URGENT HELP NEEDED! Argan Oil Fraud

2456

Comments

  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    bloss0m wrote: »

    Thanks. I will definitely do this from home, after work.
  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    I have now filled in the Fraud form and also spoke with my bank.
    They reckon that I should talk to the bank in 15 days and they will take up the dispute. They cannot guarantee that will stop any further payments being made. I asked how, in that case, they could stop these payments which are unathorised. Talking to the dispute team is the only answer and then they can't say for sure that it will be of any help.
    My question is that why is it that when you need help from the banks they are not interested? I need them to block these payments - surely they have the systems to do that. apparenlty these scam companies can take money under different company names and that is why the banks can't help.

    I am now £83.80 and £92.11 short and my account has gone overdrawn and I have no idea of how I can stop this!!

    I have a crime reference number from the Fraud form that I filled but I don't know what to do with that!

    I am livid, scared stiff that this could go on and on forever and I don't know where to go to get the payments stopped. I could just cry and cry but where is that going to get me. I need help from the bank but I don't know if they canhelp. I don't feel confident after speaking to them today. They said that even if close the account and go to another bank, the payments still could be taken and the bank will chase me for those! Nice to know they are on my side...NOT!!:mad:
  • jenniewb
    jenniewb Posts: 12,836
    Photogenic First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    j1n wrote: »
    I have now filled in the Fraud form and also spoke with my bank.
    They reckon that I should talk to the bank in 15 days and they will take up the dispute. They cannot guarantee that will stop any further payments being made. I asked how, in that case, they could stop these payments which are unathorised. Talking to the dispute team is the only answer and then they can't say for sure that it will be of any help.
    My question is that why is it that when you need help from the banks they are not interested? I need them to block these payments - surely they have the systems to do that. apparenlty these scam companies can take money under different company names and that is why the banks can't help.

    I am now £83.80 and £92.11 short and my account has gone overdrawn and I have no idea of how I can stop this!!

    I have a crime reference number from the Fraud form that I filled but I don't know what to do with that!

    I am livid, scared stiff that this could go on and on forever and I don't know where to go to get the payments stopped. I could just cry and cry but where is that going to get me. I need help from the bank but I don't know if they canhelp. I don't feel confident after speaking to them today. They said that even if close the account and go to another bank, the payments still could be taken and the bank will chase me for those! Nice to know they are on my side...NOT!!:mad:

    The only other suggestion would be to close the account and start another with a different bank- not sure how legit that would be and if they would come chasing you for payments after money has been requested.

    I guess they (the bank) must have some legal twist to the money being taken out as if its theft clean and simple it would just be a matter of finding the criminals and stopping them/arresting them but from what you've said they don't seem to be doing this- did you ask them why not? When I had money stolen from my account (wasn't a subscription so slightly different to you) they immediatly put a stop to anything else by changing my bank card and I got the money back "after an investigation" which was 4 weeks later. I had the hardest time working around a missing £500 but more money coming out from the same people wasn't something they felt I need worry about- I remember asking this at the time.

    The crime reference number is the number you have if you need to speak to someone about whats happened- eg the Police or similar, if say you have more information or they find more information and need to locate your file. Its more valid to the people working on it then it is for you in this case byt say for example it had been a different crime, say a mugging and you remembered more information the next day, you'd be able to call up the Police general office, speak to anyone and give your crime reference number, they'd be able to pull out your details and add to what was already there rather then if you didn't have a crime reference number and had to relive the whole thing again to another stranger/police person just so you could add the details or wait for whomever had been dealing with your case to come back from the weekend or from holiday.

    Also, if anything similar does happen again, you have the reference number to prove and explain this had happened before and it can help the police get the right people.
  • Sorry to hear you got caught out, a scam like this was on bbc a few weeks ago (the one with gloria hunniford etc) where a lady was in the same situation for some skin cream stuff, eventually got about 4 moths back via trading standards. Her bank also didn't want to know as there was some sort of clause - perhaps something to do with being outside the uk.
    Good luck and thankyou for the warning.
    xx
  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Very late last night I rang the bank again (3rd time) and cancelled my card. I have to ring the bank's Fraud Dept this evening.

    I am disappointed with the bank in that at the first instance they said I could close the account, second time round they told me that even if I close the account, the company may get the money and the bank will chase me to recover it (incidently that would happen even if I changed banks - duh!) and then finally someone said I can just cancel my current card and hopefully they will not be able to get any more money. It seems like they are not trained well enough to deal with such issues. So annoying that different people in the same bank give you different information. to date I have lost £200!

