February 25, 2008
SCAM ALERT: Account services wants to lower your interest rate?
by Jen (February 25, 2008)
Please spread the word about this. Feel free to repost this anywhere you can with a link back to me. I’m still getting spam phone calls from “Heather” at “Account Services” who wants to lower my credit card interest rates. It’s an automated message. If you want to speak to someone you press 1, at which point a man answers. The clues that this is not legitimate:
- They don’t say what credit card they’re with. A legitimate business would. You just know they’re going to ask for your account number, and suddenly you’re going to be overdrawn.
- It comes up “unknown caller” on CallerID with no phone number. Legitimate businesses don’t block their name and number. Individuals may, but not businesses.
- When you tell them you know they’re a scam and to stop calling or you’ll call the authorities, they say they’ll “talk to you tomorrow”. More on my call to the authorities in a moment. Obviously, a real business would be concerned if you mistakenly thought they were a scam, and would say something like, “I assure you we’re not, but I’ll be happy to take you off our list.”
- My number is unpublished and I’m on the Do Not Call list. I don’t get telemarketing calls, so it’s a safe bet unsolicited calls that come through to me are on auto-dialers.
- My creditors don’t have my landline, where these calls are coming in. I use my cell phone.
The problem is: not everyone will have all these clues. Some people may be so desperate to lower their interest rates in this challenging economy that they won’t be as careful as they should be.
Today I called the police and spoke to a detective. Unfortunately, there’s not much they can do because the caller has masked his identity. They can’t trace the call because a crime needs to have been committed before they can get a warrant and all that.
Then I called the phone company (Verizon). They can’t do anything to stop him either, but they do offer a service that blocks calls from unidentified callers. This does not block callers whose numbers come up without a name. If it does block a legitimate caller, it plays a message that tells him to hang up and dial a combination of numbers, then redial you so his number will show on Caller ID. Legitimate callers should have no problem with this.
Again, spread the word. If you get one of these calls, please comment here. It may be that it’s just someone local to me doing it rarely, but it could be a nationwide racket. If so, then we need to collect enough complaints for police to be able to match up the cases of identity theft that will happen when someone falls for this scam.
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March 1st, 2008 at 11:05 am
Unfortunately this has been going on for quite awhile (I’ve been getting calls for about two years once or twice a month. Here are a few more sites about the same people, or possibly copycats. Either way, happy reading, there’s various contact information and other assorted things (including an mp3 of one person’s call)
http://www.elsewhere.org/journal/archives/2007/07/02/cardholder-services/ http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/34709834/m/443000327831
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-877-487-2273
http://www.haloscan.com/comments/lincmad/6500520568862720776/
March 5th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I’ve been dealing with this scam weekly for 14 months now and would really like to know if there is equipment I can use to back trace this clown for a little party I have planned for him and his friends.
Does anyone know the originating location of this in Northern California?
March 5th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
March 4, 2008 at 9:15 P.M.
My story is the same as Ben posted on March 1st above.
I rcvd the last call from Heather at about 9:00 A.M. CST this morning.
I value my privacy, and would love to find the key to stopping such trash.
– willperk
March 6th, 2008 at 9:56 am
I get so mad I could reach through the phone and punch the guy out.
I have tried also to find out about these spammers (crooks) but can’t.
Thanks
Bob
March 6th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
I get these calls at least once a month. This time a man answered when I pressed “1″. I told him I had asked several times previously to be removed from their telephone list and that I’m on the DNC list also. I asked the name of his company and he said “Account Services”. And I asked to speak to his supervisor and he said there is none. The only thing he said to me was, “You ty’in up my money ma’m, I gotta get off this call” . The only other information he would impart was that he is calling from a call center and works there for 4 hours a day, and that’s all he knows.
March 7th, 2008 at 10:17 am
@Ben, thanks for posting those links! Very good stuff!
@John, there’s got to be technology that would trace the call, but I guess the issue is that it’s not legal to do that without a warrant, which law enforcement can’t get until a crime has been committed.
What I wish is that law enforcement or phone companies and ISPs would set up report centers where we can report scam phone calls, email, mail, etc. They could maintain a database so that when a crime IS committed, they can search for similar scams and perhaps have a few more helpful clues. If I win the lottery, I might set something like that up.
@Will, the blocking of “unknown” callers has not completely done the job. Upon further discussion, Verizon admits it only blocks some callers, not all. Glad I didn’t have to pay for the service!
@Chef Bob, I know how you feel.
@Diane, I think the “call center” is his basement.
March 7th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I get these call several times a week. Caller Id shows different numbers each time and differt names.The last two I hit the ‘1′ and when James answered, I asked who they were and he hung up. The second I asked who and got “James” “Consumer Servise, VA”. Asked which card and they hung up.
Obviously a scam. Next time I will try to waste as much of his time as I can.
Last call;
Hollywood 954-733-7981 Tried to call back - disconnected.
March 7th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Information is posted about these guys all over the web. You can call them directly and ask for your number removed from the call list.
American Credit Counselors, Inc.
