| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

FrontPage

This version was saved 14 years, 8 months ago View current version     Page history
Saved by Dan Nelson
on July 22, 2009 at 8:42:23 pm
 

Credit Protection Plus Fraud - Resource Wiki

Let's use this wiki to get organized in our fight against Bank of America with this program.

 

For anyone interested in potential class action representation, please contact:

Robert S. Mullen, Esq.

Robert Mullen and Associates, PLLC

800 Starkweather

Plymouth, Michigan 48170

Tel: (734) 455-2700

Fax: (734) 455-2577 

 

If you've been enrolled in the Credit Protection Plus program without your permission, please edit this page and add your initials:     

 

 DN (07/22/09) If you've read my earlier post you may remember that I sued BofA in small claims court here in Oregon.  They failed to repond withen the 14 days, and I have now recorded a judgment for the initial $1662.50 in CPP charges, plus about $200.00 in court fees and an $85.00 prevailing party award.  We just received a letter from CSI (the plan administrator) again stating their position, then saying that Bof A had agreed to refund the money as a "Courtesy"  The $1,662.50 has been refunded to our account.  I then recieved a call from somone in the "Chairman's" office.  Basically they wanted me to acknowalage they had made it right for the office of the OCC (we also filed a complaint there).  The OCC complaint is the reason they gave back the money!  This lady didn't even know about the suit, and got quite flustered when I let her know I had a judgment against the bank over this mess.  She asked me to forward a copy to their legal department (the one in Delaware) along with my demand letter for payment of the balance.

    • JH (7/22/09)  My husband just called me at work to tell me that in February 2008, nearly 2 years ago, I agreed to be a part of the Credit Protection Program. I have no recollection of ever signing up for this program. Our balance has slowly been increasing overtime with these charges.  Now, because of the balance we have been put into "Penalty" which increased our interest rate to 29%.  This is outrageous.  We plan to persue this as far as we can, and we will be using the information listed on this site.

 

     • SD (7/15/09): EVERYBODY!!!! After fighting with BofA for a year and refusing to pay them for this scam and the interest that           accrued and getting up to four harassing phone calls a day, and filing with my state attorney general and the OCC and           contacting a reporter, I GOT MY BALANCE CLEARED AND MY ACCOUNT CLOSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was the reporter who had the           effect; she contacted BofA, they lost her query of course, she followed up on them and then one day I got a phone call from           BofA expressing concern that I was unhappy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The person who called me is in PR I believe. Here is           her name and phone number: MS. BLAKE ZABIN 1-800-441-7048 ext 26178.

          Ms Zabin asked what they could do to relieve my unhappiness and I said 1. Remove my balance, 2. Remove the balances of           everyone else on this website, 3. Compensate me for the hours I'd had to put in trying to rectify these false charges. She           told me "As a courtesy" BofA could remove my balance........ which made me furious! I told her that was like being physically           beaten constantly for a year for no reason and then "As a  courtesy" the beating could be ended!! 

          I suggest contacting any reporter who does consumer rights. I still want to be part of a lawsuit. Best wishes to everyone on           this site!!

  • SS(07/14/09): same story as everyone else. i called in to remove myself from the program. they blamed me for not knowing that i had charges of $1 or $2 each month and proportionately larger depending on my credit balance and that I was in the program for over 2 years. they couldn't verify any information about how i enrolled or anything but just claimed that i had done so. much like everyone else here, they of course wouldn't credit anything back to me. so i politely requested to be removed from this program and now I'm with you all on fighting these lovely scam artists. let me know how i can help!
  • AR(07/02/09): Same story here,my wife called boa for a routine transaction on 11/17/08,was offered the credit protection,she declined,10 days later the welcome letter arrived,they charged  a de-luxe credit protection fee of $19.99 and a credit protection plus fee of $ 188.18 for the months of November and December 2008 .We called to get things straight and their response was that during the phone coversation my wife signed up for the plan.I just filed a complaint with the OCC,since I read that people got their money refunded after doing so. If there is an oportunity for a class action suit I'm in.
  • DN (06/22/09): Recieved the response from thier "investigation".  They claim that my wife agreed to the coverage during a "phone opportunity."  She actually asked to have something sent in writting to review the terms, but told them she DID NOT WANT THE COVERAGE.  In any event they will do nothing.  I filed a small claims suit in Oregon Circuit Court today.  Cost me $87.00, plus $28.00 to have the bank served.  After many phone calls to the Seretary of State's Office and the Oregon Corporation Commission,  I discovered that you don't have to serve the registered agent of a corporation which is a Nationally Chartered Bank.  You can serve any bank officer, which includes anyone at the local branch with the title of VP or above.  (HEH HEH HEH!)  I've already warned my local guy, he will be served tommorow.  The bank will have fourteen days to respond that they will go to trial, or I will win by default.  They will then owe the intial amount, plus filing and service fees of $112.00, plus a prevailing party fee of $60.00, plus pre-judgement and post judgement interest of 9%.  I'll keep you posted if this works.

 

  • CH (06/20/09): Same experience as everyone else: numerous phone calls followed by mysterious charges that I failed to notice for months. Turns out, the charge is the last thing put on your previous statement. I'm a starving college student and out a pretty good amount of money.

     

  • DN (06/06/09):  Found this page last month.  Same Story, after numerous phone calls my wife agreed to have them send information (only) in writing... and they signed her up.  We have taken these steps so far:  Documented our experiance.  Sent a demand letter that we recieve a full refund by both e-mail and certified mail to BA.  We've recieved back a letter claiming that their plan administrator is investigating.  We CC our State Attorney Generals Consumer Fraud department.  Next step is to file a formal complaint with the AG's office and just for fun if they don't reverse the ($2000+) charges we will file a small claims lawsuit against B/A.  The suit is pretty cheap to file in Oregon.  However the tricky part is serving their Corp.  Offices out of State.  Might contact the local news media that likes to work on exposing scams too:
  • PC (05/19/09):  I found this page after seeing on my statements that I had been enrolled in Bank of America's Credit Protection Plus without my consent.  I had been receiving phone and mail offers from them to enroll, and I had expressed that I was not interested in the program.  I am a student and didn't want to spend extra money.  I eventually stopped receiving calls and those mail offers.  Recently, I found out that I had been enrolled in the program without my permission, and had been getting charged their Credit Protection Plus fees for over a year!  I called to remove myself from their program, but was told I couldn't get any sort of refund because I had been enrolled in the program for over 30 days.  GRR!!!

