Watch out for this online credit card fraud via Fandango.com!!

12/17/2004 | ecurbh and HairOfTheDog

[ecurbh]

I was doing our weekly checkbook balancing this afternoon, when I noticed a $9.00 charge on 12/15 from something called VISA-WLI*RESERVATIONREW800-7327031 CT. It rung a bell, and I remembered seeing a similar charge last month on 11/15. I had not really thought much about that previous charge because my new wife (HairOfTheDog) and I had merged bank accounts the previous week, and I had assumed it was a transaction she had performed and forgotten to write down, or some kind of bank charge related to the changes to our account.

But we now saw that this was fishy, and knew we had not authorized any ongoing charges from any such company. We called our bank, filed a dispute on the charges, and were refunded our $18. The bank said they would follow up with WLI Reservation Rewards to find out where they got our account information and to stop any further charges.

I did some Googling on "WLI Reservation Rewards", and found a number of sites with others detailing similar problems with this company. For example, Rip-off Report.com has 326 reported incidents of this fraud.

Evidently, here is how the scam worked:
-They are associated with a number of seemingly legitimate sites, including Fandango.com, where we had purchased movie tickets on 10/15.
-At the conclusion of the transaction, there was an offer for "$10 off your next purchase". That seemed fine, we planned to use Fandango again.
-Apparently, accepting this offer, which we probably thought was from Fandango, authorized Fandango to give our credit card info to this "WLI Reservation Rewards" and initiate a $9 monthly fee. If we had seen any indication of this at all, there is no way we would have accepted such a thing.

What is this fee for? What does WLI Reservation Rewards do? We have no idea. We never heard anything from this company offering their services. You would think they would at least send out an email saying "Thank you for signing up for our service." Evidently they just lay low and hope you won't notice a measly $9 charge on your account each month.

We called Reservation Rewards, but surprise, there was no answer, just a recording to call back between 8am and 11pm Mon-Fri. OK, but we were calling at 2:30pm Pacific on a Friday! Then we called Fandango, and spoke to their customer service, who we let know in no uncertain terms that their relationship with Reservation Rewards was not acceptable, and that as a result, we would never be using Fandango's services again. Fandango was adamant that they were not responsible for the actions of this "3rd party" company, and we assured them that yes, they are responsible for $10-off offers appearing during the purchase process on their own site.

Bottom line, if you are using Fandango, stop. Watch your bank statements for monthly charges from "WLI*RESERVATIONREW800-7327031". Also remember that Reservation Rewards is associated with other online services (see the link above for more customer reports).If you see this type of charge appear on your statement, contact your bank immediately to dispute the charge.

[ecurbh]

Here is the email we sent to Fandango:

Please delete completely my name, email, account numbers and all other records you have for me.

I have just found out that through your website I was offered some 'coupon' or something that cost me $9 per month through RESERVATION REWARDS until I caught it and cancelled it through my bank.

This is clearly fraudulent. I never intended to authorize you to give my bank account info to any third party company, and I received NO services from this 'Reservation Rewards' company. A brief google search on "Reservation Rewards" shows thousands of complaints about this company and YOUR company. Fandango's name is indeed being harmed by your relationships.

I wanted movie tickets. I had really enjoyed your service. But I will not do business with a company that allows a fraudulent company access to my bank account.

[ecurbh]

Please forgive this non-LOTR ping, but I am really mad about this.

[xJones]

Thanks for the heads up.

[Drango]

If you'll post the Fandango number I'll call em.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ping to friends. I know this isn't my normal subject matter for pings... but we really think folk should complain to sites like Fandango for associating with these kind of fraudulent companies.

[Lil'freeper]

fyi

[ecurbh]

Thanks!

Fandango:
1-800-326-3264

WLI Reservation Rewards: (Good luck)
1-888-688-5995

[Ramius]

Hmmm... thanks for the alert... :-)

[Darksheare]

Egads guys, thanks for the head's up!

[Darksheare]

Credit card stealth charges scam heads up by FReeper ecrubh and his wife.

[JockoManning]

thank you H.O.T. Dog, appreciate it. j

[Drango]

Fandango: 1-800-326-3264

Well I just called that number and the voice mail only lets me order movie tickets...Is there a trick to talk to a human?

[HairOfTheDog]

What stinks about it is that I really liked to use Fandango. I bought all my tickets for MULTIPLE views of all the LoTR movies through Fandango... I'll miss the service, and told Fandango so. It's silly for them to wreck a good service by associating with this company.

