Well I am doing this in a public way , because I found at least four people that have been hit with this. The headline was "Credit Card Fraud.. How could it happen? What can I do?"
The charge was for $9.85, and was from IPS 1-800-431-7428 CA,. I have read that people got it from this one and another one as well from IPS San Bruno Ca few days later. I did call this number, and no matter when you call the number, you get forwarded to the voicemail of IPS Incorporated, I did not leave a message. ( I called on many ocassions after the fact.)
The same day I immediately call my bank and reported the transaction as a fraud and my credit card as stolen. Somebody stole my Credit Card number or got it from somewhere, the fact is that I do not use that Credit Card at all and that transaction was a fraudulent transaction, I got the Credit Card Blocked and replaced by a new one.
Help take a bite out of Crime! Photo Courtesy of http://www.mcgruff.org/
If you get this charge I guarantee you 100% it is fraud and you should report it as Fraud. Don't waste your time calling the number, tell your Bank or Credit Card company that you have called them and you get an answering service. Believe me that's what you get. You need your card closed and replaced immediately.
Thanks for stopping by.
.JPG)
48 comments:
Did you ever find out who "IPS" was? I have the same charge on my account too and I haven't made any online/telephone purchases in months.
If you get this charge I guaranteed 100% it is fraud and you should report it as Fraud. Don't waste your time calling the number, tell your Bank or Credit Card company that you have called them and you get an answering service. Belie ve me that's what you get. You need your card closed and replaced immediately.
Just wanted to let you know that I also received a charge on my Visa card for exactly $9.85 from IPS and also could not reach anyone by calling the phone number listed. We need to get the word out about this fraudulent activity. I cancelled my card immediately and will dispute the charge with my card issuer.
Ed from PA
Just for the record, count another on the list of people that got hit by this. I don't understand why they aren't shut down if multiple people are reporting this.
I got the $8.95 charge from "Ips 800-431-7428 Ca" too. It's strange that this blog is the only match on the IntarWubwubwubNet. My credit card company said it was an "Advertising service". I wonder how they got my card details. I don't want to close my card.
Just wondering if anyone has found out about this IPS thing because I just had a charge today on my personal bank account. And when I google it this is the only thing that come up
IPS hit me, too, on June 7, 2007. The charge we $9.80 and of course when I called them I was transferred to voicemail. When I googled their name and phone number I found your warning and immediately cancelled my credit card. Thank you! I've been the victim of identity theft before, and cleaning up the mess these criminals make is no fun at all!
Thank you for being so publicly vigilant.
Thank you for posting this warning publicly. I received an unauthorized charge from "IPS San Bruno CA" as well for $9.80 on June 12, 2007. I googled the number, and found your comment. Will call bank first thing in the morning.
Add yet another to the list of victims. I called immediately and have closed the account. Where is the protection for the consumer against such fraudulent acts? I do not care if it were only $1.00, the fact that someone was able to access and remove funds from my account with my approval...pisses me off!
This same thing happened to me. Thank you for blogging about it. There are a lot of crooks out there and the banks are clearly not doing enough to secure our account information. My guess is these "IPS Incorporated" bastards figure that no one will notice a relatively small charge (mine was $9.80) and if they run this scam on enough people it can easily amount to a very tidy sum. I'd like to ring these guys' necks!
Thank you so much. I too just had a charge from them and took it up with my bank and they gave me the number and it went straight to voicemail. I am glad that you posted this, it really helped.
I was just hit on Monday 10/1/07 with an unauthorized charge for $9.80 by IPS. I filed a complaint with the FBI and closed my current debit card. Thanks to this blog for alerting me. What a pain and it worries me too how they got my card number. Could they do it again with my other cards? I'm definitely going to do more research into the california business associations and file complaints there too.
Thanks for publishing this. I am too a recent victim on Sep 30, 2007 with IPS-800-431-7428 CA charge of $9.80. These guys need to be arrested!