 

     •   SD (4/27/09): Heard Joan Goldwasser of Kipplinger's magazine on the radio talking about bank fraud and I ended up           writing to her about this. Friends (lawyer and an economist) suggested emailing various journalists in the financial field.            Lots of online articles are followed by the author's email address. I'm going to give this a try; anyone else game? I have also           recently filed a complaint with the O.C.C., but would like to join with others to do a group filing.

          Another thought:Outreach. Because for almost a year I thought that this was an innocent mistake on the part of B of A that           they weren't taking responsibility for, I didn't look for others in my boat. It wasn't until I finally became suspicious that this           was intentional fraud that I started googling and found you. Surely there are untold numbers of people out there wasting           time struggling with the bank or worse, paying these false charges. The only idea I have for outreach is to mention it on           whatever online groups and message boards we are part of. I'm happy to have found this wiki page!!

 

  • JS (4/12/09):  I have a request to everyone who is following this wiki -- I have spoken to a few members of different organizations through this process and most recently associates of my local representatives.  One of the stronger recommendations is that we, as a group, refer this issue to the OCC.  Now, this can mean that we individually write through their secure complaint form online our experiences with Bank of America.  But my concern is that unless we make this a concerted group effort, the thread against this type of behavior won't be seen as readily.  I believe if we do this as a group, our plight will be better understood by both federal regulators and the people who have defrauded us.  This is my proposal.  I would like everyone who has had this issue with BoA to write a one to two page statement summarizing what happened and what action you or BoA has taken in this situation.  Whether or not you received any money back from them doesn't matter -- if you've been a victim in this situation, I want your story.  Then please e-mail me at jmstroh at gmail dot com and I will start organizing everyone's responses into a common format to be sent by mail to the OCC.  Once I receive a certain number of responses (I'm thinking around two dozen), I will send them as a packet with a cover letter explaining the collective situation.  Hopefully if we can do this in an organized fashion, we will no longer be seen as individuals who simply missed something on their statement, but a strong group who knows they have been defrauded.  Please contact me or post in this thread if you intend to join in this effort.  (I've edited to reflect that this should specifically be brought to the OCC and not FTC.  I know many of us have already individually written to them, but want to get as many people as possible involved, even if it means sending the same information twice.)

 

  • DN 4-08-09: I just checked my BOA Credit Card Statement online and found charges totaling $80.65 for the last three months for a "Credit Protection Plan". I am totally disabled and would never agree to a PLAN to protect me from becoming disabled. My total income is from Disability Payments therefore it would make no sense for me to inroll in such a plan. I have read lots of bad reviews about BOA online. I should have paid attention and cancelled this credit card. What a RIP-OFF.

 

  • AN 3-23-09: Just noticed I've been getting charged for this Credit Card Protection Plan from BOA.  It's been over a year that they have been charging me.  I asked them for proof of me signing up and they said I probably confirmed verbally over the phone.  If they would have said anything over the phone to me about charging my credit card any amount of money I would have said NO right away. Plans like this should be confirmed on paper with a signature anyways which I did not do.  I was only offered 2 months of the money back and that's all they could do for me.  Is a lawsuit in process for this scam?? PLEASE HELP!!

 

  • FM - 3-18-09 - Filed a complaint with the OCC approx 3 weeks ago. Yestereday I received a call from BOA. They knew my story from the letter that  they received from OCC. I told the person on the phone that I wanted my signature supplied to me to show me that i actually did sign up for this.  She told me that they do not have my signature any more. She told me that this is something I signed up for in 2004 & by law they only have to hold my signature on file for 25 months. I told her I know I did not sign up for this service & feel as though I was scammed. We came to no resolution!  

 

  • http://www.credit-protector.com warns about these types of programs. The http://www.credit-protector.com website has been up for a few years now and offers free information on just how inequitable these credit protection programs really are. 

     

  • http://www.Credit-Card-Cap.com also offers ideas on how credit card companies can be much much fairer when it comes to collecting on old credit-card-debt, including what is known as zombie debt.

     

  • FP - 3/15/09 - Had the same problem and after a call to Bank Of America Credit Card Protecion Plan, got somebody on the phone. This person told me that they can not return the charges. She asked me if I haved moved recently because my current address is not matching the address that she has on records. Then she told me that I can claim 3 months worth of minimun payments on my credit card if I fill up some paperwork because I get cover from this program when I've moved to my new address. The amount she told me that I can get back will cover part of the charges on my credit card for the 6 months that they have been withdrawing from my credit card without mu consent. After reading this Wiki, i've decided to settle for that and we should get together to file a lawsuit against those crooks. I'm trying to find out if somebody already started a class action lawsuit or, if not, how to start one. Please help everybody here doing a research about the subject and sharing the information.

 

  • FM - 3/12/09 - I do not know of any class action lawsuits, but if you find out about one please let us know. Does anyone know how we go about starting a class action law suit? Are there any lawyers out there that this has happened to???????

 

  • HB-3/11/09 - I recently noticed a suspicious charge on my billing statements from Bank of America. I assumed it was a finance charge until I consulted my accountant. It turns out that Bank of America signed me up for a Credit Protection Plan without my consent or signature. I asked them to provide me with proof of signature and they claim to have "verbal consent". I did not consent to this service. This has been going on since August of 2007. I can provide copies of my Bank of America credit card statements to prove this money has been falsely charged to my account. The representative from Credit Protection I initially spoke with told me that I would only be entitled to 2 months refund with no refund of finance charges accrued. He also told me that if I were to request a formal inquiry I would "lose the opportunity to take advantage of the 2 month refund". He would not disclose his name. 

    I then filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I received a call from "Tara" (phone number: 602-597-5259) from the office of the Chairman of Bank of America after they received a complaint letter from the Better Business Bureau. She offered to settle the claim for $348.50. When I told her this was far less then the amount fraudulently charged to my card (the actual amount is over $3,000 plus accrued interest), she told me that I had verbally accepted the service and that I was sent a welcome package that would have given me the opportunity to deny the service. When I told her I never received any such package she referred me back to the Credit Protection third party affiliate. Tara said if I did file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau against Credit Protection it would only come back to her office.