[ecurbh]

Oops, sorry. Customer service number is (866)857-5191.

[Duchess47]

Thanks for the ping.

[HairOfTheDog]

No trouble... I just hoped people wouldn't mind the interruption!

[Samwise]

Please forgive this non-LOTR ping, but I am really mad about this.

Forewarned is forearmed. Nothing to forgive. Thanks for the heads up.

[Duchess47]

No interruption :) I've never used the company but I want to check with my sons and give them this information.

[JoJo Gunn]

Something for the tech ping?

[Darksheare]

A head's up an interruption?
No, not really.
It's good to be warned before finding out for one's self the hard way.

[ecurbh]

Just wanted to vent and to make sure others avoid same mistake.

[Corin Stormhands]

Where is the HQ for Fandango?

Find out and copy this information to the Attorney General and Chamber of Commerce.

[freedumb2003]

May I humbly suggest that this go to news or f-news (I never understood the difference)?

I think it is too important for chat.

That's just my opinion. Please don't swat me :)

[HairOfTheDog]

Not sure how to do that, but they are in CA.

For additional information about Fandango, please contact us:

12200 W. OLYMPIC BOULEVARD, SUITE 150,
LOS ANGELES, CA 90064
PHONE: (310) 451-7690 FAX: (310) 451-7861

[HairOfTheDog]

Thank you :~D

[SandyInSeattle]

Thanks for the heads up. I never use Fandango, here's another reason not to.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yep.... it's a reason not to ever use them now!

Ticked us off, and we wanted ~everyone~ to know about it.

[Corin Stormhands]

Attorney General's Office
California Department of Justice
Attn: Public Inquiry Unit
P.O. Box 944255
Sacramento, CA 94244-2550
http://caag.state.ca.us/contact/index.htm

California Chamber of Commerce
1215 K Street, Suite 1400
Sacramento, CA 95814
P.O. Box 1736, Sacramento, CA 95812-1736
Telephone (916) 444-6670;
Fax (916) 325-1272
http://www.calchamber.com/index.cfm?navID=281

Better Business Bureau
http://www.bbb.org/complaint.asp


I pride myself in being somewhat of a consumer vigilante. Let me know if I can help.

[HairOfTheDog]

Cool - ecurbh's typin' away on it.

[sionnsar]

important ping to article

[trussell]

Another one to watch for...

On your telephone bill-- ORBIT TELECOM

They charged 12.95 on my sept. bill...said it was a set up fee...non refundable.

15.95 on my October bill. I disputed the set up fee and got it refunded.

I didn't catch it first time, because the "confirmation" email was caught by my spam filter!

They got my info when I was surfing the net...was offered a "surveys for money" opportunity. Filled out the info...got to the last screen where they say it will cost...I backed out, I didn't click through!

[ecurbh]

I tried filing a BBB complaint, but it redirects me to a regional website. There it says that they are redesigning the complaint system, and expect it to be back online on November 30. :(

I'll check out the AG and CoC, then figure out how to email the BBB.

Thanks for your help.

[GretchenM]

Excellent work and thanks for the report.

[Flyer]

I know this isn't my normal subject matter for pings

This could be dog related because it's a bitch?

Thanks for the heads up!

[HairOfTheDog]

HEY! Action report! This is a bit of a surprise because I never contacted the RESERVATION REWARDS people directly by phone (got voice mail and hung up) or by email, but they have sent me an email. I cancelled it through my bank and wrote the angry email to Fandango, not RR. We posted this thread, and wrote the CA authorities Corin listed at 28. One of the things we did has given us action. No response from Fandango to me, but here is the response from RR.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This notice confirms that your membership in Reservation Rewards has been cancelled and we have issued a refund of your membership fee. This refund will appear as a credit in your credit card, debit card or PayPal account within the next 3-5 business days.

We are sorry to see you go and hope you reconsider becoming a member again in the future. Any money you've saved is yours to keep... and thank you for trying our service!

Please let us know if your request was resolved to your satisfaction. All responses submitted will go to our Customer Service Director for review because your feedback is important to us.

Sincerely,


The Reservation Rewards Team
customerservice@reservationrewards.com
1-888-688-5995


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Complaining loudly works! I am still considering my response to them, I appreciate their willingness to refund without a fight, but that does not forgive the fact that they tried to hit me with stealthy unwanted charges in the first place.

[Corin Stormhands]

I'll check out the AG and CoC, then figure out how to email the BBB.