23123 State Road 7, Ste. 215 Boca Raton FL 33428
561/886-1150 Paul I. Rakitin
http://www.consumerguidebooks.com/us/fl/bbb+west+palm+beach/Credit+Debt+Consolidation+Services
http://www.sos.ne.gov/business/pdf/debt_list.pdf
http://www.ct.gov/dob/cwp/view.asp?a=2233&q=297874
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/411350/cardholder_services_nuisance.html
http://bohemianrevolution.com/scam-notices/scam-alert-account-services-wants-to-lower-your-interest-rate/
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=22000308
March 7th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Mike- got the same number(954-733-7981), and the dude hung up on me when I asked his name. I am now on the warpath. I love a good challenge like this. A few weeks ago I talked at length (it wasn’t “Heather”, I can promise you) with some lady who told me that in all honesty she could put in my number for removal, but it wouldn’t get any results. She said she had just started working there and I guess she still had a little wisp of a conscience left, because she said many other people had tried to do the same but her company wouldn’t stop making the calls no matter what she tried to do herself. I told her I was not like “many other people” because I would not ever quit until I eliminated these calls from my life forever. I then grilled the poor woman on various topics, and found she either couldn’t tell me or didn’t know about:
-what my name was or anything about me(shouldn’t she already have that info?)
-her company’s website(she didn’t know if they had one)
-her company’s name (she claimed she didn’t know it!)
-the name or number of her immediate supervisor(she actually said she didn’t want to get fired)
-Anything whatsoever about the nature of her company that would let me know anything about them
So I called her on all this, told her I was on a no-call list and that these calls were illegal (and that meant she was working for a criminal company) and I would get the authorities involved if I ever found out who they were. Then I dropped the bomb on her: I DON’T HAVE A CREDIT CARD!
She said she heard a lot of anger in my voice, and I told her that it was focus she was hearing. I almost(but not quite) felt sorry for raking her over the coals, and when she said she needed to end the call because I was getting “belligerent”, I said I hoped she got a legitimate job someday before she hung up on me.
I’ll post anything pertinent I find on this forum. A hilarious side note: when you call the number above, you’ll hear a home-made “this number is disconnected” message, and some guy is actually talking in the background when they made the recording!
March 7th, 2008 at 3:48 pm
update:
check this junk out- it’s got some info on the company:
http://800notes.com/Phone.aspx/1-442-074-2550
a quote from that page:
“I learned the company was Americare Software Solutions (web address: http://www.americaresoftwaresolutions.com), registered address is PO Box 105603, Atlanta, GA 30348-5603. A John Stevens, who was the floor supervisor at Americare hung up on me when I asked to speak with his supervisor.”
For what it’s worth I live just north of Atlanta. Think I’ma give them a little visit next time I’m downtown…
Keep fighting the good fight!
Regzim
March 8th, 2008 at 10:20 am
[...] recently posted about an “account services” scam, which turned out to be more widespread than I realized. There are people all over the country [...]
March 9th, 2008 at 9:54 am
It’s my understanding that these crooks are SPOOFING the phone numbers of various companies, so if you think you’ve tracked down their identity, you may have tracked down a legitimate business who is as much a victim as anyone.
March 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Hey All,
I recently started a website to help people like us deal with annoying callers and spamers. Unfortunatly, the FTC doesn’t get enough funding really go after all people who break the law.
We’ve got a lot of complaints about this number 954-733-7981 too.
Re: Jennifer, you’re right about caller ID spoofing being a big problem. Honestly, I don’t see why it’s still legal (though there are some steps being taken).
http://callercomplaints.com/articles/swatting.aspx
March 10th, 2008 at 8:52 am
I have received a call from “Heather” every few weeks for the last six months or so. At first it was a number from Maine on the caller ID and just now it said Ft Lauderdale with the number mentioned above.
March 10th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I just got the same call as the others from (954) 733-7981, I pushed #1 just to try to find out which credit card company was calling me during duty hours on my cell phone, when the guy finally answered he immediately asked me what my credit card balance was, I asked him which card company he worked for and why were they calling my cell phone? He said “of course we called your cell phone, everbody has a cell phone these days, now what is your balance?” I said “I want to know what company you work for because you’re not supposed to be calling my cell phone” he replied “Here you go again with the stupid cell phone, get off the cell phone thing because everyone has one, now what is your balance?” I said “Look you called me and I’m not going to tolerate you being rude, what company do you work for?” at which time he finally hung up. I did a reverse number search and couldn’t find a company at first, so I called Verizon and explained the conversation. Verizon stated that it was illegal (because they use an automated message first and then transfer you), but that Verizon couldn’t do anything. Verizon did however provide me with 3 ways to nails these guys through the FCC. The first is go to the website, http://www.fcc.gov , the second is to FAX the info at 1-866-418-0232 and the third is to contact Consumer & Mediation Specialist at 1-888-225-5322. Hope this helps, let’s try to nail these jerks!!
March 11th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Cari, great info! It looks like this is the link we need if you want to complain to the FCC:
http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints_tcpa.html
I just wrote them and described the situation, and also referred them to this post for links and more stories. I may try the Consumer & Mediation Specialist you mention later, too. Thanks!