I was just hit with this charge and did a search and found this site. I'm surprised these people haven't been stopped yet. This is making me sick as I was just hit a few months ago and got a new card. Something needs to be done!~
OCT. 15, 2007.
I ALSO RECEIVED A CHARGE FROM IPS. THANK YOU FOR PUUTING THIS BLOG UP. THIS WAS THE ONLY INFORMATION I GOT WHEN I GOOGLED IPS. I CANCELLED MY ACCOUNT. WHAT SO SURPRISING IS THAT THEY'VE BEEN GETTING AWAY WITH THIS FOR A LONG TIME ACCORDING TO THE FIRST BLOG. WHAT CAN WE DO TO PUT A STOP TO THIS?
Same thing just happened to me. I saw the pending charge, and googled it to see if it was for a gas station or something else, and this came up. It was for IPS San Bruno $9.80. Cancelled the card, and got credited, but because it was a small amount, it is over and done with. Pretty genius of whoever is doing it, do that to 100 people per day, and you get rich, no investigation. I wonder where they got my number? Maybe we should all write where we shopped and could figure it out. Last online purchase was toys r us.
The same thing just happened to me. I found this site, and I am glad I did. I think we should all post where we last shopped, to find out where they got our #'s from. And thanks for having this site to let us know to chut down our cards.
10/31/07-
count me in as well. just got hit with this charge and I googled the company and came to this site. I knew it was a scam! Thank you for posting about this! I just called the bank. I have a feeling they got my # through XM radio. I recently signed on with them and they have my debit info. Cant believe this!
I just got hit by these IPS guys as well. Still in business I guess May 2008. My bank is refunding the $9.80 and I had to close my cards. How can these people *still* be operating?
Sep 2008 for 14 Cents. Closed that card account.
Oct 01 2008 $0.16 from IPS. Called got answering service. Canceled and ordered new one.
Oct 01 2008 at $:25 am, charge from IPS San Bruno CA for $0.16. Called the number 800 431 7428 and got answering service. Then found out it was credit card fraud so I'm guessing calling them was a mistake cause now they probably have my number thanks to caller ID.
I also received a 0.16 charge on my check card today. I only use it for ATMs, so I knew something was wrong. My bank has closed my card and refunded the money. This is definitely fraud.
Jenn in CA
I got hit by them too today. I called my bank after reading about the scam and the teller knew exactly what I was talking about. She said they get calls on this IPS San Bruno CA all the time. She blocked my card and reissued my acct.
IPS San Bruno CA charged me $.10 this morning. Sucks to have to switch cards for a dime. Maybe that's what they're banking on.
I'm so relieved I found your blog. I TOO was charged $0.13 from IPS 800 590 6984 CA. I got a call from my banks risk management center, they said a lot of times places will TRY a small amount because it goes un-noticed, then they do a bigger one. I'm thankful for my bank for catching this. We've closed that debit card and opened a new one. But HOW did they get it?! It was my husband's card and he NEVER uses it.... ?!?!?!
me too, .07 10/2/2008
I got hit 10/2/08 for $0.09 cents By IPS 800 590 6984...& reported it immediately 10/3, so the raided account is now closed. It's interesting there is no other source on the internet reporting this information (???)
Same here. Called cc bank and told them what I'd found here, I suspected fraud because I didn't make the charge and who posts a charge for 10 cents. Not me, anyway. Bank said they "weren't concerned" about it unless it was a a bigger amount. I was shocked by this attitude. They told me to call a number she had gotten and dispute the charge, believe it or not. I did grudgingly, but got an answering machine. Great advice, cc lady. They refunded the money, but what good is that if they can do it again. I thought it's not the amount that's important, it's the possibility that it's fraud and someone has your personal information. Insane how they don't care.
10/01/08 - me too...IPS 800 590 6984 for 0.13 cents...was my debit card linked to my checking acct...wamu seemed disinterested, but I'm getting the card reissued based on this forum...curiosity, has anyone kept their acct open and seen a larger charge later on? i.e., big time fraud or id theft?
