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CREDIT CARD CRAMMING ADDS UNWANTED CHARGES.(Business)

The Capital Times January 6, 2001 They already know that you like to fish, or sew, or maybe that you travel a lot. They know this because your credit card company “shared” or sold information to them about what you’ve purchased with your credit card. Consumer Protection authorities warn that a new federal law, in many cases, makes this legal.

Armed with knowledge of your personal interests, the telemarketer who bothers you at dinner time now has a better chance of interesting you in his or her trial offer or wonderful deal. What many consumers don’t realize is that the telemarketer who is calling may also know your credit card number, because your credit card company may also have shared that with the company that is now calling you.

What has resulted is one of the fastest-growing categories of consumer complaints. Known as “credit card cramming,” it is the addition of an unauthorized charge to your credit card billing statement.

Written complaints about credit card cramming received by the state of Wisconsin increased 25 percent in the year 2000, and state officials think that is only the tip of an iceberg.

“We know that the majority of consumers do not look carefully at their credit card bills each month to see if there are unauthorized charges,” says state Consumer Protection Administrator Bill Oemichen. website dillards credit card

Some of those who do, however, have been noticing monthly or yearly fees from sewing clubs, hunting clubs, gardening clubs, and discount travel or buyers clubs. “These are clubs that we believe have dubious value,” Oemichen says, “but are charging from $19.95 per month to as much as $119.95 per month.” In many cases, he says, consumers remember getting a telemarketing call. Sometimes the consumer remembers specifically declining the offer but still is billed anyway. In other cases, the consumer may have expressed some interest and agreed to a “free” trial offer.

The material often arrives after a significant delay, Oemichen says, and “looks like junk mail,” so the consumer simply discards it and fails to cancel the offer in time to prevent a charge on their credit card. During the original call, the consumer says, “You feel you are under no risk because you haven’t given out your credit card number and you did not ever hear your credit card number being discussed.” A man from Custer, Wis., says he was signed up for a Field & Stream membership and was sent a “complementary” copy. He said he tried calling to cancel but was billed, nevertheless, on his credit card statement. website dillards credit card

A man from Kewaskum reports that he began seeing a bill on his credit card statement from the North American Hunting Club, an organization he said he never joined or purchased anything from.

A Bayfield woman said she was billed by an organization called MWI Leisure Advantage and also reports being charged even though attempting to decline the offer.

Sharing of credit card and other financial information between the parent company and all of its affiliated subsidiaries now has been made legal by the Gramm, Leach, Bliley Financial Modernization Act, the 1999 federal law that deregulated banks, insurance companies, and securities and stock brokerage firms.

In some cases, Oemichen warns, if the company’s privacy policy permits it, the credit card company also sells your credit card information to companies “That are totally unrelated to the party that collected the information in the first place.” Many complaints, according to Oemichen, concern MBNA America N.A., one of the leading issuers of “affinity” credit cards which carry names of clubs, associations, or sports teams. The company’s privacy statement says it will release an individual’s credit card information to non-affiliated third parties in cases where MBNA believes the consumer might find value. To prevent this, a consumer is required first to read the privacy policy and then write to the company at a specific address.

Oemichen says his department’s investigation is continuing. Meanwhile, he says the best way to protect yourself is to not accept a trial offer from a telemarketer unless you are absolutely sure you want to pay for the product.