    Interestingly, Tara also claimed she didn't have an address for this company, even though they do business together. She did give me this phone number for Credit Protection: 1-800-942-8203. This is one of 3 different phone numbers given to me during the course of my research into this matter. I should also mention that when calling Credit Protection, they too refused to give me an address where I could have a letter of complaint sent from the Better Business Bureau, etc.

    I filed complaints with BBB, Consumer Affairs, California Attorney General's Office, FDIC, FTC and the OCC as others have suggested here. Let's see what happens. I plan to consult a lawyer in the meantime. Does anyone know of a class action suit I can jump on?

     

    UPDATE (3/23/09): I rejected the response from BofA (settling for $348.50 as stated above) thru the BBB and am waiting to hear from the BBB again. I have received 2 letters since all of this has happened. One from Credit Protection Plus Plan acknowledging that I canceled their plan that I never signed up for. They also included I could have denied their service within the first 30 days and said the fees appeared on my statements and I had paid them, therefore they could not be refunded. The other was from BofA (Tara Tatro) saying they aren't changing their position and "will no longer respond to future inquiries regarding these same concerns that present no new information". I am floored that so many people are being illegally taken advantage of the same exact way and nothing has been done about it so far.

    UPDATE (3/24/09): I just found out that the BBB will not be researching my case any longer and have judged the complaint as being "adequately resolved". They said if I wanted to pursue this matter further I should seek legal advice. This is extremely disappointing.

    UPDATE (4/12/09): I noticed that $348.50 has been credited back to my account. As previously mentioned, I denied this settlement because it is far less than the amount actually charged to my account. I never consented verbally or otherwise to this “settlement”. 

    UPDATE (4/14/09): I emailed Jason my letter for the OCC so I could be a part of the group effort he's organizing. 

    UPDATE (4/29/09): Yesterday I received a letter from BofA stating that they are raising my APR by 4% in June! When will it end?

    UPDATE  (6/2/09): I closed my credit card account. Altho it was difficult, I got a loan to make my final payment because I don’t trust doing business with Bank Of America and am worried about losing more of my money to their scams. Besides this incident I used to have a bank account with them and had to close that account as well because of identity theft/money being stolen. I also submitted my own personal letter on this date to the OCC in addition to being involved with Jason's group effort.

    UPDATE (6/22/09): I received another bill for $75 even tho I have both their confirmation number from when closing the account over the phone AND a letter. I called BofA immediately. They told me I owed more interest money. THE NERVE! The woman kept trying to say I was responsible for the payment and was not nice about it. While trying to clear this up I got hung up on. So I called back and the charge was eventually removed. I asked for another confirmation number and requested a letter be mailed to me as well. I fear this is going to be an ongoing problem. 

    UPDATE (7/1/09): I spoke with attorney, Robert Mullen (number someone generously posted above - 734-455-2700). He is interested in helping us and wants to file a class action lawsuit against BofA/Credit Protection. I urge everyone to call him. Please speak up. We need a good amount of participants to get this going. Lets get our hard earned money back!

     

  • JN-3/9/09- i just got off the phone with the credit agent from BOA. she told me that i agreed in person at the BOA branch in 2007 that I wanted this protection plan. I ALWAYS refuse these protection plans or any sorts of them.  Im just a college student. I don't know what to do! she said i signed up for it. my sister works for BOA and i called her. she said they cant give my money back. thats not fair.  and i was also charged interest.--thats if u dont make the minimum payments on time. BS because i do. and i ALWAYS check my statements. every week! ! ughh!

     

  • FM- 2/26/09 - There has to be something we can do about this. there are alot of us that are out a good amount of money. I went onto the FTC's       website & filed a complaint as well as the link that i submitted below on 2/25. Maybe if we all submit complaints to the FTC something might come out of this. This is a scam & it is unfair. I was told that this was something i would have signed up for thru a direct mailing but they cannot provide me with my signature      showing me that i actually did sign up. I know I did not & something has to be done!

     

  • SO - 2/26/09 - My story is very similar to the rest of you.  The last 3 consecutive months I have been charged over-the-limit fees despite making payments larger than the minimum (and large enough to bring my balance down so that even witht he next month's finance charge, I would be under my limit).  I normally just check my online statment and pay attention to what the min. amount due is and the due date, and then make a payment based on that.  Until now, I haven't dug deep into my statements, but this issue made me.  I noticed that the reason (since I have no other charges on this card) is due to the credit protection plan - Credit Protection Plus.  Digging deeper, I realized this has been charged since May adding up to $238.49 as well as $137 in over-limit fees (and the subsequent interest charges on both).  Immediately contacting BofA, the first rep said she would refund all 3 over-limit fees and transferred me to the Credit Protection Plan dep't.  The representative there notifies me that I signed up in May over the phone, and that a package was sent to me via mail with a 1-800 # that I would've needed to call to un-enroll.  He then gave me the details of the plan (balance protection in case of disability, etc.) at which point, BINGO, I remembered the entire phone conversation from May with the original represenative.  I KNEW I'd turned it down, as I turn all these offers down, and I'd specifically told HER that "no, i don't want this.  Do not enroll me, do not even send me the brochure.  It doesn't make sense for me."  I told today's representative that this didn't evne SOUND legal, and he laughed and said "it's bank of america, of course it is."  He offered me 2mos refund or to start an investigation, I opted for the investigation.  Will keep everyone posted.  In the meantime, what are our class-action options?  This practice is sooo shady!  Can I just send BofA a letter that says "unless you call me and say no, i'm going to bill you monthly?"

     

  • FM - 2/25/09 - I have gotten no where with Bank of America. I found a website that might be able to help us. The link is www.helpwithmybank.gov/complaints I just submitted a complaint with them. Go on & check it out. they are there to help us!

