Can I report these bastard for fraud?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

A website charged $20 on my credit card. I called the website to ask them what the deal was. They told me I “joined”* their services. I told them I did not. The guy on the phone then asks me for my info, and he warns me as I’m doing this that he was going to get the police involved. (As if that was supposed to scare me) I told him please do.

He then get all indignant with me and says “Okay fine! I’ve refunded the money to your account.” When I asked him why was my account was charged in the first place he told me he doesn’t have to talk to me and abruptly hangs up on me.

I wont know for a couple of days if he actually refunded my money, but even if he did, I still want to report these bastards. That’s bull shit.

#2

How did they get your bank or credit card info in the first place?

#3

Call your bank. They will reverse any charges and get their fraud people on it.

#4

I meant to explain this in the OP. I did join their website which requires a CC but that part is free, they are not supposed to charge you unless you use their services. That’s why I thought it was dubious when the guy on the phone told me I “joined” their website.
I went on to explain to him “joining” was for free. I’m not supposed to be charged unless I used their service. Which I never did. That’s when he got all pissy with me.
I didn’t want to go into this in my OP but the site I’m referring to is Porn Hub Live. (Yeah, I know.) I only joined (over a freaking year ago) out of curiosity. I never used their services and I haven’t even been back to that site for more than a year. :o

#5

I have a feeling we’re missing some details, like how you got involved with this website to begin with. If it was just a random charge on your CC, you should have called the CC and disputed it. If it truly is fraudulent, I would do that anyways.

However, if this is a website you have some involvment with or that you typed in your CC with, I’d re-read anything you ‘signed’. I mean, no, the police aren’t going to show up at your door, but it might be harder to get it reversed (via your CC company) if they are able to show you gave them permission.

#6

C’mon people…Redtube. It’s free, no CC required.

Also, I had a feeling it was going to be about that, I didn’t want to guess at it and be the jerk when I was wrong.

#7

Who would you report them to that would care about twenty bucks (that you didn’t even lose, as they reversed the charge)?

#8

The porn hub live is free too unless you actually want to talk to one of the webcam girls. Which I never did, I just wanted to check the site out. I felt safe doing it because porn hub is like one of the biggest sites out there. I wouldn’t think a website that big would do something like that.

#9

Well, they only refunded me because I called them on their bull shit. But what about all those people that are too embarrassed to do anything about it? Or all the folks who simply didn’t know they were being charged?

It seems like the FBI or somebody might be interested in a scam like that.

#10

So, resolved: Porn IS getting mean after all!

#11

You could go dump all over their Twitter page about what happened.

#12

LinkedIn keeps trying to sign me up for a free month of their premium service. However, I need to give them a credit card. To me this means that they are going to charge me the next period unless I proactively go onto their site & cxl. My guess is that you were at your one year anniversary & the T&C allowed them to charge you for the second year.

#13

You weren’t concerned about providing your credit card number for a “free” service? Yes, you understood that you wouldn’t be charged if you didn’t use their services, but why then would they ask (they could always ask the first time you tried their services)? Did you read every line of their Terms Of Service (not just any flashy banners on their intro pages)?

What I am getting at is I bet there are some weasel words somewhere in there that let them do what they did. The fact that you got them to cooperate may just be because it would cost them more than $20 in money and effort to challenge you if you disputed the charge (and make it easier for them to really get nasty if you tried to do anything further).

#14

No. I did my homework it’s definitely no charge ever. And not only that, I asked the guy to explain to me why I was charged. Instead of giving me an answer, he got all pissy with me. It seems to me, if this were a legitimate charge, he would have told me so.

I also tried calling a second time hoping to get more answers. But that person too was also rude to me and refused to tell me anything.

#15

Maybe the porn is free but the customer service costs $20.

#16

I don’t have to read the agreement. The only reason that you can join for free, and then supply a CC number is because there is a statement saying that if you don’t cancel your membership within 30 days, you are subscribing at a rate of $20 on up per month to keep your membership.

Weasel words are not needed. Neither is fine print. It is right there, but, whoever reads these things?
This kind of agreement has been common practice since the first ‘free membership’ appeared on the web.
Why else on earth would a company want your credit card unless they were planning on charging it???

You have learned a valuable lesson.

#17

That’s true with regular porn sites. But this is a webcam site. The deal is, if you want to browse their site, you first have to give them a CC number, with the promise it will be free unless you want a private “one on one” with one of the girls. Once you go into a session with a webcam girl, they start charging you by the minute. NOT by the month.
Again, I haven’t interacted with this site for over a year. So the theory that they gave me a free month and now are charging me is incorrect.

#18

Hey, sorry to change the subject but I have a great deal on some land in Florida. PM me.

#19

Your snark makes no sense in this context.

#20

I would report them. Maybe this does happen more often. And the way they responded on the phone is also telling, IMO. If the [del]computer[/del] authorities say no, you’ve lost nothing.

Chaturbate.com, Myfreecams.com free viewing of webcams. Not that I use those;)