March 11th, 2008 at 9:09 am
I just ordered a referee’s whistle on amazon. These a——- have been harassing me for over a year. Next time these f—— call to ‘lower my credit card rate’, I’m gonna blow their f—— eardrums out.
(Edited for language - please keep the swearing to a minimum. But I couldn’t resist posting the comment because the idea with the whistle is awesome!)
March 11th, 2008 at 9:10 am
number was 561-793-8708 this time btw
March 11th, 2008 at 11:36 am
Today I got the automated lower your credit card interest call from Heather as well. The message stated she was from “Account Services” but not what organization/business. I pressed “1″ in an attempt to find out what this was about and spoke to Kathy. When asked about the vague “account services”, she stated she was from Visa/MasterCard and that she could lower my credit card interest rate. She did know my name, how I do not know. I tried to get more information and she tried to turn it around that since I pressed “1″ that I must have wanted to lower my rates and what credit cards I had. I asked her for a website I could go to. I asked her for a phone number where I could call her organization back. She stated she would call me back and got off the phone. The whole thing was fishy, but troubling. She was very polished, persistent and smooth. Someone desperate or not as cynical as myself could have easily been taken in by this apparent scam. Legitimate businesses will not be vague about who they are, will tell you where they are located, and will supply website/phone numbers when asked.
March 11th, 2008 at 12:39 pm
I have been receiving these calls too. The number I got was 561-793-8708. I did a reverse search and it was from a land line in West Palm Beach. When I called back, the number was disconnected. I am sick and tired of these calls. I am on the national do not call list. What else can I do?
March 12th, 2008 at 9:16 am
Just got the call from these guys. No caller ID. They’re getting smarter. When I said I was interested but needed a number to call back to, they gave me Visa’s customer support number! What makes me sick here is that they ARE breaking the law, with a potential for a $10k per call penalty. There is something that can be done by the phone companies to do a search on the number, but for whatever reason, they won’t do it. The fact that the police won’t help isn’t surprising, not because no law has been broken, it has, but that it’s hard work, crosses state lines (federal stuff), and will chew up tons of resources. Probably better to write Oprah than to expect help from the phone companies or law enforcement. Andy Roony has a suggestion as well. Hook up with the service by pressing one, say that you’ll get your information and be right back. And leave them hanging. They make money via calls processed, and taking time will eat into thier profits….
Next time they call I’ll do that one…..
Matt
March 13th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
Since so many people are getting these calls I’ve created a blog at: http://heatherwithaccountservices.wordpress.com/
I want this to be a big info source for people being harassed by these criminals. With luck we can work together to take them down. So please visit http://heatherwithaccountservices.wordpress.com/ and tell other people about it as well
March 17th, 2008 at 11:45 am
I’ll visit that blog… I get these all the time as well. They used to have the ID blocked but they have now resorted to showing a fake phone number; my caller ID said: “Orlando, FL 407-207-0820″. Of course, that number is “unpublished” according to the reverse phone look-up directories, and is out of order if you dial it.
The second I start questioning them they hang up on me. I’m seriously considering getting an air horn or something to blast them next time they call. Maybe we can all do this, then when some company starts getting lots of Workers Comp cases of deafened telemarketers the company can be identified!
I always press one, at least it wastes their time. I would love to follow this further, give them a false credit card number or something, or work with one of my real credit cards to trap them. I might try to bait them again just to see what happens and post it here or on the blog that “James” listed.
Too bad this is low on the AG’s problem list. Just annoys the heck out of me.
March 17th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Donna, I’d love to hear what happens if you try that!
March 18th, 2008 at 11:51 am
I know how you people feel about this whole thing. I am now getting called by “Heather at acct services” 2-3 times a day 7 days a week. This is now getting totally out of control. I just E-mailed the FCC, and asked if there is anything that can be done. Our caller ID is not working right now, because it is located on the Phone headset itself, so I have no idea on whom is calling me.
Thanks for letting me put my opinon on this site. If I hear anything at all, I will put it on this site for all to see.
March 20th, 2008 at 11:39 am
I tried *69 on the caller after they hit me the second time in a week…(305) 654-1842…it is a land line in North Miami with no additional information on the reverse phone look up sites.
I wish there was more that could be done legally to stop this abuse.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:18 am
I’ve given up trying to get rid of them… now I just play dumb and play with them for a while, then I put an air horn (you know, the kind you take to football games) to the mouthpiece and do my best to deafen the SOB on the other end of the line. They, along with Iteleus, the service that helps them scam their caller ID info, should be stood up to a wall and shot.
March 26th, 2008 at 7:33 am
I am going to shop for an air horn today. Thanks Mark.
March 27th, 2008 at 11:09 am
I have been receiving these calls from “Heather” and “Duane Smith”. I told him to stop calling me and that I knew it was a scam. He yelled I would be in debt for the rest of my life. He gave me the following address 502 E. John St. Carson City, NV. There are three businesses with that address. One is an insurance company. The other is a “call center” operating out of Kentucky (according to the woman I spoke to) when I asked to speak to a manager she put me on hold. I only waited a short time. There must be some legal remedy.