     

  • FM - 2/18/09- I had been taking care of my ill father for many years. He passed away March 2008. I received my April statement from Bank of America I noticed a fee that I was being charged for Protection Plus. I called to cancel. I asked how this got on to my account. I was told that this is something that I would have signed up for thru a direct mailing. I told the girl on the other end of the phone that I did not want this coverage & I wanted it cancelled. I also told them that i want my signature sent to me to prove that I signed up for this because I do not ever remember signing up for this.  On 5/9/08 I recieved a letter saying that they were still researching & would get back to me as soon as they completed their investigation. On 5/13/08 I received another letter telling me that this has been on my account for over 4 years & they could not locate my original enrollment agreement. The letter also told me that i was charged $.87/ per $100.00 of my monthly outstanding balance. On 5/20/08 I sent BofA a letter stating that I refused to pay the charges until I was provided with my signature & I wanted all the charges that were charged to my account removed from my balance. On 5/28/09 I received another letter from BofA stating thery were still researching my inquiry & would respond to me in 30 days. On 6/26/08 I received another letter from BofA stating that the charges had appeared on each statement since the time I enrolled. They refunded me $49.05 but came to the conclusion that I was not entitled to anymore refunds. On 7/7/08  I wrote them yet another letter explaining yet again what was going on with my account & again requested my signature. On 7/18/08 I received another letter from them telling me that they are researching the information needed to provide me with a response & they would get back to me as soon as they had completed their investigation. On 10/30/08 I had sent them another letter because I had not heard anyting from them. I did not hear from them & on 1/02/09 I called & spoke with a girl who told me that they would send an email to the girl that was handling my account & if I did not hear back to call back. Well still again no response. I called again on 2/4/09 & was told that the supervisor would get this resolved the following day & I would receive a letter in a week. I did not receive anyting so on 2/17/09 I called & spoke to a supervisor who told me that she would find out what was going on & would get back to me in a couple of days. Today 2/18/09 I got home from work & had a message from Protection Plus. I called & spoke with Mary whom told me that they do not keep the signtaures for that long of a time. I find this hard to believe. I told her that I wanted my signature provided to me. I have been asking for this since day 1. She kept telling me that she could send me a letter stating that I was not eligable for a refund. I told her she could send me any letter that she wanted but I wanted my signature. I am about to contact my local consumer reporter on the local news & have them look into what is going on with BofA & protection plus. 

 

  •  FV- I have been in a battle with BOA Protection plan for about two months, To this day they have not refunded my $351.46 not even with a threat of a subpoena of this so called "phone enrollment" BS this is pure and simple criminal. P.S. I have seen on this blog several different addresses to "write" to in order to dispute your charges well let me tell you I have written to about 3 differnt addresses I wonder???? 

     

  • EB- I have been charged about $1500 by BOA for a credit protection plan I never signed up for. When i asked them for proof they said that they don't need any and that a disclaimer was mailed to my home.

     

  • RI - charges on account for 4 months - tried to settle on 2 if I dropped any complaint!

     

  • BK - started this wiki

     

  • GP-I called a few weeks to ask for an interest rate reduction and then I look at my monthly bill today and find they charged me credit protection plus without my permission. I absolutely did not agree to any plan. Plain fraud pure and simple.

     

  • CG - had charges refunded for the total - 2 mo and canceled.

     

  • GF - I got a credit line increase, they asked me if I want the Credit Protection, I said No, and they charged me and enrolled me anyway.

     

  • AG - I did not authorize the service and realized nine months later CCP had been charging me $150 per month. In total they added more than $1,350 to my balance.  Has anyone asked for assistance from the BBB? 

     

  • MB - I noticed a charge recently from Credit Protection Plus on my BoA card.  I had previously not noticed the charges, most likely since they were small, until the recent charge after a balance transfer that was much larger.  The total amount was $300 over the last year.  They said I signed up over the phone when I know I would have denied any such protection plan.  At first they said they would cancel the plan and hurridly tried to end the call there but I had to cut them off just to ask them what they would do about previous charges.  They then offered to refund last month's charge but I had to press the issue and now they're submitting an investigation and I should hear back by mail in a couple weeks.  If this does not get my money back then I'll have to go through BoA.  They'll claim that it's your fault for not seeing it on your statement and that they sent out a package about the plan once you were signed up, do not give in to this as it's their fault for signing you up for something you never agreed to.

     

    Update (5/21/09) - I just noticed two seperate credits on my account.  One for $100 and one for $33.  This was after I submitted the form on  http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/  mentioned by another who had recieved a full refund.  The amount that was refunded though is only for the last two months before I canceled.  I'm not sure what else to do in order to receive the rest of my money back.

     

  • SH- I have had the same problem, i got enrolled after i told the lady to send it in writing and all the sudden i received the welcome package...this is not permission to be enrolled, and now i have almost $1000.00 in credit protection charges!  I dont know what to do either... The same goes with all the different phone numbers they give you to call...and put you on hold for over 30 min and then all of a sudden you are cut off...what is going on here

     

  • CB - Boned.  Never doing business with them again, but until then... I owe them lots of money.

     

  • JE - (1/14/09) I just noticed the charges that had been accruing for over a year. I called B of A, who transferred me directly to a rep from the Credit Protection company. I thought I'd be on the phone for hours threatening legal action after reading all these stories.... but all I did was tell the rep I wanted out and she immediately cancelled AND refunded every single charge, no questions asked. I know it's not over until I get the refund and the charges stop.... but it looks like they have at least changed their customer service approach.

     

  • SL-(01/21/09) I noticed the continuing charges on my most recent statements, while reviewing some other unauthorized charges on my BofA, Citibank and Discover credit cards and following up on. I have now determined through internet researching a variety of relationships between the entities which own or control the marketing for Credit Protection Plus. I will follow up with links to sites and names of the entities etc. if the administrator of this Wiki tells me it is appropriate. One technique I have noticed is that when you call your credit card company to complain about the charges, they will ultimately cancel, only to have a different entity with a different service that you allegedly joined, show up on your next bill. Additionally you may get something in the mail, back dated (like an insurance policy I received a few days ago dated 2003 with an undated letter saying that attached are the documents you (allegedly) requested. I estimate that I have been a few thousand dollars for various things without authorization.  

     

  • LD- (01/22/09) I learned my father was being charged for this bogus program for over 2 years while reviewing his finances after passing away in a tragic accident. I found it hard to believe that he agreed to this program since he never believed in any of the optional features marketed to card holders,  especially this high cost scam. Nonetheless, I contacted the service to process his claim.  It's been a year now, and they've lost his death certificate and other required information which i find disturbing.  More shocking was their decision to deny the claim on the basis of the loss not being covered in the Addendum to the business card agreement, despite medical records indicating the cause of death as an accident.  I've requested copies of both the addendum AND proof of my father's enrollment aggreement, and to date I haven't received anything, nor can i find this information online. And to make matters worse, they've continued charging the account (business credit card account) despite numerous cancellation requests.  There are no words for the added stress AND difficulties this fraudulent organization has caused our family in mourning.  I look to work with other victims on establishing a lawsuit against them. 