Assemblies of God, Church of Christ and Bible Belt Baptists?

Ooops...sorry, wrong forum.

[Darksheare]

Excellent!

[ecurbh]

We recieved a response from Fandango this AM:

Dear [HairOfTheDog],

Thank you for contacting us and taking the time to voice your concerns. Hearing from our customers is invaluable to improving our service.

We are sorry that you were frustrated by one of our advertiser's offers. We work closely with Reservation Rewards to ensure our customers are fully aware of the extent of their offer and how to qualify for the $10.00 cash back incentive. To view the offer from our confirmation page, customers must click the offer button that specifies:

"By clicking above, you can claim your reward from the reward provider, Reservation Rewards."

The terms of the membership are then listed on the offer page (under "Offer Details"), which includes the following:

Get your $10.00 Cash Back Award after your next Fandango purchase, Money-Saving Discounts FREE for the next 30 days plus all the valuable benefits of Reservation Rewards, with our compliments. It's a Special Reward for your purchase today! If you are 100% satisfied during your trial, do nothing. All your Reservation Rewards protection and discounts will automatically continue for just $9 a month billed by Reservation Rewards to the credit card or deducted from the debit card you used at Fandango today. For your convenience Reservation Rewards will use the contact and credit or debit card information you provided to Fandango today for billing and benefit processing.

In addition, just above the blank fields requiring your email address, the following is listed:

"By entering my email address as my electronic signature and clicking YES, I have read and agree to the offer details and authorize Fandango to securely transfer my name, zip code and credit card information to Reservation Rewards for benefit processing."

Please be aware that the entire program and how to receive the cash back incentive is explained prior to any request for commitment and requires you to enter and confirm your email address and click on the red Yes! acceptance button that points to the full offer.

We apologize for the misunderstanding and will continue to work closely with all our advertisers and affiliates to ensure that the ads on our website are clear to our customers. We contacted Reservation Rewards to confirm your membership was cancelled and all charges to your account have been refunded. They have provided us with the following details:

Name: [redacted]
Email: [redacted]
Join Date: 10/13/2004
Cancel Date: 12/18/2004
# of Billings: 2
Refunded: 2 credits of $9.00 each
Confirmation#: [redacted]
Member was sent email confirmation.

Thanks again for your email and please be assured that your comments will be forwarded to Fandango's management team.

Sincerely,

Indra Kumaran
Manager, Fandango Customer Support

Best Regards,
Chris
Fandango Customer Support

NOTE: Please do not click the reply button. E-mails sent to this address are not read.

Our response to Fandango:

Thank you for your response, I did receive the notification from Reservations Rewards. However... in the spirit of your comment "We work closely with Reservation Rewards to ensure our customers are fully aware of the extent of their offer" I would say this.... It isn't clear what benefit RR even brings to the table, and would I never agree to something as ridiculous as a monthly fee to get coupons, so on this both you and they have failed to be clear. I never received anything from them, ever... Not the $10 off (I don't even know how that was supposed to work) nor any notification that I belonged to anything.

Fandango offers a good service. You've wrecked it by accepting advertising money from a rip off company that can only detract from you and make people angry.

Have you deleted my credit card information from all your databases, and removed me from all email lists? I requested that you do that. If in the future, I find out you have ended your relationship with this company AND have instituted a policy of NOT advertising with rip off companies AND have a policy of not sharing customer's credit card info with them with only an email 'signature' (yeesh) perhaps I will do business with you again. Reputable companies offering good products will sell themselves, they can collect their own credit card information in a clear sale situation, they won't have to hide their charges in your coat-tails.

[HairOfTheDog]

Further update for the record...

Dear ________,

We are sorry that you were frustrated by Fandango and by one of our advertiser's offers. We have deleted your account from the Fandango databases.

We are continuing to grow and improve, and we truly hope you will give Fandango another chance to prove ourselves to you in the future.

Best Regards,
Chris
Fandango Customer Support

[Oorang]

Thanks for the ping and the info. Way too many sneaks out there these days and yes they figure no one will notice them stealing a "measly" $9 per month. Good for you for going through your accounts with a fine toothed comb. It amazes me how many people never check the itemization on their visa bills.

[js1138]

Nothing is free, apparently including discounts.

[ecurbh]

It reminds me of those $10 checks the credit card companies send out (which I've never fallen for). The fine print there says that by cashing the check, you are signing up for some extra service that will cost you $10 a month. I guess they hope folks will think it is a rebate or cash back reward of some kind. They are sneaky.

