Revised post about webnetbill.com fraudulent credit card charges

I apologize for the late revision of this post.

In November of 2008 I had a run in with webnetbill.com based out of California. I went to check on the status of my checking account and find 2 charges from webnetbill.com. I called up the company to find out what was going on because I did not recognize their name and I had not purchased anything off the web.

The representative I got a hold of right away claimed the charges were legitimate and I had to pay them and if I started any type of fraud report they would make sure I paid their legal fees. I told her I wanted to know what they were billing me for, she claimed the charges were for a membership to a porn site and that I fully agreed to the charges and she had proof. So, I asked her for the proof, she started spouting off how the card was used by my husband and I needed to go talk to him about the charges. I informed her I did not have a husband that I've never been married and I am in fact single.

I stated the card in question is connected to my checking account. The representative then tried to say the card was for my joint account with my husband or boyfriend and I needed to go have a heart to heart talk with him. I remained calm and stated once again that I am single and the account is not a joint account I am the only person named on the account. Her and I went back forth on this for quite some time. I finally said well what information do you have on this account. I want it, if I am going to be charged for it then I am entitled to it.

The representative must have thought I was going to confirm the information as correct so she gave me the information the membership was started under. The person who stole my card information is named Henry Sewell, he lives in Texas and has website called The Grip Master USA (http://www.thegripmasterusa.com/).

After the representative gave me the information I asked her to spell the last name of the membership owner. I then informed her of my last name and my address which clearly was not Texas and that I have no husband named Henry Sewell. I couldn't write down the whole address or phone number so I asked her for it again, this time she paused. She then asked me to hold. After about 10 minutes her and a her manager got on the phone. I explained the situation again and I asked for the person's address again. This time my request was declined because now they did believe it was fraud. But then during that 10 minutes I contacted my credit union on my cell phone and did a temporary fraud report as well as cancel my debit card.

Suddenly, they did not want to admit they had a hole in their secure method of credit card processing or else their security system would have found that the billing address for the membership and the billing address for my card were from two different states, two different names, two different phone numbers, two different everything! They do not verify billing address's with any credit card company or financial institution. They process the credit card information and then start charging away without verifying anything. If someone calls with a fraud complaint they try to distract them, claim the charges are legitimate, or try to claim the persons spouse used the card. The representatives of webnetbill.com right away threaten legal action if the person calling to report fraudulent charges through webnetbill.com says they are going to dispute the charges.

So, my advice to anyone who see charges from webnetbill.com on their credit card statement or debit card statement call your credit card company or bank have the card canceled first, then call up webnetbill.com if they claim the charges are legit demand the information provided to them for the charge. They don't have to give it but if you get a snotty rep who is trying to convince you the charges are real then they might give you the information. Give that information to your bank or credit card company and start the fraud complaint.

You can try to do what I did but honestly I was determined to make them understand it was a case of fraud and not a case of a husband or boyfriend looking at nasty websites behind their significant other's back. Also, it was nice to hear the apology from the rep and her manager.


Keywords: webnetbill.com, credit card fraud, illegal billing practices, Henry Sewell, The Gripmaster USA