     

  • GF-(1/25/09) Am I stupid, or is this a scam, fraud and/or theft?  My story is pretty much the same as everyone else.  I am not one of the fortunate ones to get my money back.  However, I am going to keep trying to do whatever I can do get refunded.  In fact, I'm going to give my daughter half of the proceeds (hell, if she can do it, I'll give her all of it) if she can get it back.  She's eighteen and she's a freakin' pitbull who won't let go.  If anyone has any ideas, please pass it on.  And we need to try to inform and warn all that we can.  This 'credit protection' company is set up so that they are somewhat insulated from a connection with bank of america.  However, as slimy as this program is, bank of america is getting something out of it.  This a modern day travelers scam (the guys that charge the elderly a bloody fortune to halfway shingle their roof or reseal their driveway).  .  Pass the word, people.  I will try to update with what works and what doesn't. --------

     

  • TB-(1/28/2009) BOA charged me $1028.20 for this scam before I noticed, and they refuse to give it back. I've just filed complaints with the FTC and state Attorney General. -- Update 3/16/2009: Besides the BBB, it appears that the appropriate agency to file a complaint with is (not the FTC but) the OCC (Office of the Comptroller of the Currency), whose website is www.occ.treas.gov; OCC charters, regulates, and supervises all national banks including BOA. I've just received confirmation from the OCC that my case is under review. I suggest that everyone involved file a report with the OCC.

     

  • JS-(2/12/2009) Just another name in the pile.  I noticed these charges on my account a full 30 months after they'd started.  I'm a online type of guy and checked my statements actively rather than after the month was up, only referring back to previous ones to look at a specific charge.  Thus the last-line-item-on-my-statement method worked like a charm on me.  Upon calling (12/18/2008) they cancelled my enrollment and initially offered me a two month refund.  This first person even gave me a snide "well maybe you should look over your statement" line.  I refused the refund, got passed to someone else, and was offered three months.  I refused, got passed, and was offered six months.  Again I declined, and after a half hour was still being stonewalled by the guy, so finally I stopped and let the guy off so they could do their internal verification.  Of course, this resulted in a stock letter stating I'd enrolled by phone, like most everyone else.  Total lost, $878.11 according to those I talked to.  Next step is writing a letter to them with a copy of this message they sent me, then writing to my representatives, the BBB, the FDIC, and the Department of Commerce one month after the letter is received by BoA/CSI.

     

  • JS-(3/11/2009) Given my previous statement about requesting repayment from them one month after I sent the letter (2/12 note above), I have received nothing but another substanceless page from them saying they have to continue their investigation, the same investigation they "closed" by saying I had signed up by phone 3 years ago.  Let's be clear -- writing them yields no better a result than any other method.  So tomorrow the letters go out as promised to the various sources I plan to write about this.  I will post web/physical addresses and a list of people whom I think we should contact about this, each of us.  P.S. worked on the above and below formatting a bit, hope it makes things clearer.  Just separated the statements with Shift-Enter.

     

  • JS-(3/16/2009) Letters have gone out to the OCC, my representative and two senators, and will soon go out to the BBB and FDIC.  I'll report if and when I get results from any of these (thus far only OCC has sent a confirmation).

 

  • JS-(4/5/2009) The FDIC request got bounced back as not being the right source to send such inquiries, so do not send to them.  Meanwhile, I received a call that I let go to voicemail (the number was blocked) that turned out to be from a Bank of America representative who was forwarded my letters from the BBB and OCC.  The woman's message stated that they were going to settle the claim (without my input) and were writing me a letter to confirm this after she got some final information from their investigations department about this.  I haven't received the letter yet, but I was automatically refunded six months of these fees on my credit card, again without my input.  This is no better than what I was initially offered over the phone five months ago, and only accounts for about $256 of the $878 I was wrongly charged.  I get the feeling I'll end up getting suck at this point like HB above.

     

  • UPDATE  A blog called boingboing has a post from last year about CCRAPP (credit card ripoff and pirating program).  Near the end of the comments someone has posted some phone numbers and addresses that might be of interest.

 

  • JK-(3/23/09) I  am in the same boat. I am a small business owner. I have been fraudulently charged over $1500 from BOA's so-called "credit protection". I  have no recollection of ever signing up for this and I ALWAYS decline BS telemarketing scams like this. I called BOA and like others have mentioned here, they are going to "review" the account and if they determine I did not sign up, they said they would reimburse me for all the fees (Not holding my breath). I told the rep that I wanted to see my signature that I authorized these transactions and that I never agreed to this. Again, she said they would send a letter in about two weeks. I also called the BOA disputes center and told them there were fraudulent charges on my card. When she realized it was Credit Protection, she said that all she could do is file the same thing as the rep from credit protection. Something MUST be done to stop this madness! These banks are now getting tax payer bailouts, yet the still get to abuse their customers. We are spending OUR money only to get ripped off by banks. 

 

(If you create a PBwiki account when you make the edit, you will be notified of updates to this wiki.) 

 

Confession of a telemarketer

 

I worked as a telemarketer who is working on behalf of BoA in selling their Credit Protection Plus. Im telling my story because I feel guilty in being a part of the bank's accomplish in scamming its credit card holders. Everyday we're calling thousands even millions of members to scam to the protection we're offering. Even our superiors and managers know that we're fooling good people.We were actually trained by our superiors to let do these things:

>mislead our customers that the program is free, there is no charge ever

>easy to cancel anytime with full refund (in reality:hard to contact the toll free#)

>no risk & no cost program

>convince the card members that sending them the info will not charge them (truth is once they say yes to the enrollment question,they'll be CHARGED upront)

>for our senior members who can hardly hear and understand,they are the favorites because we can enroll them easily by telling them it's a gift from BoA

>for language barrier customers (can't speak english well), they are also the favorites...they will always say YES...