[Tarantulas]

I just bought something from cheaperthandirt.com, where some FReepers might shop for gun-related items, and at the end of the purchase there was a "click here to save $10 on your next purchase" link. So I clicked it and it reminded me of this thread. Here's the information from that page:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Congratulations...
click YES below to register for Reservation Rewards and get your Money-Saving Discounts up to 50%... plus your $10.00 Cash Back Award!

Thank You... sign up to claim your rewards!
To thank you for your purchase at CheaperThanDirt.com today, click YES below to get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase plus sign up for all the money-saving benefits of Reservation Rewards, our premier online travel discounts and protection program!

Get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase just for trying Reservation Rewards plus enjoy all this FREE for the next 30 days...

Discounts up to 50% at leading Retailers you know and trust
Get discounts up to 50% on products and services you use every day from top retailers nationwide like participating Sears Portrait Studios, The Sports Authority, Pearle Vision locations and more. These include nationwide retailers... plus plenty of local stores and service providers right where you live.

Discounts up to 50% at Top Attractions
You save up to 50% at more than 17,000 top attractions nationwide and close to home. Get discounts at theme parks, museums, aquariums, zoos and more. Enjoy discounts at top name locations like Six Flags and many more! Plus save money at lots of local attractions in your hometown and state!

Dining Discounts -- Buy 1 Get 1 FREE
Get great "Buy 1 Get 1 FREE" deals at over 35,000 popular family restaurants and fast food chains. These discounts are great when on a cross-country trip or even in your own neighborhood. Save at popular national chains like participating Pizza Hut, Planet Hollywood, Bennigan's, McDonalds, International House of Pancakes restaurants and many more! Plus save at local restaurants too!

Extra Reward -- $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase
As a member of Reservation Rewards you get your $10.00 Cash Back Award good for your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase. Just make a purchase anytime in the next 3 months, send Reservation Rewards your receipt and Cash Back Award Coupon and we'll send you the Cash! It's that easy and no minimum purchase is required! So, go ahead and save money shopping for your favorite things at CheaperThanDirt.com... get anything you want... it's up to you! Click here for full details on your $10.00 Cash Back Award

So claim all your Reservation Rewards benefits... plus get your $10.00 Cash Back Award! You'll get your $10.00 Cash Back Award Coupon and instructions on the next page so you can access the site and start saving today! Plus we'll send your Membership Kit email to you at your email address. Try all the benefits for the next 30 days FREE and see how much you save! There's no obligation to continue. If you are completely satisfied, do nothing and you'll enjoy ongoing savings for only $9 a month and of course you have our Money-Back Guarantee as described in the Offer Details! You can print out up to 100 discount coupons every year for your favorite places whenever you want!

Plus you get even more than discounts... you also get valuable Travel Protection with Trip Delay Protection, Hotel Over-Booking Protection, 24-Hour Road & Tow Protection and more!

Click here for more benefit information.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Then at the bottom of the page there is a box with the following information inside it:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Offer Details:
Get your $10.00 Cash Back Award on your next CheaperThanDirt.com purchase, Money-Saving Discounts FREE for the next 30 days plus all the valuable benefits of Reservation Rewards, with our compliments. It's a Special Reward for your purchase at CheaperThanDirt.com today! If you are 100% satisfied during your trial, do nothing. All your Reservation Rewards discounts and protection will automatically continue for just $9 a month billed by Reservation Rewards to the credit card or deducted from the debit card you used at CheaperThanDirt.com today. For your convenience Reservation Rewards will use the contact and credit or debit card information you provided to CheaperThanDirt.com today for billing and benefit processing. In the event your monthly membership fee were to ever change, you would be notified before you are billed. Reservation Rewards benefits may be enhanced or modified at any time without prior notice. And, you have our Money Back Guarantee! If at anytime you are not completely satisfied during your trial or thereafter, simply call Reservation Rewards toll free at 1-888-688-5995 to let us know you wish to cancel your monthly membership benefits and that you wish to receive a refund of the current month's fee and owe nothing further. All your benefits and access will then be canceled immediately. All the money you save is yours to keep!

