http://www.consumer.state.ny.us/pressreleases/2006/may302006.htm CCS = Consumer Credit Services I believe it's the same card as the CCA that might be around on this forum already. I just received this in the mail today, and have NOT activated it. I definitely do not plan to after reading on the Internet tonight about all the users that have been having withdrawal problems with their bank account. I would like to ask the fellow board members what is the best thing for me to do? I just received my first credit card (student) from Chase (my bank), so I assume that's why CCS sent me this card. I am very worried that my bank account will be charged since people stated at consumeraffairs.com that even though they did NOT activate the card, their checking accounts still had deductions from this so-called credit company. I am scared to call the number listed in the letters because I do not want to accidentally activate it and do something stupid. Just for the others who might have this problem, the card offers a $6,500 credit line with NO interest rates "ever". There's an activation fee and an annual card fee of $199, but they add a lot of conditions that make their actual system confusing!! Please don't fall for it people. I am thinking to go to my bank first thing tomorrow morning and hope maybe they can block this company from accessing my account? I don't know if that's even possible. What's worrying me also is that it comes in an envelop which is very different from other credit companies like Discover and Chase that sent me credit card-related information. The envelopes were always plain and blank, unlike this one. I am afraid that someone could use this card without my knowledge if they keep sending me cards. What can I do to stop it? If I contact the company, and they know they are cheating people, will they actually stop mailing me cards? I mean, can I make them delete my information off their system? I recently got my first credit report, and their name was listed as people who accessed my report. At that point I didn't know who they were since I knew on hand which companies I applied to. Now, I know what that inquiry was about. What place should I call, write to, or notify? Please offer any suggestions you deem to be fit. Thank you guys!
Is what they sent an offer of credit, or a card for an already opened account that they claim you opened? Did they contact you, or did you contact them? Did you provide them any information? Did you apply for this card? If not, it has illegal under Federal law for several decades to send unsolicited credit cards to consumers. I would report it as a matter of course to your state AG, FTC, and to your Postal Inspector for investigation of mail fraud. If so, is it what they represented it to be? Did they claim you were applying for a major credit card, but you got some catalog card with a bunch of fees? That is fraud. Same actions as above. Is there some indication or suspicion that they already have your bank or credit card information? On your credit report that showed their name, were they listed under the section for promotional inquiries not seen by others, or under the section for companies that obtained your full credit report? If the latter, and you did not initiate any transaction with them, then they pulled your reports without permissible purpose, which is illegal under FCRA. Willfully and illegally pulling credit reports without permissible purpose can result in both fines and prison terms. How did they get your name, and possibly other information? Was it forwarded by some other company you might have done unrelated business with, where you might have provided credit card or bank account information, perhaps as part of a poorly disclosed "membership" scam, or similar, where they falsely claim you "authorized" it, or you "failed to cancel" it? I doubt if I would contact them in any way, shape, or form. If they proceeded to claim I had an account, or attempted any debits or charges against any accounts, I would treat it as a criminal matter, close and change accounts, notify banks or CC companies of the fraudulent transactions in writing, CRRR, and file all appropriate complaints and fraud reports.
ontrack: no I sure didn't. It appeared on my credit report as an inquirer so somehow they checked into my stuff. What can I do to cancel it? I mean, is there a goverment site I can report this to. I know it's illegal and I've been reading all over the net within the past few hours that I received the card, but I can't seem to find a definitive solution. So okay it's illegal, but what actions can I take to... make the company cancel or take this off my report, or something... Thanks for responding! Makes me feel like I'm not alone. Many people are being affected I guess... from what I've read at least.
ok I just thought I"ll give a lil update. a glimmer of hope. I thought of somethingthat might help people: go to bank and ask them to give you a new account number. i mean, companies legit or not, cannot access a closed account number right? i hope this works tomorrow. sorry to hear people who are having trouble, i really hope they can work it out as well.
By the way, this CCS may be the same, or related to, one that was sanctioned by FTC all the way back in 1998. Same scam: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1998/06/ccs.htm
How do you know it is even linked to your account? Because of the track record of fraud surrounding the company, I would still "cancel" by complaint. Make copies of what they sent, write up a complaint, indicating that you never applied for this account, and send your complaint with copies to: 1) Postal Inspector 2) Local DA 3) State AG in your state 4) State AG in Nevada 5) FTC 6) BBB 7) Add a warning on ConsumerAffairs.com, to inform others they are pulling this. If they actually pulled a hard inquiry and got your reports without your permission, include that in your complaint. Keep copies of everything. Rogue companies don't deserve second chances.
wow, amazing... i'm speechless. i knew they had a thing since 1998 but didn't come up with the article ontrack came up with. i can't believed they were sued by the FTC with the State of Nevada, and they're still doing it?! is that legal? well seems like they bumped up that credit limit from $2,500 to $6,500. wow wow wow... i need to post that article on the other forums with people having this problem. they're gonna be so pissed off... this forum is great, btw. knowledge is power they say. i guess a good thing that came outta this stupid card is that i found this website lol. i mean, i'mpretty sure i'd never read bout credit in so much detail if i were on the defensive. good stuff for a college student starting out on credit. i don't wanna get onto the wrong path! thanks to pmb and whoever else made this forum possible. very very informative and purposeful!!
ontrack: thanks for that very detailed list of places to send letter to, exactly what i was looking for. thank you!