 

Our strategy is like this, during our product presentation,before the recording part of the conversation, we will all say the beauty of the program, no charge/free,that they can activate their benefits easily,to the extent that we're saying lies to the clients just to make sales because we were pressured by our superiors.now,during the taped recorded part of the conversation,specially on the reading of the disclosure,which almost all members don't that whar we're alreading to them id the terms and conditons of their purchase,what we do is we really read the info very fast so that they won't understand what we're saying..what to them is only some review of their benefits..eventually they'll easily say YES to the enrollment and billing question.

 

Im not proud to be working with Bank of America. Bank of America is a big liar.They are allowing us to fool their customers just for them to have a lot of money on their pockets..on the expense of others. I would like to apologize to the millions that we're scammed...we're just doing our job...

 

Links (feel free to add links here!)

 

 

Bank of America: enrolls you in "Credit Protection Plus" without your permission 

Consumer complaints about Bank of America - consumeraffairs.com

Bank of America is shaaaaaady!

 

 

My dealings with Credit Protection Plus

 

I didn't use my Bank of America account for several years. Then I get a bill from them saying that I owe them 70 some odd dollars. I noticed the only transaction was the fee for the Credit Protection Plus. I call the bank of america credit card company and tell them I wanted to report a fraud because I didn't order this. I handed used the account at all. I didn't realize at the time it had anything to do with bank of america. They tell me to contact the credit protection plus people.

I called them and they gave me the run around. They are some serious, sketchy people. I told them I wanted the fee removed. They insisted on getting my address information. I told them I wanted the fee removed. They insisted they needed this irrelevant and unrelated information. Finally, I gave in and just told them my new address information. After talking with them for several minutes I couldn't get them to actually address my request. They just kept telling me how important it was to have credit protection. Eventually, I just hung up.

Then I called the credit card people and told them that I talked with the credit protection plus people and they had said they would remove the fee but had failed to do so. They handled the matter for me somehow. I could almost see the knowing smile on the operators face when they did it.

LS -tobeerrant at gmail

 

We're getting screwed by Bank of America!

In March of this year (2008) we took out a personal loan from Bank of America. In June I noticed on our bill a charge for $201. for Credit Protection Plan. Neither my husband or myself agreed to the protection plan but I thought, 'well, $200. a year would be reasonable and welcome if anything did in fact happen that prevented us from making the payments'. Neither of us called then, but noticed it was also on the July bill. Wait a minute! Each month? You've got to be kidding!! At that point my husband called and promptly got the run around. They assured him that one of us must have agreed to it or they would not have charged us. My husband demanded it be credited back to us, and assured THEM that we did not agree to it. We were told they would 'look into it' and get back to us, and credit our $$ back to us if they were at fault.

Today we got a letter in the mail from Bank of America stating that "our records indicate that you applied for the Credit protection Plan program by phone on March 21, 2008. As outlined under the terms and conditions, was provided from March 21, 2008 to July 11, 2008, and the chargesd that billed to your account during this time period are valid."

It goes on to say "thank you for this opportunity to be of service," HA!!! Bullshit, pure and simple.

This is truly a scam and even if they do discontinue it at this point, they still bilked us out of 2 months worth. That would add up to a whole lot of money...there is no way we would ever agree to such a plan.

We would never do business with Bank of America again and would never recommend them to anyone.

lp

Wisconsin

westiemm@yahoo.com

 

August 2008

My wife and I had a BofA card and stopped using it in August of 2007, about the same time the FIRST Credit Protection Plus charge appeared (we would learn later). However, we stopped getting paper copies of our statement right after that and continued to pay off a set amount each month thinking that no more charges were accruing. We didn't think much of the card until we decided to pay the entire balance off this month (August of 2008). When I logged on to view the statement, there was the credit protection plus charge. What's this? Turns out that my wife called exactly 1 year ago to dispute a late fee. At that time, they enrolled us and my wife swears she was never even asked about it. All she was doing was disputing a late fee. Turns out we were charged for 12 MONTHS of this crap we never signed up for. When we disputed it they claimed it was our fault for not checking our statement. WHAT? We never authorized it in the first place and therefore never knew about it. BofA sent us to Fae Dixon at Credit Protection Plus. She's the manager there. She tried the same crap about not picking it off the statement sooner and we shot back that it was a fraudulent charge to begin with and never authorized. We threatened legal action. She immediately backed down and "as a service to our valued customers" offered to refund the ENTIRE years worth of charges plus finance charges. Hmmm. Seems like they've been down this road before.

JW

Boston, MA

JW,

I tried a similar tactic to get them to refund my account and they gave me some BS about an investigation. Did you get an immediate refund after threatening legal action?

Thanks,

Jason

jasondol@gmail.com

 

December 2008/January 2009

 

I called on December 26 and was told that even asking for additional information counts as enrolling.  I called BS on it, but they said they'd cancel my account, investigate, and mail me the result of the investigation within 2 weeks.  I waited, finally called back on Jan 13 and spoke to a supervisor.  She said they mailed something 12/30 with an access code to listen to a recording of me enrolling by phone.  I never got this, and she confirmed my address and re-sent it but said she herself hadn't heard it, can't provide me this code, and that they have an analyst in Omaha who "makes sure these mistakes never happen."  

I know I said no, and at worst I might have agreed to be sent additional information just to get the guy off the phone, but until I hear exactly what I said I really don't have a leg to argue on.  If I did accept additional information, knowing that apparently there's some clause in the paperwork saying it counts as enrollment, I'm just going to have to make the "but you can't prove I ever received any paperwork" argument.  I'll let you know how it works.

Addendum:  February 12, 2009.  After countless phone calls, my tally stands at this: they've "mailed" me "proof" that I signed up on the phone 3 times now.  I've received none.  I've had at least 3 managers promise to call me back.  None have.  I've spoken to about 20 reps and 6 managers now, and the story went from "anything you say counts as enrolling" to "they'd only enroll you if you explicitly asked to sign up."  The second-to-last manager I talked to verified my number before not calling back, only she had a completely wrong phone number for me.  The last manager I talked to, when I asked her how long this dance of "we just mailed you proof today" and "i never received the proof" would continue, told me that I should just write the Disputes Department:

PO Box 34888

Omaha, NE 68134

Why they couldn't have told me this two months ago, I'll never know.

If you are calling them, you are wasting your time.  The only people at that call center are the enrollment people, and most of them are too young and naive to realize they're working for crooks.  "We wouldn't sign you up against your will, of course we'd have proof!"  Sorry, kids, you work for the Bad Guys.

