Sofianystate
Saugerties,#2Consumer Suggestion
Thu, December 04, 2008
Just had the same thing happen, billed by ESBI through Verizon but we received three different charges from three different companies, My Info Guard, Advance Benefits, and BLVD Network LLC. I learned: Verizon is required to bill these as third party charges. They say it is an FCC requirement (probably true) You can only delete the charges by contacting the charging company's rep. Sometimes pressing 0 will get you past the menu of choices. Two of these voicemail charges (My Info Guard and BLVD Network LLC) were removed by "Processing Center" the third (Advance Benefits Inc) by their own center. There are several layers of "billing" companies. Verizon agrees this is not in their best interest. They are required by law to bill these services from other companies. They were all fraudulent charges, requested by someone via the Internet. The rep at "Processing Center" gave me the names of two different people who requested the voicemail. When I called Advance Benefits, they gave me the same name as the name for My Info Guard as well as the address of the fraudster. I called the police in the city the fraudster lives but they have asked me to report to my local police. I will do this. I don't hold Verizon at fault for this. I hold the companies - Advance Benefits Inc, My Info Guard, and Blvd Network LLC - responsible because they accepted a billing phone number without verifying that it belongs to the requesting party. They are willing to do business and take the money and probably make a tidy sum accepting fraudulent payment. Be patient and reasonable and work through the layers and get as much info as possible and report it all to your local police, the FCC and maybe your Congress person (as well as telling everyone else who will listen). It's a lot like IDENTITY THEFT, just not as glamorous. It's just petty crime perpetrated by (possibly) the kid down the block.