Fearless Money

I thought I’d start with the easy one. On November 29, 2005, scammers using the business name “JM Business Products” changed my Bank of America credit card $9.95. I noticed it straightaway when I was balancing my budget, which I try to do every week. I was paying pending bills, and noticed a charge on the BoA credit card. I don’t use that card, in fact I am paying it off as rapidly as I can. Definitely, no charges were expected.

I did a quick search on the internet. about.com, dslreports, robertkbrown all verify that this is a scam. Some propose that is may be due to the Card Systems heist that came to light earlier this year.

I found it about 7:00 PM on a weekday. Bank of America’s fraud department was not open at that time. I needed to call during the work day. The next day, I did so, calling from work. It may be the single worst runaround I’ve ever gotten from a company. At every turn, they transferred me and made me repeat every bit of personal information, as well as my fraud claim. I think I repeated my whole story at least 8 times over the course of two phone calls. Of course, they managed to disconnect me the first time I tried. The whole ordeal took about 45 minutes. For a $9.95 charge which they undoubtedly knew was a con and which was already claimed fraudulent by thousands of other victims. It was enough for me to reconsider ever having any account with them in the future. They simply did not care at all about my piddly little fraud problem.

Final resolution: 45 minutes of annoying phone calling during prime work hours. Dispute letter sent within a week, postage paid on the return envelope. Card cancelled and new card issued immediately.

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