Warning!

[FourPart]

I had a couple of things I wanted to check on my Bank Account, so I logged in online to take a look.

The first was to check if my Rent Payments had gone through - fortunately about half what I was expecting it to be.

The second was my Royalty Payments, which isn't showing yet, although with this coming from US might not be due yet because of the Time Zones. Plus I just got a notification that I've just sold 6 more pieces, so I was interested if that was to be included in the payment.

However, while in there I noticed a £24 payment to a www.CleverSecure.NLondon. I thought it quite possible that I had bought something online & forgotten about it, although most payments I make I use PayPal, and this was a Visa payment. Anyway, I went to their website which claims to be some sort of Finance Handling company. I queried the matter & they (CleverSecure) immediately promised a refund, with no further authentication enquiries other than my eMail address. They said that they had sent out a confirmation eMail, which I have only just received - it had gone straight to Junk Mail. In the eMail they said that the payment had been for a Duplicate Tax Disc (remember, after Da Beasty got stolen - back in March), and a subscription to a magazine. I thought the magazine might be a possibility, as I do have a subscription to a Puzzle Magazine. However, it turned out to be some Motoring Magazine. Now, anyone who knows me knows that there is NO way I would ever subscribe to a motoring magazine, even if it were free. They claim that I subscribed to it as a Free Trial & that at the end of the Trial Period it automatically defaults to a Paid Subscription.

The interesting thing is that the details as shown on my Bank statement show the payment as being made on the 29th. They told me they were refunding the payment about an hour ago. On their website I can see it listed as refunded - on the 25th.

Keep an eye on your bank statements for this company - or any payments you don't recognise - no matter how small. It's the small potatoes that get overlooked & so many people don't consider worth bothering with that scammers like this make their money on.

I have told my bank to put a block on the company & if a refund is not forthcoming in the next few days to raise a dispute on the matter, where the bank will refund it & claim it back from CleverSecure. I've also suggested that they investigate them as potential Phishers.

The bank suggested I cancel my card & get sent a new one, which I do see the sense in, but in so doing the earliest I would hope to get a replacement wouldn't be until Tuesday, being 3 -4 working days. I even asked if they could send out a new one that I could cancel the onther one on receipt & activate the new one at the same time, but they couldn't do that as the old one would have to be cancelled before they could even produce a new one, even unactivated, so I've opted to keep to the Status Quo for now & keep my card, with the bank alerted.

[High Threshold]

A few quid from you .... a few quid from me .........

[Bryn Mawr]

A timely warning - a lot of scams of this for happen around Christmas in the hope that it's just one more transaction amongst all of the present buying.

[mfoster85]

Hi,

I've just discovered the same thing is happening to me. They started off by taking £29 from my account then a further £1 as 'cleversecure.net' and after several unsuccessful attempts to get a refund and unsubscribe they've now changed their name to 'quicksecure.net' and have taken out another £1. This seems to be happening on a weekly basis, so I would appreciate any advice you can provide to stop this happening.

Did getting a new card work and did you get a full refund?

Thanks

[FourPart]

Yes. I think CleverSecure (or whatever they're called now) are more of a low ethics finance agency. That is that companies that covertly get 'customers' to 'sign up' for their crooked deals are less likely to use one of the more reputable organisations. However, just as with the more reputable ones they are still bound to be liable by the banking regulations.

When I phoned them to get their details, as I was going to take it further & was looking into who I needed to take action against, they immediately offered a complete refund, before I even had to ask for it. I just told them that I had put a stop on any payments & had raised a challenge with my bank.

I suggest you find their website online & phone them, as well as finding out just who it is who's actually taking your money, then register a formal complaint against them.

It's a really sneaky tactic. When the amount deducted is a large one, alarm bells ring immediately. When it's just a few quid here & there, you rarely even notice it. It makes you wonder how much is being ripped off over the big picture.