March 27th, 2008 at 3:22 pm
I’ve been getting these calls on my office line for about a year but they just started coming to my cell. Number was 305-758-9297 this most recent time. Annoying, to say the least.
March 27th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
We have been getting calls from “Heather” for about a month. One day we received two calls! I tried talking to someone and asked the name of the company and its address. They hung up. On another call, I asked the company’s name and was told “Financial Services.” I asked to speak to a supervisor and was cut off.
This probably is a “phone phishing” scam designed to capture personal information and maybe enable someone to assume your identity. I’ve notified a local TV station about it, and I sent a letter to the Ohio Attorney General. So far, I haven’t heard back.
March 28th, 2008 at 11:42 am
Just got another call from these jerks at 9:30 a.m. today. This has to be the 10th time in the last 6 months they call my landline. They claim you can press #2 to have your number removed from their list. What B.S! Did that on the last three calls with no success. I intend to file a complant with the FCC and perhaps the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), but I understand that they need to receive many thousand complaints before they will investigate. Thanks for persuing this matter.
March 28th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
I just wanted to let you all know I contacted the FCC i put in my complaint and i have not heard back from heather now for about 10 days.
Kim
March 28th, 2008 at 12:54 pm
I finally got an email back from the FCC recently and they instructed me to fill out a more detailed web form, listing dates of the calls and so on.
March 29th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Go bankrupt the telemarketing company by filing a complaint with FCC. ($10,000 penalty per each spam call) Here’s the link:
https://esupport.fcc.gov/form1088/consumer.do
March 31st, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Automated recording says, “Hi this is Heather from Account services…” Heather proceeds to tell me that there is a problem with my credit card and I can fix it via her limited time offer. The recording ends by saying, “Press 1 to be connected to an agent, or press 2 to be removed from the call list.” I pressed 2 and got a confirmation message that I was now on the do not call list. This is the SAME recording I have been receiving calls from all year - at least twice a month. Each time, I press the number to be removed from the call list, yet the call continued.
If you live in Texas, file a complaint with the PUC - it only takes a couple of minutes. You can file the complating here:
http://www.puc.state.tx.us/ocp/complaints/secure/nocallform.cfm
April 4th, 2008 at 11:07 am
[...] SCAM ALERT: Account services wants to lower your interest rate? This was one of the most visited posts on the site, as this annoying telephone scam continues and we all try to post what we know about it everywhere we can, in hopes the authorities will eventually find the scam artists and be able to use our information. See the comments for information on reporting them to the FCC and other state agencies, as apply. Also see SCAM NOTICE: Call from account services and The account services 954-733-7981 scam. [...]
April 9th, 2008 at 9:32 am
I wrote a little program to mimic what you hear when you call the number of the back of your credit card.. which is what heather wants to hear when they call you… I am also using a tollfree number which they can not spoof
or hide caller id on.. I am not giving out the tollfree except to the callers..
Try it 214 751 2736
Enter 5414 2343 7820 7330 as account number
7290 as ssn
55010 as zip
1233 as pin
1972 as birth year..
it will readback your balance, limit and interest rate..
Everything about this service is fake.. if you try to press 3 for an agent
you will set on hold forever.. there is no agent.
April 14th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
I get these calls all the time. This problem has obviously progressed beyond something that can be solved by filing standard-form complaints with the FCC. We need to write directly to higher-ranking officials in the federal agencies that could actually do something about this. You can send an email to FCC Chairman Kevin Martin on the following page:
http://www.fcc.gov/commissioners/martin/mail.html
You can email the Department of Justice at:
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov
Here is a form letter you can use:
To whom it may concern,
I have received repeated telephone calls from an electronic device promulgating a scam offering to lower interest rates on credit card debt. The individual on the recording purports to be “Heather” from “Account Services.” I am on the do-not-call registry, and I have also made repeated requests to this particular scam artist to stop calling me. The perpetrator of the scam uses phony telephone numbers (both through caller ID, and when asked for a call-back number), and refuses to provide any identifying information. I have repeatedly reported this caller to FCC by filing 1088 forms, but the calls persist undeterred.
This scam is an annoyance to me and to many other consumers, and much more than an annoyance to those who are unfortunate or desperate enough to fall for it. As a victim of this calls, and as a tax-paying citizen, I respectfully request that all possible action be taken to bring the criminals behind this scam to justice. I will update you regularly on any further developments, namely, on any further calls received.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
X
If we send enough of these–and I suggest sending them one follow-up email for each call that you get–maybe something will be done.
April 28th, 2008 at 9:20 am
I live down by Corpus Christi, TX and have been receiving the calls sporadically over the past few months, but it has been twice each week for the last three weeks. Today, I pushed 1 thinking I could get off the list. The guy didn’t identify himself and when I said I wanted to be taken off their list he hung up on me.
I’m going to start pushing 1 from now on, just to waste his time. If he is going to waste mine, I’m going to waste his.