Consent to receive electronic disclosures. Please read carefully and save or print a copy for your records. Reservation Rewards will communicate your benefit and other membership information to you, including payment authorization made by clicking Yes, by electronic communications, including email and electronic postings on our site. Your Membership Kit email will also include a copy of the Offer Details for your convenience. In order to view this membership and benefit information in electronic form, you need to have access to a computer with Internet browser version IE 5.5 or Netscape 4.7 or higher. In order to receive Reservation Rewards you must agree to receive these communications electronically and by clicking Yes you consent to do so. You may withdraw this consent by canceling the service. Of course if you would also like a printed copy of any membership information you can email us at customerservice@reservationrewards.com to request it and we will be happy to send it at no charge. You can update your email address on the Reservation Rewards profile page.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Beside the box is the following:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Check this box to accept your $10.00 Cash Back Award plus Reservation Rewards benefits!

By checking here, entering my email address as my electronic signature and clicking YES, I have read and agree to the Offer Details and authorize CheaperThanDirt.com to securely transfer my name, address and credit or debit card information to Reservation Rewards for billing and benefit processing. After a 30-day free trial, my credit or debit card will be charged $9 per month.

Enter your email address here:

Verify email:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Then there's a big red button that says "YES! Click here now" and below that it says:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I want my Reservation Rewards discounts plus my $10.00 Cash Back Award!

No thanks, please take me back to CheaperThanDirt.com

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
And at the very bottom of the page it says:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Offer only available to residents of the U.S., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands and is not available to current Reservation Rewards members. Terms of Service apply. Reservation Rewards is owned and operated by webloyalty.com. All trademarks and or copyrights are the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise noted, Reservation Rewards is not affiliated with the respective owners. Apple computer users need to print coupons using Netscape Navigator or Communicator. Merchants participating in this program vary by location. Reservation Rewards benefits cannot be accessed via WebTV. Privacy Policy ©2003, webloyalty.com, inc. 20415-1003

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I don't know what was on the Fandango page, but if it's anything like what was on cheaperthandirt.com, it seems like an issue of "read everything before signing on the dotted line." It was pretty clear to me when I read their "Offer Details" that Reservation Rewards was going to be charging my credit card $9 a month whether I ever ordered anything else from cheaperthandirt.com or not.

[HairOfTheDog]

You're right.... it's clear when you read all that. Obviously I didn't, because I'd never buy into all that. I don't really even have recall of the coupon offer, nor did we get any confirmation emails from Reservation Rewards or any other kind of notification of the 'benefits'.

I still think that legitimate sites ought not advertise or share credit card info with anyone like this who, if they really had a valuable service would advertise it and collect their own credit card info.

[ecurbh]

Thanks for the info... It had been so long, we didn't remember what kind of fine print we had negelected to notice. And yes, it does seem clear once you read it.

Reservation Rewards will communicate your benefit and other membership information to you, including payment authorization made by clicking Yes, by electronic communications, including email and electronic postings on our site. Your Membership Kit email will also include a copy of the Offer Details for your convenience.

This part, however, Reservation Rewards neglected... we never recieved any such "Membership Kit email." If we had, we could have cancelled before we were ever charged in the first place.

[BJungNan]

bump for good FReeper original article - no copying Washington Post!

[FairOpinion]

I had a similar experience, when shopping at another site.

I agree, that the sites, which allow this deceptive practice should be help responsible for it.

When I called reservations rewards, they did reverse the charges immediately. So call them again.

But what they are doing, in cahoots with a lot of supposedly legitimate merchants, does border on fraud. I wonder who would investigate this, the FBI?

[Dashing Dasher]

I keep wondering how these people sleep at night.

I've had two Phishing emails about "My eBay Account", which I immediately sent off to abuse@ebay.com.

This is getting out of hand... but what is being done? Are these people being prosecuted?

[nhloonranger]

WLI ReservationRewards is committing fraud via the SmartBargains website as well. Same exact scam as you described.

I noticed the $9.00 charge on my VISA card in my July statement, but WLI has been charging me $9/month since January! Shame on me for not checking my statement more carefully. But SHAME on SmartBargains.com for being complicit in this fraud, and for treating their customers this way.

SmartBargains has lost my business forever, and I'll be posting on as many forums as possible to suggest people BOYCOTT SmartBargains and all other mercants who allow WLI to thieve from their web sites.

As for WLI, I have contacted the CT attorney general's office. Someone needs to shut these scammers down.

[ecurbh]

Thanks for the warning about SmartBargains, I'll make sure to avoid doing business with them.

After what we went through to get the WLI stuff cancelled and refunded, I am now very careful to check our bank and credit card statements for any unrecognized charges.