The only way to get a refund is by requesting it from the Disputes Department, via mail.  Or so they just told me.  The people you call are only there to waste your time. 

Good luck.

-CB

 

JS -- CB, I'm sending a letter out to that address tomorrow.  I had the address from their website, so it's good to have the address verified.  I'm stating one month from the delivery of the letter to when I expect a refund, after which point the complaint letters go out and I start thinking about legal action.

 


 

Company that runs the Credit Protection Plus Program

I have been battling with them for 4 months over a "Benefit Activation". I sent them all the information they requested and then some. I finally got so frustrated, I gave up on trying to get my money back. On top of that, they sent me a letter stating that I used up my benefit activations and that they were cancelling my account. Come to find out they are still billing me, even though they notified me telling me my protection account is canceled. Anyway, if anyone wants to file a complaint with the Attorney General and the BBB like I am, the actual company is:

State Side Processing

1941 South 42nd Street 385

Omaha, NE 68105

 

  • SK (02/21/09) - Hello! Thank you all for talking about this issue and sharing your story. I've noticed few weeks ago the same thing is happening to me. I don't recall approving this plan and they've been taking my money for the last year (something like 6 dollars per month). It seems it started the same month when I got my credit card. Yesterday I called the phone number that apears under the credit card payment on the Bank of America web page and there was no problem - guy told me I need to answer a safety question to quit the plan and that I will get a refund. I sounded probably pretty angry...but apart from that I can't see any reason why he would behave like that. We'll see what happenes next. I really doubt this is the end. Also, this is probably a part of their scam, phone number that is in daitails of plan payment (on Bank of America web-page - when you log into your account) is incomplete - it is written - 1-800-942-10 3 (second to last digit is missing). I tried all numbers and I finally got them under this number - 1-800-942-1083. I was pissed with this. Good luck all!
    • Update (02/23/09): I got the refund this morning!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      http://www.boingboing.net/2008/06/30/bank-of-america-enro.html

 

 

6/12/2009-SG After reviewing my credit card records in April of 09 I realized there where charges even though I hadn't been using the card. I looked further into the issue and found the charges to be coming from Credit Protection Plus. I called there 800 number listed on the charge in April and asked what it was and why it is being charged. they said it was credit protection and that I verbally signed up for it on the phone. I told them I don't want it and never signed up for it and it needs to be canceled immediately. they said ok. I checked my account in May and there was another charge. so i called again and they told me there was no record of me ever calling. I told them that I never wanted the service and it needed to be canceled and i wanted my money back. they offered 2 months of payment. I told them I never signed up and needed some kind of proof that I had done so. they said they would have to mail it. on may 8th 2009 I received a letter simply stating that I verbally signed up by phone. This is not proof I can write a letter that stating that. now my credit card account interest has skyrocketed from 17% to 27.99% and all charges previous to 05/22/2009 has disappeared from my online transaction log. before this incident you could look back 1 year. so now I am stuck with a ridiculous interest rate. the charges I have incurred from Credit Protection Plus since October 2008 and I can't prove any of it because all the recodes have been deleted.

our terms of service state that if you dont decline the extra information that is the same as signing up even though you had to say no to the service at least 3 times before they offer the information about it. This is so shady.

if they are so big on terms of service I should write them a letter stating that my terms of service have changed. now when they tell me "NO" they will owe me 4 million dollers. this alaws me to ask one more time for my money back. they will say no and thus be indebted to me for 4 million dollers.

 

UPDATE: got called today. luckly I have a nice phone system at my office and it recodes everything. here is a link to the .wav file. god these people piss me off. since my frst post I have rolled my debt into a home equity loan at 4% and zeroed out the card. I am now a happy member of Chase and so is my business. BHURN IN HELL BofA!!!

sorry about the long link. didnt want to host off my server

http://sites.google.com/site/guentha/Home/g9000-20090624-145000-1245880200.818.wav?attredirects=0

Guentha@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

05/28/09 - In response to that:

1.  I'm sure we have all been offered the service over the phone, or seen it as a mystery charge that suddenly pops up on your Discover bill, for instance.  So it is not ignorance of the program that is at issue here.  We know it's a bullshit service and that is why we decline it.  For example, over the phone with BoA.  We say "no".  Who cares if it is a 3rd party vendor, it's offered through BoA.

2.  If you call the phone number, they are not available when you are. The whole point of online banking is that it is convenient, yet you don't see the charge on your monthly that pops open online, it is a charge hidden from plain view.  You have to go to the statement from the previous month.  Hmm..they must add the charge just before they reset to the next month, and the info conveniently goes to the archives. Online should mean real-time.

3.  Maybe you are right. Do you work there? Sounds like it.

4.  Again, convenience of online banking facilitates the hidden, unauthorized charges.

5.  Thanks for your advice on this point, I will question every charge and look at all statements. But I will surely not be surprised when another credit card suddenly adds the Credit protection charges.  Even if I spot it the first time they do it.  The point is, we now question Bank of America, and whether or not it has been a month or a year, they are still unautorized charges that should be re-imbursed.  It is not our fault, we said no.  We now say no.  It is fraud.  It would be our fault if we said "yes" to the credit protection.  We know it is a scam.  We did not give them money, they took it.

 

5/28/09 - I'm not suprised at all that you people are so completely ignorant of this whole "Credit Protection Plus" thing. First off: it's not even a BoA product. It's offered through a 3rd party vendor!!

Secondly: if you bothered to actually call the phone number that's printed on your statements next to the charges, you'd be able to ask to cancel the service.

Thirdly: NO ONE from BoA has been fired for this because it's NOT a BoA product, so no BoA employee EVER enrolled you in it!!

Fourthly: READ  YOUR STATEMENTS!! People, really...are you so stupid or blind that you don't bother reading the monthly statements? It's all right there if you bothered to read it!

I actually READ MY Statements, I question ever charge and make sure I know exactly where, when and how much I spend. Remember a Credit Card is NOT YOUR MONEY! IT's Credit exended to you through the bank that issued you the card. If you don't pay or don't bother keeping up on your statements, it's YOUR OWN FAULT!!

 

05/27/09 - That is very interesting, but not surprising.  So even if BoA did not instruct their employees to sign people up against their will, they are complicit in that they know that their employees have done so.  It's funny, when I left a message for the techs online, because the credit protection offices were conveniently closed, they fired back a standard repsonse that included a statement that I didn't have to call them back, cuz they know it could be inconvenient, or something like that.  Of course if I take my time to call to cancel, they can charge more!

