I received an overdraft letter yesterday (12/30/08), from a bank that I rarely do business with. This bank account was opened a few years back when I started a Mary Kay business which I am not doing anymore. I also used this account for Propay which was tied to the Mary Kay business I left this bank account open with a small balance.

The charge was to PHE Subscriptions (Pink Home Entertainment) on 12/19/08 for $34.99. This was done as a check draft using my routing and checking account #. The toll-free number on the check (866 #) is to a place called MBilling (also has several other similar names) that states they only handle the payment part and that they are a 3rd party. This is not true. This whole thing is a scam. MBilling, however will refund you if you do call and complain. They will only tell you the basics and they also state that they are in Cyprus which is untrue. If you cannot get through with the above 866 #, then they have a few more #'s: 866-296-7952, 800-876-0930, 218-740-6479.

If you had this happen to you there is a detective in North Carolina that is trying to put a case together. I actually spoke with him tonight and he has a lot of info about this scam. His name is:

Detective Flynn
Pitt County Sheriff's Office
252-902-2767
[email protected].

Please e-mail him if you are one that has had their account violated; even if the name on the paid to area is different than PHE Subscriptions and it does not matter where you live in the U.S.

Also,

1) Cancel your bank account because they will keep using it.
2) Go online to the FTC Bureau to open an Affidavit (step-by-step info)
3) Go to your local police station to file a report.
4) Notify/alert the three credit reporting agencies regarding the fraud.
5) Report the companies to the BBB.
6) Get a copy of the front and back of the check. Make sure it is legible or have the bank pull the original if you need to which I plan on doing tomorrow since it is hard to read my copy.

I hope this helps someone. Just know that there are good people like Detective Flynn working to get these criminals who belong under the jail.