April 29th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
I just got a call from them tonight (Financial Services). The caller ID brings up the ph#772-664-4005 Phone Company Information Found:
Sebastian, FL Brevard County Bellsouth Telecomm Inc Dba Southern Bell Tel & Tel LandLine.
The girls told me they work with all the different credit card companies and that I qualified for a lower interest rate because I owed more that $4000 and had no late payments in the last 6 mos. She told me that it was illegal for me to give my information over the phone, that I would need to enter some information through the phone touch tone buttons. That put up the red flag and I said that you could still get the info with the tones. She gave me a speech about if she was that capable she wouldn’t have a 9-5 job (it’s 8:45pm in MA). I started asking why would the credit cards just lower my rate and what did they get out of it. She assured me I would still be paying the credit card company but that they did get paid (she still didn’t say how). Still didn’t make sense to me, how they or the credit card company were benefiting. She passed me to her supervisor to help answer my questions. When I pressed on for answers with him, he kept trying to refocus my attention on the real absurdity, the high credit card interest rates. His answers seemed “canned” and I was annoyed that instead of just answering me he was trying to feed of my emotional connectin to my debt…still wondering what he’s trying to sell. I said that I would like to get the name of the company and the phone number and then contact my credit card company to verify that they do work with them. He tells me that it’s ok if I’m not interested. I tell him it’s not ok. That I want to know the name (he gives me Financial Service) and the state they’re in (he says that’s a secret and he cant’ tell me) and then since I”m not interested he finishes the call.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:02 pm
We recieve these calls all the tiem . And it has gotten to be very annoying. They call 3-4 times a month and sometiems we recieve the message on our machien Heather from account services… well we thought it was kinda strange when there was no number left to call them back . If this was a legit company wojudltn they have left a number fior us to cnatact them? Anothere thing we dont even have a credit card. So where did they get our info? Numberous times we told them we are on the do not call list and we dont have a credit card btu they still continue to call…if we ask to many questions or yell at them to stop callign they hang up.
Well tongiht when I recieved a call I played along with their bs. They said because of my great credit they wanted to lower my interest rates…( my credit is far from great) So I told her yeha I know you guys call here alot and we are very interested in lowerign our rates but we can never call you back . Can you please give me a number so we can call you back ..she said no we will call you backl .I said I need the number casue I am on my way out the door to go to work . She said ok and gives me this number 1-800-841-2211. I tell her off and tell her I know they are not a legit company and so on. I hang up and call the number its a talk line. Nice huh. So I decide to do a search to see if others have had this problem with heather from accoutn services. And here I am .I am sure I will be recieveign more calls in the future. So I would definaltey like to here the results of this. Hopefully someone will finally catch them . Feel free to email me and keep updated.
Tammyannny@aol.com
May 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 am
What can I do to help?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
I was stupid enough to work for these people for a few hours. I might have information enough to get them investigated. Any ideas?
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 am
I’d notify the FCC and DoJ. See this comment for details:
http://bohemianrevolution.com/scam-alert-account-services-wants-to-lower-your-interest-rate/#comment-4578
May 2nd, 2008 at 11:57 am
I’ve been getting calls from good ‘ol “Heather” for about the last few months. I’d say I get at least 2-3 calls per week. I’ve started tracking the calls and filing complaints with the National Do Not Call Registry site. Most of the calls I receive do actually have a number attached. There are some that don’t and just say “Out of Area”. The call I just received today, I pressed “1″ to speak to someone instead of my usual “2″ to be removed from the list (which obviously doesn’t work.) I spoke to Latarsha (?) and she told me the name of the company was Account Services and they aren’t affiliated with any particular bank or Mastercard/Visa specifically but that they work with those companies to lower interest rates. I asked how I could be removed from the list and she asked for my phone number - which I thought was strange because quite obviously, they already have that. When I explained I wanted to be removed from their calling list, she hung up on me. This appears to be the trend whenever I try to talk to someone. If you mention the words “Do Not Call”, they hang up on you instantly. I’m going to start the process to press charges. I’ve heard of people in California doing this and getting paid. If you want to report the calls and you are on the National Do Not Call list, you can go to their site and you don’t have to have a phone number. Just put in the name of the company (which we know now) and the time of the call and your information.
Best of luck to everyone…
May 5th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I get these calls too - Financial Services - Amanda, not Heather, and the number, which of course is no longer in service was 1-850-648-6744. I’m gonna use the whistle or air horn next time - concerned the air horn might damage my phone.
Sorrytosay - if you really worked for them, what is the company name, location? Address? Name of your supervisor, boss and/or co-workers? and hey, I’d love to have their phone number! I’d give ‘em a call - with my air horn handy - again and again and again!!!
The chick I talked to was smooth and new what she was doing - so losing her hearing would be a small price to pay for all the people they scam - and it must be a lot, cause heck I’m still deluged with junk email from Nigeria - it would stop if there was no money in it.
I need a drink…
May 6th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
I used a personal alarm that I have the last phone call I got. I haven’t had a call since! I have been getting these calls 2-3 a day for about 2 years! Hopefully that was the last time I’ll hear from them!