 

5/27/09 - SD - I called BoA to close out the account on my other BoA card and when asked why, explained about my experiences with the ironically named "Credit Protection Plus" and that I felt that I'd been scammed. The person I talked to was quite familiar with this, and said that people there had been fired for signing customers up without their permission... and then he clammed up!

 

05/26/09 - I checked my account yesterday and discovered these outrageous charges to my credit card. Whoever the f made up this scam deserves a round of applause, or perhaps a stoning.  I vaguely remember making a phone call to inquire to what my apr was or if there were balance transfer offers available, and being pressured to take just the free information about the program. Well, this morning I was offered the standard 2 month refund and "call it good" or to dispute the charges. I chose the latter. Josh was adequately prepared and schooled in how to respond to my complaint. Must be standard practice for BOA to deceive and defraud its customers. I really hope to get this matter resolved as I have charges going back to October, about $75 per month. This leaves me feeling victimized and stupid for not realizing this sooner, a sucker. I will write a complaint letter to the OCC as suggested below and I am lucky to have found this site to see that there may be hope. AB

 

5/26/09- I just found this group as I am now in a battle regarding my $800 fees from Credit Protection Plus too. I had no idea that I was paying these monthly fees for over a year! They do not have a voice recording OR my signature to prove this transaction and are only offering me two months in repayment. Per Denises's post below, I have now written a letter to the Treasury Dept and am hoping for the best. LW

 

5/19/09 - I forgot to mention that my the claim has not been accepted yet.

 

5/19/09 - Just like you all, I found out about "enrolling in the program" even when I specifically declined it, on April of this year through my bill.  I have had the credit card in question for about 4 years and I never used it till March of this year. They did call me in February to make me aware that my credit limit was increased to 10K and to see if I had any balances elsewhere I wanted transferred to this card with a 4.99 APR till march of next year. I received over 10 calls asking me to make the transfers. I explained time and time again that I was not interested for I pay off the cards and the info they saw was outdated. In April, when I became aware of the charges I called to question and cancel, they explained the program and benefits and aked me to reconsider. Since I only used the card in March and April, the fee was only about $ 80.00. 

 

I kept the program and accepted the charges because the rep said that in case of an unemployment claim I would be able to continue to use my credit cards and they will make the minimum payments for up to 18 months. THE PROGRAM WILL "PROTECT MY CREDIT". The next day I filed a claim for I have been unemployed since October of last year. A week later, I tried to use both of my BOA credit cards and they were both declined. As it turns out, the credit limit on both cards was reduced to the amount charged on the cards. I went from 25K credit limit to 9K. Filing a claim WILL HURT  YOUR  CREDIT. The scam is huge, I will answer questions as presented. I have to tell you there is so much there that I would like to share. I just don't want to make this first note not overburden for anyone to read. AM.

I would like to join on this as I have been scammed by BOA. The sam goes far deeper of what I have heard here and I woul like to share with you and join the campaign.

 

 

5/19/09 - Hi JS how are you doing with getting statements from members of this WIKI?? - Thanks FM.

 

5/19/09 - FM, well things seem to have stalled out for the time being perhaps just from those who don't check the wiki often.  I compiled everyone's e-mail addresses and will start requesting individually by the end of this week, once I can get other life matters out of the way (moving!).  I'm at about eight total from maybe 30 possible statements.  I got in touch with my local Senate representative (Sherrod Brown, OH) after I had written my letter in to them, and they sent me back a couple of release forms allowing him to use my story on my behalf if it's something that comes up.  I'd recommend anyone (and this will be an individual thing) to contact your representative and reiterate your story to their offices.  In any case, I'll start going e-mail to e-mail shortly.  Thanks to those of you who have already sent information in!

 

 

I GOT ALL MY MONEY BACK! Update from member Denise Hughes

     I am updating this and hoping this helps somebody else receive all their credit protection plus money back. Just to recap, I had incrued over $800 in 8 months from Bank of America adding this to my credit card without my permission. I called several times and the most I was offered was a two month courtesy refund.  I knew I said I didnt want this when I called about a routine credit card matter in mid 2008 so I was not going to give up that easily. 

     I wrote to the attorney general, all my local tv stations(consumer segments), and any other consumer watchdog group I could find from googling. I also wrote the bank itself.  This has been playing out for about 3-4 weeks now. Last night I got a voicemail from the corporate office of BOA saying she understood my matter had been resolved and wanted to know if I wanted to give any other feedback. I was so angry when I returned her call, I exclaimed "being offered 2 months of the fees back is NOT resolution". She said "oh, I see that you havent looked at your account in the last few days because there is a credit of $800+ dollars that has been applied"  I nearly thought she was kidding! Long story short, it is my impression that one letter in particular was the reason the bank took me seriously and quickly put through the full refund. I had written to the US Treasury(see link below to write online) and apparently the letter got the banks prompt attention.  I only wish I had started my mission with that instead of all the other things I tried!  I just wrote exactly what occurred and when and explained the cost to me and my family. I truly hope this helps others here.  I never thought I would receive the entire amount back because through all my research online, most people who complained said they only received the token two months back and just one that I could find got half back.  Since the Bank of America official specifically mentioned my letter to the Treasury, I assume that was the clincher. Anyway, here is the link

                                              http://www.helpwithmybank.gov/      I hope my happy ending brings many more!

 

JS -- great news Denise!  The helpwithmybank.gov website is run by the OCC, where I was given six months of fees back.  So this is definitely the best path for all of us, and why I'm trying to get a group of us from the wiki together to send to them.  So hopefully everyone sees this and decides to contact me! (see below bolded message I left 4/12)

 

HB - Congratulations Denise!! Perhaps there is hope for us all yet. Jim, any update on the progress of the letters? I urge everyone to send theirs! I did.

 

 

I just found charges going back to last june from this co. I never authorized nor received anything from them. They seem to be working in concert with bofa. I am told they will "investigate" and respond within 7-10 days. The company offered to remove a couple of months fees if I go away basically. This is fraud and will be persued. Has anyone received proof (recordind etc. that they ordered whatever this is? JIm 

FrontPage

 

 

Comments (0)

You don't have permission to comment on this page.