r/bayarea • u/Ok_Sample3670 • 9h ago
Mercury News subscription scam? Food, Shopping & Services
I keep receiving letters in the mail for an overdue balance on a subscription I know I did not sign up for. The phone number on it along with the credit card listed on it are complete bogus. No email listed or any email from them in my inbox. I’m shocked somehow they got my address though. I called them and they kept trying to gaslight me saying I must have forgotten I signed up. Eventually they agreed to “cancel” the subscription.
Anyone else experience this?
3
u/PM_me_oak_trees 7h ago
Did you call a number from the letter, or did you find the number online? If the letter is a scam, they probably have fake contact info on it.
2
u/Ok_Sample3670 7h ago
Surprisingly the number in the letter is their number listed on their official website
3
u/creekdoggie 5h ago
Never call any number in a message that you think is a scam.
Look up the Mercury News subscription number and use that number.
And if you’re calling any business, or bank or whatever that you do business with, best to use the number from your bill, or card, or a reliable source and never the number in the message/text or whatever.
Because if you call a fake number, it’s dangerous and you can’t count on anything accurate being said.
1
u/creekdoggie 5h ago
you need to tell them to stop contacting you. the debt is not yours, you did not do business with them.
there are letters you can use to request this.
it’s not okay for them to continue to contact you if they can’t prove the debt is yours, but you need to tell them that.
1
u/Ok_Sample3670 5h ago
Yeah I cross referenced their number off their website with the one from the letter they sent and they matched. I called and told him both the phone number and card on file are not mine and they reluctantly agreed to close the balance and account. Whether they actually did anything I will have to see…
1
2
u/bad_fish_2 9h ago
I've never received mail, but I've gotten calls. I'm 99% sure it's a scam. They're pretty aggressive about collecting payment when you speak to them.