May 9th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
I am in Maine, they call my business number all the time. Thanks for the info on this site. I now know I am not alone. It’s amazing nothing can be done about this!!! The only way to stop it is to change my number, but since it is my business they are calling - it is complicated. I will resort to blowing their ears out like Michele, great idea!
May 9th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
I have been getting these for several months. Always hung right away until yesterday I decided to hang on and get them to take me off their list. the guy was nice and took my phone number and said he would get me off the list. Didn’t work, three more calls after that in two days. I tried to hang on again the try to get some info, got hung up quickly when I asked what the name of their company. Next time am going to tell the person, that you are working for a criminal organization and you should leave immediately and save your butt, legally and morally. The number on my phone ID was 954-424-9037.
May 10th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Everytime they call, I’m just gonna press “1″ and play along. I posted the latest calls up on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/stopcallingmyphone
May 13th, 2008 at 9:43 am
Heather strikes again! Despite my demands for “Account Services” to cease and desist, I have been harassed over the past months by Heather and her gang of henchmen. Today, after hitting #1, I was connected to a male representative. Per ususal, I asked for the name of the company, phone number, address, etc. No answer, not even good dancing around the issue. I asked for a website, he hesitated and in the background I heard a female voice say “tell him it’s http://www.accountservices.com.”
He didn’t. He did say “Hah! Got you sucka” and hung up on me!
May 14th, 2008 at 8:19 am
I just got a call about the same thing but the number that showed up was 850-433-1850. I called it back and it was someone’s cell phone #.
May 16th, 2008 at 11:11 am
I appreciate this blog……. I too just got a call from Heather, and I too pressed 1. It sounded really phishy. I finally asked them what company they are. The man seemed frustrated, and left me with “Account Services.” I told the man it wasn’t a good time, and that he could call me back. So, I gave him my number and a good time to call back. I wanted a moment to go online an check this out for myself……………..glad I did, but honestly, never ever ever give your credit card info out over the phone unless you are purchasing something, or paying a bill………and even then try to find a diferent way. Scamming jerks!!!
May 20th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Me too. 4 calls in the last week. Now, I always hit 1 to waste some of their time.
May 20th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’m in Nebraska and get at least one phone call a day, every day of the week. It used to be once or twice a week, but now it’s every day. We’ve been getting calls from “Account Services” for well over a year. If I hang up without pressing 1, I get called again in a few hours. I’ve talked to at least 10 of these people and requested very nicely to please stop getting phone calls, but they hang up on me. Every time I get hung up on I get all worked up and my blood pressure goes sky high. I’ve contacted our phone company (Windstream), and they won’t do anything for us except offer a service (that I have to pay for) to block certain numbers. When I hit *69, it’s a private number, so no number to give them. I told Windstream that it was a scam and it’s driving me crazy, but they won’t help me. We bought a new phone set with a “do not disturb” button that sends all calls straight to voicemail, but I forget to use it sometimes and they wake my daughter up from her naps.
I think I’ll be investing in caller id and an air horn.
May 22nd, 2008 at 8:20 pm
I just got a call today from “Angela.” She asked for my number to verify it. Before I told her anything, I asked what credit card she was calling from. She hung up on me! I knew right away that it was a scam. I tried calling the number back, but the operator that came on said that that number did not exist.
The number was: 506-222-26707.
If they ever try calling me again, I’m going to play it out as long as possible.
May 27th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
My sister made the mistake of speaking with them. Now she’s disputing a $990 charge on her credit card. The credit card company investigated and sent us a statement from Americare saying that they had recorded verbal contracts with my sister. I listened to both. One recording is 2 years old, client’s name is different and client is obviously very elderly. Second recording is my sister, but it’s very brief and does not reference any charges from Americare or services. Just says that someone will call her back.
May 30th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I just received my first call today. As soon as I asked what card they were from, the girl hung up on me. I don’t have Caller ID.
We need to bring this to the attention of a Congressman. There needs to be a law that allows phone traces for suspected instances of fraud. We can put a man on the moon and we can’t find out who is obviously out to steal money from people.
June 5th, 2008 at 11:26 am
I just received a call with the exact info as originally called. Same thing and when I told them that they were calling a cell phone and it is a violation of the FTC they hung up.
June 21st, 2008 at 6:25 pm
I just got a phone call earlier today from “Account Services” offering to lower all credit card interest rates. It was an automated message that tells you to press 1 if you have either a Visa or Mastercard with an interest rate over 10.9% or press 2 if you have already recieved this phone message and wish to be removed from their calling list. I pressed 1, because I thought it was very interesting that I was recieving this call, considering we just lowered our interest rates within the last two months, so I wanted to see who it was. A woman picked up the line, (there was a lot of telemarketing background noise) and she asked if I have a Visa or Mastercard with a higher interest rate, and rattled on about the interest rates will be spiking again after July 1st. I told her that I have one Visa - with a very low credit line, and it is maxed, and she said “One minute, I’ll make note of that” - She then asked if I have any other cards, I said I do, but they are both department store cards - I told her they are a Home Depot store card, and a Radio Shack - - Then I added that my Home Depot is not a combo Visa/MC/Home Depot - She no longer seemed to be interested in me. Then she quickly asked about my husband - “What about your spouse, does he have any Visa or MC’s?” I said “Nope - He only has an American Express…and I’m sorry what company are you calling from?” …Very quickly it became silent, and then I heard her hanging up the phone.