A "catalog credit card" company is not authorized by you to open an account in your name just because you opened an account with Chase. Nor can they legally buy promotional inquiry info from the CRA, and then unilaterally claim you opened an account. Contracts require agreement between both parties. They open an account without your agreement, it's fraud. They take money from your bank account without your permission, it's theft. They send something that looks like a bill, or invoice, or statement, but later claim it was just "an offer", it's mail fraud. They claim they opened an account for you, you never authorized it, but you have to do something to opt out of it (usually in some special way that they claim you failed to do, or maybe the claim you cancelled "too late", so you owe the fees., and they can't refund them), it's mail fraud. In the past, they appeared to be preying on people with poor or limited credit. That might be why you showed up on their radar on opening one of your first accounts. As such, you would also be: 1) inexperienced; 2) a likely mark for "credit" that is only useable for purchases from their own catalog, where the "fees" have already protected them from any real loss; 3) vulnerable to severe credit damage from any negative report.
Before this showed up, did you ever contact them, or did they ever contact you, either by phone, website, or mail?
I've read about the catalog, but I am one of the ones that didn't receive it with the card. Here's a question: how do inquirers usually get consumer reports from the bureaus? I mean, what kind of information must they provide to the bureau to get my report. Whenever I applied for a credit card, or apartment, I always had to give out my SSN. That's why I'm worried that this company might have my SSN since they were listed in my credit reports recently. I'm not sure at all if they have a link to my checking, but I read a lot of posts with people getting this card that said they tore the card up and didn't activate, but a little while after, they were charged $50.00 or $99.00 and do not now how the company got their banking information.
ontrack: no, i've never contacted them. never heard the name or got any call, email, website advertising from them. i got mail, which was this card with the letter saying it's a pre-approved credit card, etc etc. i got it just a few hours ago in the mailbox. just too good to be true.
They pay the CRAs for lists of consumer with particular credit characteristics, perhaps based on a score (not necessarily FICO) reflecting perhaps the credit history, quality, possibly homeownership indicated by mortgages, possibly outstanding credit balances, whatever the CRAs can screen for from their databases. Some lenders look for those with good credit, but others are looking for those with poor credit, to sell subprime cards to, or apparently in this case, captive catalog cards. Supposedly, promotional inquiries only disclose the name and address info to the purchaser, along with some CRA id. If the consumer then applies, only then does the lender have permissible purpose to pull a full credit report, determine if the consumer actually qualifies, and if so, open an account. The promotional inquiries provide limited info, and are only visible to the consumer. The full hard inquiry provides all the consumer's credit info, and is also visible to all purchasers of your full credit reports, including other creditors you have.
A "pre-approved card" doesn't necessarily mean it is an open account. It usually means an offer of credit, based on some info such as resulting from a promotional inquiry based on the criteria they provided the CRA, that is likely but might not necessarily result in actual approval if you apply. Check carefully: Is it actually an open account? Or do you have to do something, such as call or respond, to have them open the account? Also, on their inquiry on your credit report: Is it a "hard" inquiry, visible to others, or is it a "promotional" inquiry, only visible to you? You may not actually have a problem, unless you decide to create one by contacting them.
ontrack, thanks im learning so much. ok, the letter does say that a call must be made to activate. and only after activation will the card be ready for use. also, these statements are written boldy on the envelope. "pre approved" "ready for use upon activation". i'm worried if they keep sending me same promotional pre approved offers/cards, and say there's a mishap at the post office (i am moving within a week), what can i do to protect myself from having a stranger activating my card and using the card? how can i make them stop sending me anymore cards. will calling the opt-out service help?
You have no obligation to contact them. If you don't activate it, they better not open an account. On questionable mail, I usually note the receipt date, and throw it in my "scam" file. If I start seeing illegal activity from them, I file a complaint with my state AG. If this mail item rises to the level of deceptive, I would file a complaint anyway. Presumably, if you activated the account, they would ask you for your bank account number. If you have not contacted them to activate, and they still access your bank account, it would show they are obtaining your account information from some source other than you. In that case you should file the appropriate police and bank fraud reports, and close your account. You would also want to file complaints with both FTC and state AG, since they would have been using CRA promotional inquiries to target accounts to steal from. Although you might opt-out, to prevent this garbage from being sent to you, opt-outs may take a month or more to take effect, and you also block out possibly competitive offers from more legitimate CC companies. Both this company, and any company offering you credit, have an obligation to see that no-one else opens accounts in your name. They usually do this by verifying information from your application with information on your credit report. If someone succeeds at opening a fraudulent account anyway, place a fraud alert on your credit reports, file a police report for id theft, and send that with an id theft affidavit to the company reporting the fraudulent account, and to the CRAs, to get the account removed. If you are moving, make sure you put thru a mail forward request with the post office in time to forward all mail by the time you leave, and also contact each of your CC companies to change your address. Verify that your statements reach you at your new address, showing your new address to confirm your change. In the mean time, keep on top of any account balances in case there are mail delays. You can generally check balances and due dates by phone, and make payments from that information if you have not yet received a statement.
