FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 18, 2008
ARE YOU BEING SCAMMED?
BBB Warns American Express Card Holders to Check Credit Card Statements
Some local American Express Card holders have found multiple bogus charges on their monthly credit card statements from a company called 24 Hour Corp. Charges range from $20-$50 and appear sporadically over several months.
The BBB has received nine complaints against 24 Hour Corp in the last few days from AMEX Card holders nationwide. Other red flags are emerging as well. 24 Hour Corp’s website, accept-all-payments.com, is no longer working, and their listed phone number belongs to a local resident. On July 29th the house in Carmichael, California, where the alleged business may have been located, was sold, and their second business address listed is a Mailboxes Etc. location.
“The unfortunate part is that we have no idea how many people haven’t paid attention to their credit card bill,” said Barry Goggin, President of BBB serving northeast California. “They could have been paying these charges for months without even knowing it.”
Multiple victims want to know how 24 Hour Corp got their credit card information. Victim Ame Galloway of Granite Bay, California, said, “The only reason I even caught them was because I’ve never been to Carmichael. Some database got compromised somewhere and they’re getting away with this because nobody checks their statements anymore.”
American Express does not hold the customer liable for any fraudulent charges and is currently working on reimbursing the victims of this case. To block 24 Hour Corp or any other unauthorized charges one must speak with their credit card company to put a ‘stop payment’ notation on their account. If your credit card number has been compromised it’s possible that additional bogus charges will appear on your statement. So as a safer route, the BBB advises consumers to close their account and reopen a new one.
“The bottom line is that people need to carefully review all of their credit card bills,” said Goggin.
Do not divulge personal information to anyone who solicits information over the phone. Before making any purchase, always be sure to obtain a BBB report as part of your decision making process. For reports on businesses and for information about BBB services, visit our website at www.bbb.org or call (916) 443-6843.
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Consumer interview is available.