As a lot of you guys did, I am going to use the link that is posted above to report this to the FCC.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:12 am
They used to call us here in Nebraska as much as twice a week! Now, it’s down to twice a month. I looked up one of the phone #’s by entering it into Google and it said that it was a residential number (in Idaho). So, I tried calling it just to see, and sure enough, I get some people’s answering machine. They are definitely spoofing other people’s numbers!
July 1st, 2008 at 8:21 pm
Keep in mind these scammers and the lovely “Heather” read these posts just like we do. Anyhow… Heather from “Account Services” called me 4 times prior to today - indeed, asking to not be called didn’t work, nor did asking who they were, as they hang up each time. So did the supervisor when I managed to get that far last time. Well, today was a little different. The predictive dialer once again caused my phone to ring, and todays script was revised. Today the script said this was the last time, the final chance to lower my interest rates. I pressed 1 to try again. By the way, for all you readers, I have NO debt, zero, zip. I went ahead & pretended to be very interested in the offer, made up some balances and interest rates, and after being on hold a couple different times, the supervisor hopped on the phone ready to help me get those rates lowered. He asked for my credit card number so he could “verify” my credit worthiness. Now I was able to stall and finally ask for a call back number so I could get the information to him - and he gave me a toll-free number!!! During the past calls they have insisted they have no call back number they are outbound only (of course) and they have always insisted they were in Atlanta. I will wait to share the number in this posting as I am in the process of verifying more information and filing a couple different complaints and I don’t want to do anything that might hurt the complaint or an innocent business, in case these clowns were “posing” too. I just wanted to share this with you because you can really catch more flies with honey. Next time they call you, drop the horns and whistles and be ready to really want their help…. be who they are looking for and find a way to get them to give you their info, it worked to act totally credit-stupid. DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!!! What was on your Caller ID, time, date, duration of call, take every note you can, perhaps one of us can be the David that breaks Golliath. Good Luck. As soon as I verify the information I have, I will share it. Thanks to everyone for the posts. It really helped me form a very passive attack.
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
These people call me every couple of days or so, and then they ALWAYS hang up as soon as I say anything.
July 3rd, 2008 at 10:51 am
Surely there is someone who has quit working for these jerks who would be willing to blow the whistle on them. Please, someone, tell us how to contact these idiots!
July 18th, 2008 at 7:00 am
I have been getting this calls for about 6 months. I finally picked it up yesterday, and the lady on the phone said she was calling from dallas ( number showed 123.456.7890). She did the same talk saying she could lower my interest to 2.9%. Since I knew this was a scam- I played along with it for some time and finally said not to call me. She got upset at me said I was a stupid man to be paying high interest etc.
I said to her to Never “F—” call me again.
July 18th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
I’ve been getting these calls about once every couple of weeks for at least a year. Today, I asked to speak to a supervisor and said that it was very important. They just hung up. I, too, am on a do not call list. i’ve informed them of this on several occassions. They have an option to press 2 if you don’t want their calls. That doesn’t work either. When they answer the phone (if you decide to press 1 and try to get to the bottom of it all) they say, “Financial Services”. They won’t tell you what credit card company they’re with or how they got your number.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Found this website in frustration. I’ve been getting calls for at least a year.
Now… people are calling us. Apparently they’re now using *our* phone number when they make calls.
Please don’t assume the numbers you see on your caller are these crooks. In all likelyhood, it’s another victim.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:00 am
7-22-2008: Call says”last day to lower your interest rates. No intro or company name. After you press”1″, a lady comes on (with a radio playing in the background) who says she needs your information to locate you account! SHE REFUSES TO ID HER ORGANIZATION OTHER THAN “FINANCIAL SERVICES”. I REFUSED AND SHE SAID “HAVE A NICE DAY”. SIGNED OFF.
B DOVE
July 23rd, 2008 at 5:32 pm
We’ve been getting these periodically for the last several months. Ask them to call you back at a different number & give them the local sheriff’s dept. phone #. I’m sure that the local’s finest may get tired of taking their calls and at that point something may get done about the turds on the other end. If you can’t beat them, help them beat themselves. Kill ‘em with a smile!
July 26th, 2008 at 11:02 am
I’m in Los Angeles and have been getting these calls for over a year at least. It’s not always “Heather” but I’ve gotten that tape too. I got the girl (sorry to anyone offended at “girl”) today to tell me the company was “Account Services with Visa and MasterCard”. I think we all know they are two different companies. I asked to be taken off their list and was yet again immediately hung up on. No ‘f u” no ’sorry to bother you” nothing. Just, click. I think that bothers me as much as the call itself and the fact they are scamming. They are just rude.
