Mt Whitney Zone Forums The Chat Room Credit Card fraud

This has nothing to do with hiking, but I thought I'd post here because search sites will pick up this info pretty fast. Maybe posting here will help others, as I doubt I am the only one having this experience...

Remember long distance phone company slamming -- where people had their long distance phone carrier switched without their authorization? (If you do, you're probably over 30 )

A few days ago, Bank of America sent me an email and called because they suspected a purchase made using my CC was bogus: $585.06 charged for a purchase to Fuel Freedom International. ...Nope, we didn't charge that.

So they immediately canceled our card, and sent out a new number. We have just received the new cards, and started using them here a week later. Crazy thing is, this box arrived today on our doorstep:


click for a closeup if you like... 10 boxes of this "grapeseed extract".



...with this invoice, from Forever Freedom International, Altamont Springs, FL.
Odd thing: no dollar amount on it.


Also arrived in the mail today, was a form from B of A


We had already checked the boxes saying we did not make the purchase, and that we did not know the individual who did. I'll be including the invoice in the return mail along with the fraud statement.

Out of curiosity, I Google "Fuel Freedom International", and find all sorts of stupid stuff. This outfit markets everything from gas tank elixirs that probably damage the cars, to a bogus "charity water" project. The entire product line is incredibly overpriced and most of it looks like a big scam.

It looks like someone stole my credit card info and ordered ten boxes of the "product". I'm guessing the culprit got some sort of a commission out of the purchase. I make purchases from ebay and amazon.com, so I am guessing one of those "merchants" or one of their employees, copied my CC info, and then used it to make the bogus buy.

I wonder if they will be caught.

hey, zero sugar!

thanks for the info!

pretty cat.

Steve, I had something like this happen to me once, different product.

cc company said this happens all the time,

the thing missing in your case was the guy picking it off your doorstep after delivery. Scary

I called the phone number on the credit card transaction for Fuel Freedom Intl, and customer service picked up right away. Since I had the invoice, the guy was able to look up the order right away. He had a flag on that end that the payment was bogus.

I asked if they wanted the product back, and he said sure I could send it back. I asked if they would pay shipping. He said no, and I could keep it if I wanted. So it appears the "product" doesn't have much value.

And while I was talking with the guy, there was another woman working another call beside him. She was telling the person that there was something wrong with the credit card being used to make the purchase.

My theory is that since Fuel Freedom International is a multi-level marketing outfit, some "independent distributor" is making these bogus orders to get commissions. They had my correct name, address, phone number, and changed my email address just a tad so I wouldn't get an email notification when the order was placed.

I'm pretty sure if the bank really wanted to track down the suspects, all they would need is the names of the distributors that gained from this purchase.

Steve...thank you for sharing this scam. Oooh...I hate scams...it's upsetting when this happens and it makes a person feel violated. Well the scammer sure chose the wrong person to steal a cc from...that wrong person being you.

I don't know what the dollar amount is for banks to go after CC fraud, but at my level, they don't seem overly interested. Cost of doing business seems to be the philosophy. A few years ago, I started having bogus charges show up. The bank caught them immediately and canceled the card, which I thought showed pretty good software on their end. I had just come out of the backcountry after 4 months and had used the card only twice. I told the card security guy that but he wasn't interested in following up. In both cases, it was at a restaurant where the employee took my card to swipe it. One was probably using a skimmer. I reported both to the local PD and even the restaurant chain, but doubt they followed up either.

On the other hand, we got a law enforcement training session from a guy from Secret Service. He started getting bogus charges on a card which he used only rarely. He was able to get one of his buddies to investigate and they caught and arrested an electronics store employee who was skimming cards. heh, heh, heh.

Also in my case, the first charge they made was to Ancestry.com. The theory was they wanted my mother's maiden name and other identifying information to access my bank accounts or the card itself. Also, the first charge is often very small to test if the card is still good.

What a pain... .

Yep, a nuisance. I finally dumped that box of "product" in my trash the other day. What a stupid waste.