Last month my bank notified me of a cluster of questionable charges (from $1-$15) on my credit card account. These charges came from "CrossCountrySavings", "DealMax", "SimplyYou", "AtHomeRewards" and "YourSavingsClub". My bank immediately canceled the account and issued another with different numbers. After investigation, my bank concurred that the transactions were fraudulent and reversed the charges.

We thought all was well - we thought wrong.

Today I checked my new account and found multiple charges from the same companies (now at $29.95 each). My bank has again canceled our account and issued another card - investigations are again pending. My bank recommended I file charges with the local police, the Federal Trade Commission and the three Federal Credit Bureaus. After some frustrating research I learned the following:

1) CrossCountrySavings, DealMax and SimplyYou are subsidiaries of "Adaptive Marketing LLC".
2) AtHomeRewards and YourSavingsClub are subsidiaries of "MemberWorks Canada".
3) Adaptive Marketing LLC and MemberWorks Canada are subsidiaries of "Vertrue Incorporated".
4) Each organization employs similarly evasive website formats and legal policies.

As these organizations apparently have access to my account information even when accounts are closed and numbers are changed, it is likely that the Vertrue business model is based on identity theft. Information for the organizations involved follows:

Vertrue Incorporated
www.vertrue.com
750 Washington Blvd
Stamford, CT 06901
1-203-353-0443

Adaptive Marketing LLC
www.adaptivemarketing.com
9500 W Dodge Road Omaha, NE 68114
1-402-661-2000

CrossCountrySavings
www.crosscountrysavings.com
P.O. Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
1-800-211-9751
1-877-906-9072

DealMax
www.mydealmax.com
P.O. Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
1-800-548-0685

SimplyYou
www.simplyyou123.com
P.O. Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
1-888-242-0180

MemberWorks Canada:
www.memberworkscanada.ca
1801 McGill College Avenue, 8th Floor
Montreal, Qc, H3A 2N4
1-514-847-7800.

AtHomeRewards
www.athome-rewards.com
P.O. Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
1-888-425-5874
1-877-906-9072

YourSavingsClub
www.yoursavingsclub.ca
P.O. Box 5152
Des Plaines, IL 60017-5152
1-877-820-7107