I really like the whistle and blowhorn ideas. Hate to do it to “employees” but if they can’t choose employment with ethical behavior, then screw ‘em. I’m sick of this. I wonder how many people get hooked in and what actually occurs. I imagine it’s elderly and poor folks who end up giving their account numbers and those numbers are then used.
July 31st, 2008 at 10:30 am
“Rachel” - the automated voice - called about lowering credit rates. I pressed 1 and “John” asked if I was interested in lowering my credit rates. I asked his name and company name he said “john at account services”. When I asked for his last name he hung up. These people know what they are doing, and doing it deliberately. They’re not unknowing employees of some company scamming people, these “operators” know what they are doing is wrong, criminal, and unethical yet they do it anyway.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I received a recorded call just like this today. After pressing “1″, a “Sherry” told me that she could lower my interest rate. After I asked her company name, she said “Account Services.” Then I told her that my phone number is listed under the “Don Not Call” list and I will press charge against her company for violating the law. She said “have a good day” and hang up. I googled for “Account Services” and found this page. So it’s more like a scam than soliciting. But I wonder how they got my real name. These crimals should be locked up.
August 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I have received NUMEROUS calls from this company. I have tried “pressing 2 if you do not want to receive these calls any longer” and I’ve tried pressing 1 and speaking to someone. As soon as I ask the bank/company name I get “Account Services. We provide lower cost credit for all banks.” Ya. Right. I spoke to a person three different times. One time the person simply hung up on me when I said I was on the no call list. The second got angry with me and said “press 2 then!!!” and hung up. The third (just now) said “press 2 next time” and hung up.
Like others I googled the “company name” and got this blog. I think I’m going to contact the Attorney General of my state. Actually, I have a friend who is an assistant AG - so maybe I can get past some red tape.
The display today on my phone was:
UKNOWN CALLER
062-261-5311
I don’t know how they got “062″ to show as an area code, but it’s obvously bogus.
August 6th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Caller ID today was 239-437-4835. When I called the number, there was a poor quality recording that said “The number you have called is not in service” This repeated twice, then hung up on me.
I asked Denise (the woman who answered when I pressed 1 on the original call the company name): “Account Services”
I asked her for the website address, she said “Account Services”
Then she asked some guy in the background, he told her to hang up.
Oh well, I suppose it doesn’t cost me anything to hang up on the recording, but it sure is annoying. Thanks for posting this to try and keep people from getting scammed by these theives — though I am afraid if you are clever enough to search on the internet for info, you probably spotted it as a scam right from the start.
August 8th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
I faxed the FCC my complaint. They responded via email one week later saying this is the best place to complain:
https://esupport.fcc.gov/form1088/consumer.do?form_page=1088C
I referenced this blog post in the forms so they will have more info hopefully.
August 13th, 2008 at 8:27 am
I’ve been receiving these calls once or twice a day for months now. And yes, they call my cell phone, too which is especially annoying since I use Go-Phone. Cheers to those of you who are fighting this with the FCC and other authorities. Maybe once my youngest is in kindergarten I can join you. No time for htat right now.
I’d like to share some thoughts, though. One: Are all these calls coming from the same place? Maybe there are multiple companies using the same scam. Scary but know your enemy and all that… Two: I think they are using some sort of random number generator to populate what shows in your caller ID. That gets them past all of the ‘block the blocker’ technology. As for the reports of innocent people’s phone numbers and legit credit card companies numbers showing up, yes maybe they are doing that intentionally and maybe it’s like monkeys, typewriters and Shakespeare. Three: Does anyone else wonder if this is what you wind up doing if you respond to those “I made $200,000 working from part time at home last month” ads on TV? Lastly, these people are obviously very clever criminals. Petty harassment means nothing to them. It may cost them a few employees (which is all to the good) but they will just hire more. I know the legal avenues may be frustrating and time consuming to follow but they are much more likely to bear fruit in the long run. Keep in mind, though that not only are government agencies more likely to listen to you if you follow procedures correctly but attempts to ‘trap’ these criminals by providing false information may put YOU at risk for criminal prosecution for fraud.
Thanks again to all of you who are fighting this. I will join you soon.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:15 am
Got a call this morning from an “out of area” caller. It was Account Services. I questioned again what the company was, told him I had no such credit card, and that I was on the do not call list. He said you aren’t on the do not call list jackoff, if you answered this call and he hung up. Nice.
August 14th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
See:heatherwithaccountservices.com
August 27th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I got a call from 506-220-30785. It had the prerecorded message that it was my last chance to lower my credit card interest rate and to hit 1 to speak with a representative. It did not say who it was that was calling.
I can’t block the number because it is too long, and even if I could, Verizon says it would only last for 30 days and I would have to block it again…oh, yeah, also costs $4.99/month for that feature that is only good for domestic calls.
And, they say that this past February the FCC reversed it’s DO NOT CALL immunity for cell phones…so we are totally unprotected from telemarketers now. Take this to your Congressman! I know I’m going to take it to mine! It’s like the FCC is protecting these opportunists who are breaking the federal communication rules in the first place.