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FIB - Scams 101 - Ye Olde Archives
Posted By: Pat, Bay Area California In Response To: Re: scam: golden one benefits (Christina Earhart)
Wednesday, 28 September 2005, at 1:53 p.m.
> Company: Easy Step Benefits 1-866-625-9471
On September 27, 2005, I received a phone call from a man who said his name was Steve Brown. He had a thick Indian accent. He asked for my husband, who was at work. He said he was offering a pre-approved VISA credit card with 0% interest rate, no monthly payments, and no annual charges! (Scam immediately came to mind.) He said they were trying to help people in this country to improve their credit scores and that by using the card, it would add points to the credit score. In addition, they would give me a free Gateway computer, 4 years of Internet service from AOL, Nokia cell phone, $500 in grocery coupons, a satellite system and $5,000 for something (I couldn't understand him) to shop at Walmart, Kmart and other stores. I asked if the company was licensed, and he said yes it was - for the past 12 years by the Better Business Bureau. (Note that the BBB does not license any company.) I questioned him about the credit card payments. I asked him if I spent $100 on the credit card, when would my payment be due. He said there was no monthly payment and I would just pay my bill as I could. He also said people generally paid within 45 days. He also said there were 3 banks offering the credit card – US Bank, Cross Country Bank, and First Premier Bank.
He then said I needed to select a transaction date. I questioned him about this, saying that I have yet to see the materials he said he would mail to me. He said there was a one time legal fee of $229.95 for installing the satellite, pay for shipping the computer, and other costs. The transaction date was to be a date of my choosing - one or two weeks from now, when supposedly my bank would call me to authorize the $229.95 fee. So I gave him a date in 2 weeks. He then asked for my date of birth (I gave a phony one). Then he wanted the name of my bank. I also gave him a phony one. Next he wanted a drivers license #, and at that time I said I would need to call him back with the info. That's when I got his name and phone number. He immediately said he would be happy to call me back tomorrow, after I had a chance to discuss this with my husband. I said fine. After hanging up the phone, I tried calling the number he gave me. The phone was answered by a machine that said "transferring your call", and then put me on hold with music playing in the background. I waited for 7 minutes and no one answered so I hung up. I tried several more times, and the same thing happened. There is no listing on the BBB for this company. It is definitely a SCAM, and I hope others will be wise to this as well.
September 28, 2005 - I just received a call back from Steve Brown this afternon, asking if I spoke to my husband. I said I did and had some questions. I asked him why he was running a scam. He assured me that this was no scam. I asked why they are not listed on the BBB. He said they just changed their name from Golden One Benefits. I asked why they changed their name and he said it was the owner's perogative. I quickly looked up Golden One Benefits on the BBB and it said that numerous complaints were filed against the company. People did not receive their gifts, and requests for refunds were not met. I read this to him, and he offered to give me the names and numbers of people who had received refunds. I asked him if he was giving me his mother's name as wellas his brother or sister or aunt or uncle. He said "fine - I won't give you any". I again asked him why he was involved in this scam and he put me on the phone with his supervisor. This man again said it wasn't a scam. I asked where they are located and he said Champlain NY. I asked for an address and he said PO Box 125. I asked their street address and he said they don't give that info. (Note that the BBB has their address as PO Box 3488.) I then asked them to remove my name from their contact list. I don't want them calling me again, and if they do, it will be a harassment call. Everyone, please beware. I'm filing a complaint with the Attorney General in New York to try to shut them down. Please do the same.
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