Just noticed .15 on my online account from IPS as well. Googled and found this.
Called Bank, and they are refunding the .15 (big deal) and said they consider the claim closed.
I want them to do something more, to find out who did it, so I am going to file a report with the police or someone.
I found this site by searching on Dogpile.com for "Ips 800-590-6984 Ca". They charged 0.13 to my Debit card. I closed the Visa Check card immediately. I'm glad I found you people!
Same here, got a charge on 10/01/2008 for .15.
I called the FTC and filed a complaint. Took about 2 minutes.
If you get this call and lets get someone put in jail!
1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357)
13 cents charged today (10/3/2008) by IPS. Sucks I won't have a credit card on my honeymoon!
7 cents charged to my card 10/2/08. Closed the account immediately, and have reported IPS (whomever they may be) to the FTC and the Washington State Attorney General's Office.
Charge to my acct also 10/1/08
They also use (866) 500-6113 and it's odd the day before I had the 10 cent charge show up on my bank account I had six calls to my cell phone from (714)673-4109
They are flakes! Contact the FTC and file a complaint!
I was charged $.12 on 10/1/08. It was pending in my account for 6 days and now I just looked and the charge has disappeared. Weird. But I did get a new check card issued the day I found the pending charge on 10/2/08. So they cannot come back and charge a greater amount.
I also got charged a small amount of .14 on 10/1/08. Not much but definitely fraud. If they get a few pennies from a million people then they've made easy millions. Hope they get caught.
Count another person in for a small amount last week - only $.17, but it is more the principle of the matter. I called and got my checkcard reissued and the charge reversed, but I really hope these guys get caught - and everyone SHOULD report this to the FTC.
I just got one of these charges for 12 cents. Also find it odd that this is mentioned nowhere else on the web.
Odd too that this very site here is asking for my Google password if it's not a Google site. Could that 12 cents be an investment in much higher-priced fraud?
This Site Blogger is Owned by Google Duh!
I just got hit with a $.15 charge on my checking account. It said IPS 800-590-6984 CA. I called the number and got a message saying that the number I was calling had not yet been activated. So I called my bank immediately and had my debit card cancelled, even though this is the way I pay for everything. I suggest you do the same if this happens, so you aren't hit with a bigger charge down the road!!!!!!!!
My daughter was charged $.16 charge first by IPS, which alerted my bank and then they tried with two separate $10.00 charges on her debit card. She said there was also an attempt from NYC, so beware. My bank blocked all charges by this company and now we either have to cancel the card or close the account.
I found the charge earlier today. It was On Oct. 2, 2008 by IPS 800-590-6984 for $.13. I cancelled my Visa check card and attemted to report it to Maryland's Office of the Attorney General, but they weren't concerned because it was "only $.13!"
Do a search on the phone numbers and you'll see how many people have been affected by these people.
I also got a charge from IPS 800-590-6984 CA. I called Chase and they took it off my account. The dispute department was very aware of it. I wish I knew how to send them a charge! Even if it's only 7 cents, this must be as illegal as a higher amount.
I got a charge for 0.14 cents today (11/02/08). Citi Bank is the issuer of my card. The customer service representative in Manila is not aware of this Scam and probed me to know if I actually made this transaction saying that this is an Advertisement Agency. The merchant name is IPS, CA and the number in my statement is (800)590-6984 - 8005906984, 800-590-6984 - I put the number in different formats so that the Search Engines will pick this up.
I also got hit today by IPS, CA (8005906984, 800-590-6984, *(800)590-6984) for 0.14 cents today (11/02/08)
I put the number in different formats so that the search engines will pick it up to inform the next victim.
I could see that this IPS guys are scamming people for over an year, yet my card issuer (Citi Bank) is oblivious of this fraud and is not doing anything to protect their customers.
When I called today, the Customer Representative at Manila was not aware of this at all. She probed me to make sure that I did not authorize this charge to IPS - which as per her is an Advertisement Company.
Post a Comment