Have you ever used Intelius.com?
By firecracker
@sacmom (14250)
United States
May 21, 2009 2:21am CST
For those of you that are unfamiliar with it, it is a way to find people. However, it is also a scam. I bought a one time $0.99 cent item and tonight I found a $19.99 subscription fee on my bank statement. I never ordered the subscription, so I did a search online for it (I looked up Intelius subscription) and it came up with a lot of complaints about this company. Here is one site about it where others have been scammed as well:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/intelius-subscription-c102325.html
And to make matters worse this apparently isn't a one time charge, but a monthly thing. Grr! I hate companies like this that offer a deal and charge more unknowingly to the customer. Oh well, I guess I have one of 2 options. I can either try to call the 877 number that is listed on my bank statement and demand my money back, or I can call my bank instead and explain to them I never ordered it and they can get the money back for me. Only problem with the bank option is that they will more than likely have to cancel my debit card and send me a new one so that Intelius won't be able to make anymore unauthorized charges to my account (my husband had a similar thing happen to him a while back and he had to cancel his card). It could take weeks to get it. I rely on my debit card and cannot wait that long for a new one. Talk about a crappy situation. 
Please beware of this company. And if for some reason you do end up using them keep an eye out for this subscription fee!
Please beware of this company. And if for some reason you do end up using them keep an eye out for this subscription fee!2 people like this
9 responses
@angelsmummy (1700)
•
21 May 09
Thank you for that! I never put my bank details online, always use paypal! aww I think you should go to the bank you need to get your money back, but ask them if they cannot cancel your card as you need it, i dont know if they will be able to do that, they can in En gland so should be able to where you are. Im really osrry to hear that, good luck with getting your money back!! =D
2 people like this
@paula27661 (15898)
• Australia
21 May 09
I have never heard of this company and it is good to be aware. Your discussion reminds me of a charge my husband discovered on his mobile phone account for $18; a subscription to a global portable television provider that neither my husband nor I have ever heard of. That too is a complete rip off; when you call to have the charge reversed you are asked to send an email to unsubscribe when you never subscribed in the first place!
It is a real concern that organizations such as these can get into our credit cards and mobile phone accounts; it's a real worry!
I hope you get your money back; it's so unfair you should be so inconvenienced due to someone else’s dishonest doing!
1 person likes this
@paula27661 (15898)
• Australia
21 May 09
We are still wondering how on earth this thing started. My husband is apparently subscribed to this thing and if he doesn't cancel it he will be charged every month! Do you believe it???
@mtdewgurl74 (18118)
• United States
21 May 09
I guess that is one good reason to only use prepaid cards with them. My mom has been doing a few searches with them for family members but I am glad she had the smarts to not give out her debit card information to these people since they are total scams and rip off people. I know it cost money but my bank has a stop payment thing on it. It cost you money to use it but in the long run if they are charging the $20 a month then it is worth it.
1 person likes this
@sacmom (14250)
• United States
21 May 09
I never even thought about using prepaid cards! 
I don't think that'll be necessary. I was able to explain it to the bank with my husband's situation. I feel pretty confident that I can do it again in this case. If they do cancel my card, then I guess I could always resort to using my husband's until a new one arrives. 
I don't think that'll be necessary. I was able to explain it to the bank with my husband's situation. I feel pretty confident that I can do it again in this case. If they do cancel my card, then I guess I could always resort to using my husband's until a new one arrives. 1 person likes this
@jazzsue58 (2668)
•
21 May 09
A case of 'reading the small print.'
I got scammed the same way, with a freelance writing site. All these places have a 'trial offer' of just a couple of dollars to sucker you in - the rule is DON'T give out bank details online unless you are absolutely certain the product is genuine.
1 person likes this
@whiteheather39 (24419)
• United States
21 May 09
Last year I got caught in this scam and did put in my two cents worth at the complaint website you linked.
The good news is I got every penny refunded after contacting Intelius and informing them that if I did not get an immediate refund of approx $60.00 I would report them to the OIG and Better Business Bureau. It was the OIG they did not want to be involved with so that worked really well for me.
The bad new was that for some reason I have received at least 30 or 40 emails from people using the complaint website who think that somehow I am connected to Inteliuis and that be emailing me they will get their money refund. I feel so sorry for all these people who think their problems are solves after emailing me. (Some of the emails were very, very angry threatening me with all kinds of law suits.) Finally after months of back and forward emails with the complaints board admin just last week I got my email address deleted from the complaints board site.
@whiteheather39 (24419)
• United States
21 May 09
I forgot to add that you do not know that the name Intelius is the company who is working the scam as I used a free "People Finder" and the name Interlius is nowhere to be seen. Now I am very wary of any "Free" offers as there is always a catch in them somewhere.
@kun2349 (23464)
• Singapore
22 May 09
That's such a bad thing to happen on u, but thanks for the warning though ^_^
I just hated this kind of companies whom likes to scam its custmoers with hidden charges or whatever fine prints which they claim to have somewhere.. That's why i choose not to buy or subscribe anything that's cheap, online, for whatever reflected on the screen, is just a smokescreen after all..
Well i guess it's better to cancel your debit card for the moment.. Or maybe u try to withdraw all your cash in there, and only depositing some for payment of bills.. IN the meantime, open another account, and transfer the money over there ^_^ So in a way, u get a new bank account and a new debit card after a few days ^_^
@lingli_78 (12836)
• Australia
21 May 09
no i haven't actually... and i am very wary with this kind of thing on the internet anyway and i don't give out my account information on the internet freely for this reason... i'm so sorry that you had been scammed by this site and i had read through the complain board... looks like there are many other people who also had been scammed by this site... hope you can sort this matter soon... good luck... take care and have a nice day...
@mentalward (14695)
• United States
21 May 09
I used Intelius once to find my ex husband because of over $24,000.00 in outstanding child support. I found him using Intelius and that was the end of that. Maybe they were more honest way back in the day? I'm talking maybe 10 years ago when I used them.
These days, I always check to see if there are any complaints against any company I intend to buy anything from. There are so many out there ready to rob you blind and also a lot of "look-alike" places that are total scams while trying to look like the legitimate thing.
Thanks for the warning, though! It helps to back up what I said earlier: you HAVE to check everything out these days to make sure it's not a scam of some sort.
Oh, maybe you could withdraw enough cash to get you by a couple of weeks while you wait for a new debit card? I had to do that once, sorta. My dog had gotten into my wallet, somehow, and chewed up my debit card. (Honest, my dog ate it!) I went to the bank and showed them what my dog had done and ordered a new debit card, but pulled enough money out of my account to use until my new card came in the mail.
Isn't it funny how we depend on those pieces of plastic? There was a time, not too long ago, when debit cards didn't exist and we had to rely on the old standby... cash! LOL
@Canellita (12056)
• United States
21 May 09
Good luck in calling the bank. I had a charge I had not authorized years ago and when I called my institution I got attitude: "you gave them your account number didn't you?"
Now I don't sign up for anything that has the potential of a monthly fee. You have to read the fine print. One site I ordered a magazine from renewed the subscription without my permission. I have gone into my account there and stopped the auto renew and I changed my card number.
