my card that I can remember. There may have been a case where yeah, an unaccounted for $10 to $20 transaction was found. That would've been resolved right away after a call to my cred company (Discover). In reality, i call to complaing about unknown charges, which most turn out to be legit. I confirm them after digging around my stash of saved receipts and emails confirmation purchases.

Everytime i buy stuff with credit, I jot down the transaction on my PDA (banking software.. BankBook3). I don't always remember to get everything, since i may be on the road, but it is helpful to have this to compare with my Discover card statements.

As for odds and ends purchases, not from vendors like Amazon, Ebay, TigerDirect, or Newegg.... but those "random" offers from popup windows, the I have purchased mag subscriptions recently. On PCWorld.com's site, a popup window give me an even lower price than the standard discount (of which this was already 50% or more off the cover price) at $1 an issue. I've already received 2 issues.

After purchasing system RAM from crucial.com, another popup window was offering various mag subscriptions for $2 each per year. I got Computer Gaming World and Time. Time I'm constantly getting, CGW not yet, but mostly due to me moving. I've read all the fine print avaiable. No extra "$20 handling fee" or shipping costs, u get that low price period. The only gotcha really is u need to cancel your subscription after a year, as prices revert to standard discount annual prices.

I am very careful with my credit card and personal information. I cannot figure out how this RSIPARTNERS got my number, but they got me too.

We never use our card for amounts under $50.00, so the $9.55 charge made on April 21, 2006 immediatly got our attention. Don't know how they got our card number - we are extreamly carefull with all of our information. Called the 800 number for this RSI and got an answering machine, odd I thought for a business. I left no return call number but, went immediatly to the internet and put a search in for RSI Partners and was directed to this page. So glad you posted the warning. I wasted no time in canceling our credit card.

I too have had 2 recent charges of $9.55 on 2 different credit charges. I have never dealth with RSI Partners. I believe this is fraudulent activity and apparently from the messages has been going on for some time. I suspect that since the charge is so nominal, many people don't deal with it because it is alot of work. I refuse to let this go unnoticed. I plan on calling the Chamber of Commerce in Ocean City Md and even the attorney general as suggested by another victim.

I have the same charge from RSI partners, and made a purchase from batteries.com several months ago.