Beware of paying for pills you didn't order

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SHASTA LAKE - When Ella Borgwat called the sender to say she'd never ordered the bottle of Caralluma Extreme weight-loss pills she got in the mail, she was told she'd placed the order online.

"I don't even own a computer," said Borgwat, who could be among numerous people who apparently have been charged for something they never asked for. The unsolicited package Borgwat received contained no paperwork - only the bottle of pills that boasted, "Lose Weight, Feel Great."

At the time she thought nothing of it, figuring it was a free sample.

Borgwat, 77, became aware of a problem when she got her credit card statement, which showed some eight charges in February and March - at $34.84 apiece - for Caralluma and Adipose Rx. Three of the charges were posted in one day.

The credit card company reversed the charges and she canceled the card, just in case.

Web sites including complaintsboard.com, ripoffreport.com and fraudposts.com feature numerous similar complaints about a Mesquite, Nev.-based company allegedly sending unsolicited bottles of Caralluma Extreme and Adipose Rx.

Edie Cartwright, public information officer for the Nevada Attorney General's Office, said she could not say whether her office was aware of complaints surrounding the diet aids.

"We can't give that to you because if we're doing an investigation, we can't tell you that we are," she said. Consumer complaints must be filed in writing, she said, and information is available at http://ag.state.nv.us/org/bcp/complaint.htm.

Efforts to contact company representatives at the phone numbers listed on Borgwat's credit card statement were unsuccessful.

Although her problem has been resolved, the whole mixup gave Borgwat a fright. And her children are still pestering her to get a computer.

"They tell me, 'Mom, you need to because we have to send photos of the grandchildren,'" she said. "I don't want one."

Reporter Janet O'Neill can be reached at 225-8216 or at joneill@redding.com

Right, because not having a computer kept you from being defrauded. But you're right, computers are the tools of Satan, and we should all avoid them at all costs. BTW, I am posting from my mobile, so no devil's toy here.



False invoices are certainly out there. Have received several in my place of employment. What I wonder is if they had her credit card info, why did they waste it on sending her pills? Somewhere, somehow, she must have given the info to them (name,address, credit card, etc). If I had the info, I would be spending it on BIG ticket items instead of trying to defraud an elderly lady.

While on scams, what kind of person falls for those internet come-ons promising big bucks if you help them free up their money? I can understand the elderly who may have lost their minds but anyone else leaves me scratching my head????



Anytime you give out your credit card number be careful. You can sign up online for a product or service with one company but as soon as you give them your card # you may be purchasing something from another company as well, one that you didn't intend to. The first company sells a place on there page and as soon as you give your card # that page pops up and you can't get rid of it unless you take their survey and if you take their survey then you have agreed to purchase their product with your card #. The only way to cancel is to call them and they don't make their phone number easy to find. It's kinky and should be outlawed.



Sid, with all due respect, you need to learn how to use the internet better. There are ways to get rid of those pop-up screens without "taking the survey". People like you are the ones the scammers are looking for.



Speaking of...

I got a call about a month ago from a 3rd party collection agency saying I owed $250ish dollars. When I asked when this transaction took place and where was it from, she didn't have the info because they were 3rd party. I said there was no way Im paying it unless she had the info. WHen she called back a week later to try and collect again, she said it was from the year 2000 and it was for Best Buy. 9 years later and I'm JUST hearing about this?? She STILL couldn't give me an exact date when the check was written or even a check number (3rd party excuse again). Again, I said unless you can give me exact info so I can verify with my bank that I made this purchase then I'm not paying (btw, I dont remember shoping Best Buy back then). At least she was nice and didnt give me a hard time about it. I told her I need more time to figure it out. Then about 2 weeks ago, I get letter from them saying the collection was reduced by like 80 bucks if I pay by a certain date. I kinda wanted to pay it to make it go away, but I didnt because this sounds fishy. I'm not denying I made the purchase, but I dont remember shopping there then AND this is the FIRST time I learned of this so-called bad check...9 years later!!!

Anyone know what I should do about this? Any advice would be good.



Speaking of...

I got a call about a month ago from a 3rd party collection agency saying I owed $250ish dollars. When I asked when this transaction took place and where was it from, she didn't have the info because they were 3rd party. I said there was no way Im paying it unless she had the info. WHen she called back a week later to try and collect again, she said it was from the year 2000 and it was for Best Buy. 9 years later and I'm JUST hearing about this?? She STILL couldn't give me an exact date when the check was written or even a check number (3rd party excuse again). Again, I said unless you can give me exact info so I can verify with my bank that I made this purchase then I'm not paying (btw, I dont remember shoping Best Buy back then). At least she was nice and didnt give me a hard time about it. I told her I need more time to figure it out. Then about 2 weeks ago, I get letter from them saying the collection was reduced by like 80 bucks if I pay by a certain date. I kinda wanted to pay it to make it go away, but I didnt because this sounds fishy. I'm not denying I made the purchase, but I dont remember shopping there then AND this is the FIRST time I learned of this so-called bad check...9 years later!!!

Anyone know what I should do about this? Any advice would be good.



You are doing what you are suppose to be doing. Keep waiting on the specific information to come.
I had left a place I rented and 2 years later got a letter from a collection agency saying I owed the land lord money for cleaning and repairs. First time I heard about it. Got it all straightened out but wondered how the agency was able to find me but the landlord wasn't.
As to the story. Remember that there was a breech in security at some credit place a lil while ago. I'm thinking a scammer got a hold of her info that way. They may have been 'fishing' to see if the charges would go through or not by buying the pills. Then planned on buying the big ticket items.
I had my identity stolen a few years ago. I was a power shopper(apparently). Six new credit cards in 4 different states in 2 days. Luckily it's all been sorted. No I'm not much of an internet shopper, and hadn't bought anything on-line is quite sometime, so when it happend I was stunned at how they got my info.



In all due respect Big_N_Tasty, it wasn't a pop up screen. It's a scam to get you to buy something you don't want and they use the credit card # you just gave them to bill you for something else that you don't want. This company has had hundreds of complains about how they do business, I talked to a rep. from the company today and he said he gets too many calls like the one I made to him.



A couple of months ago I was charged on my phone bill for a service that I knew nothing about.

Just suddenly, there it was.

$14.95 a month for OAN Services, Inc. When I called them, the woman was pretty nasty with me. She insisted that I ordered it online. I insisted that I did not do so.

Finally, she named a person and asked me who they were. I said I knew two people by that name, one in Oregon who is my ex, and one a mile from me who is my son. She then gave me my son's address and told me that the service was ordered by him, online, for my home phone. I told her that no he did not, because he would not do that to me. I questioned why she would think she could authorize a service for my phone from someone at another number, without my knowledge or permission. Claws out and nasty, she again insisted that my son ordered this service. I insisted that she take it off my phone, and never install it again.

When I called my son he too thought it was ludicrous that someone would even think he would order a service for my phone. When I told him it was OAN Services, Inc. he said "oh, I know who they are" and proceeded to tell me how they had slammed his business for $29.95 a month for six months before he even noticed it on his bill, thus getting nearly $180 from him for services he did not order.

I googled OAN Services, Inc and it was really interesting what came up; pages of fradulent complaints, some identical to mine, prices varying, but none ordered by the person they were billed to.

Scammers are out there, computer or not, and we all need to beware.

My phone company reversed the charges, but what amazed me, is they seemed to know when I called that it was a scam, just from their reaction, and yet they put it on my phone without checking with me.

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