    I rang both companies (yes, in the US!) and they both said they will refund the money. I have my doubts. For one of the company, one of the Directors is based in Watford - he is a director of 70+ companies! The bank told me that he could try and use my card through any of those companies - it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack!

    I feel like contacting Watchdog and see if they can highlight the problem to the wider audience so that he is exposed and no-one can fall for this scam.

    I tried to look for his business address on Google Maps and it is just a house...of course that does not mean that he is not running a business (or all of his businesses) from the same address. It could well be a place he is using as his postal address for his scams! One of the company names is
    YKNOT GLOBAL LTD
    25 SHERIFF WAY
    WATFORD
    HERTS
    UNITED KINGDOM
    WD25 7QS



    I feel sick to the stomach that people can get away like this. Some may say karma will get such people, but I'd just like to have my money back.
  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Ok...the latest is that I have just checked my bank statement and I have received one of the amounts back. I have not had anything from the other company although they did say, when I rang them, that they will refund within 7-10 days. I certainly hope so!

    In the meantime, I have cancelled my card and will be receiving a new one sometime next week, I expect. Fingers crossed that this all works out ok.

    I want to thank everyone who has supported me in this matter and I do sincerely hope that no-one makes the mistake I did and hand over my card details to unscrupulous individuals/companies.

    I will keep you posted on as and when things happen, i.e. when the second refund comes through.

    Thanks for reading my lengthy scripts.
  • I've experienced exactly the same thing and its made me worried sick. Fell for the add as it was attached to a newspaper thinking this was legit. Once you've filled in the details then terms and conditions come up. Alarm bells rang so i researched the net to find 1,000's all over the world being caught by this. A free sample is exactly what it isn't!! I rang my credit card company and cancelled my card tried to extract information from them how to go on they were clueless. Already the £3.99 was taken because you've signed up they don't class as fraud. Also they expect you to send the free sample back to Florida at your expense :mad:
    If you don't they charge you 69.99 dollars.!!
    Snag is you've agreed to this. Had a further discussion with my credit card company who are totally unsympathetic and said basically tuff and if they had known they would not have reissued another card!!
    so DO NOT WHAT SO EVER SIGN UP to free samples if they ask for credit cards!!
    They need closing down and financial companies need to get to grips and support their customers.
  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Hi Rootitooti, I am sorry you have been caught out too. I heard recently that the banks are obliged to stop payments - they can't just shrug their shoulders but unfortunately they do! I too cancelled my card and got a new one but I am checking my bank every morning to ensure that no money has gone out to these fraudsters. There have been articles in the Daily Mail and I know that Radio 4 did a 'show' as well.
    All I can suggest is that you keep a very close eye on your account and contact the Trading Standards Office. They might be able to help.
    I am petrified too, just in case they manage to take more money from my account.
    I am sure they will have an office in the UK. I had to send mine back to Hertfordshire and I sent it by special delivery as that requires a signature. They had to refund my money. Overall I think I have lost about £20 but atleast I got the money back.
    Take care.
  • huon
    huon Posts: 5
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Did you receive any further charges from this company once you cancelled?
    I have been caught out by "essence of Argan" the same way, Originally charged £3.99 for a "free" sample.
    Could not cancel with them as the phone number they gave me was dead.
    Asked my credit card company to stop payments which they said they would. Then another payment was taken. Credit company said they would refund but now they can't as the new payment was from a different reference number. i.e. Argan used another account.
    I have cancelled my card and am in dispute with the Credit Card company. I doubt I will get far with it though. I am really annoyed with them because they said they would stop my card making payments to this retailer but now they have made one.
    Anyway, would just like to know if this was the last you heard of it.
  • j1n
    j1n Posts: 81
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    Hi Huon, I am sorry you have been caught out too. I know how it can turn into a nightmare. I ended up calling the US number, like 3 times, to ask for a refund of the money taken and told them I was reporting them to the fraud dept and the police. My payments were from my debit card and my bank cancelled the card and stopped all future payments. You should insist that no payments should be made from your card, as they might use a different account, but the amount will be same, around the same date. Also, look up in Google the account name of the company taking the money as I found out that it's a bloke running a business from a garage somewhere up North. So, it's a UK bloke taking money via the US...well, that was the case for me. Also, I looked him up and found out that he has some 40 companies in his name, most open but some closed...I guess he opens a new one everytime he gets found out. But please keep chasing your credit card company. They should give you a completely new card number if they can't monitor the payments going out. Let me know how it goes...I feel for you. I come out in a cold sweat every time I think of how I was swindled. Good luck. J1n
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards