A few weeks ago I got a robo call from someone at a company called Cardholder Services. For those of you who don’t know, Cardholder Services is a scam company claiming that they can reduce your interest rates on your credit cards and do an audit.
From there they will ask for your financial information and do an audit which they claim will save you thousands in interest payments. What’s really happening is that they are looking to see just how much credit you really have.
This is when they will typically ask for you to pay a fee of up to $3000 to which is completely bogus for two big reasons.
- Debt Relief Company Upfront Fees are Illegal. That’s right in 2010 laws were set in place that banned debt relief companies from charging upfront fees. In fact these companies are not allowed to charge these fees until they have actually lowered your debt balance with proven results.
- It’ s Illegal to Send Robo Calls Unless You Have the Persons Permission. However, what Cardholder Services tries to do is claim that they are affiliated with your credit card provider which is totally bogus.
On top of that some of the complaints coming from consumers who have been hit by the Cardholder Services Scam, were even charged the fee even when they didn’t even agree to it, but since you gave them your financial info they can pretty much do whatever they want.
To boot Cardholder Services claims to have no risk guarantee that they can get their money back but the truth is few if any have ever gotten their money back from this scam.
Finally, the FTC was receiving nearly 200,000 complaints a month. Late last year in 2012, the FTC was able to shut down 5 of the places supposedly sending out these robo calls but obviously they haven’t got them all yet since I just got a call from them a few weeks ago.
How To Protect Yourself From This Scam
So now that we know this company is a complete scam here are a few things you can do to protect yourself.
- Protect Your Information. First and foremost do not give any of your info out to this company. This would include your social security number, credit card numbers, bank account numbers, or anything else for that matter.
- Hang Up. Second, hang up on them. Do not attempt to talk to them this will only invite them to call you again and again.
- Report Them. Finally, report them to the Federal Trade Commission. Anything we can do to get rid of these scammers the better.
So, have you ever been called by the Cardholder Services Scam?
John S @ Frugal Rules says
June 4, 2013 at 9:46 amWe have been called by them before and just hang up. I really do hate robocalls, especially around election season. Our Congressman is actually the one spearheading the bill to allow more of them. He LOVES using them and it just drives us nuts.
Christopher says
June 4, 2013 at 10:09 amI agree with you there John. I was kind of thinking the same thing, cause I hate getting the robo calls around election time. I’m sure the politicians will add something to the bill to exempt themselves from it. Typically political BS as usually. Thanks for you thoughts John.
Brian @ Luke1428 says
June 4, 2013 at 10:40 amTruly unbelievable there is a company taking advantage of people in this way. I’m assuming they are only approaching people with credit card debt? If so, then I’m safe cause I don’t use them 🙂
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says
June 4, 2013 at 11:03 amChris, I always learn so much from your site. We usually just hang up on them too, like John, but I had no idea they were doing these types of things. I obviously need to get out more. 🙂
Grayson @ Debt RoundUp says
June 4, 2013 at 12:19 pmI get hit by these clowns about once a week and I just hang up. I have reported them more times than I care to count, but it doesn’t seem to be helping. Stupid scams.
Christopher says
June 4, 2013 at 11:20 pmThat seems to be the case Brian, in fact this company seems to act as if they are affiliated with the credit card company working to help you lower your interest rates which is totally bogus. Thanks for your comment Brian I really appreciate it.
Christopher says
June 4, 2013 at 11:23 pmYou are right about that Laurie, I wasn’t even sure what this company was until I did all the research on them. I also knew something wasn’t quite right about this company when you think about it interest is the bread and butter of the credit card companies, why would they have another company call you about helping you lower your interest rate. Doesn’t make sense to me.
Christopher says
June 4, 2013 at 11:26 pmThis scam is definitely a hard one to bring down. Hopefully they shut these scammers down for good so but it only sounds like the Feds have only done half the job so far. Thanks for your input Grayson, it’s always much appreciated.