Value Max review: Unauthorized charges to my checking account 127

Its better to just request a new bank card and have the fraudulent charges refunded with your bank than trying to contact valuemax. they scammed you in the first place and dont have intentions of returning anything, however they are under heavy investigation.

I too became a victim of Value Max. I visited Intellius to try to search for a long, lost friend for my husband who is not in good health. The information Intellius provided was vague but I agreed to pay for their fee since they did provide some type of information for me to go on to continue my search. In the meantime, a pop up screen appeared for Value Max and although I declined, a week or so later I received a generic Presorted First Class Mail with a P.O. Box 5152, Des Plaines, IL return address with a letter advising me how pleased they were that I decided to save money with ValueMax. What a crock! I did not agree to anything!
After calling several times throughout the day to cancel, interestingly enough all the agents were always "busy" and the web site was not able to process my cancellation as it was being worked on.

They did the samething to me, attempting to locate and recover.

Just came back from the police station. I recived a bill in the mail notifying me of my "membership" to valuemax, when i called and tole them i never signed up for valuemax, they said someone from intelius had used my account etc.. also so a charge on there from us search, came home and googled this company a nd found everyone on here eho went through exactly the same thing! shut this compnay down!
Andy, New York.

My daughter is currently deployed out of country with US Army. My husband and I are managing her finances until she gets back and we noticed this debit hit her account. When I called the number listed in the other posts on this site, they were very kind and willing to help me. They agreed to stop the debits immediately and I asked them to credit back any funds already taken out of her account. The did so with no questions. The only thing that I want to point out to everyone is to ASK for the credit. they didn't automatically offer it to me but when asked agreed to do so with no questions ask.

I too did an Intellus search in November. This "value max" showed up on my credit card statemant and I really didn't pay attention to it, thought hubby ordered something online or what not. Well it showed again for 19.95, and the next month again. Ok so now I have 4 charges...called on a weekend to cancel, no one working so I did the automated thing. Just called again today, to get the charges reversed. First person I spoke with tried to get me off the phone by saying she would credit one of the charges back, thanked me and was about to hang up. Then I said no, wait a minute, I want ALL the charges reversed. Off to the 'supervisor who LOVES her job'...finally got all 4 charges reversed. So if they give you the run around, keep with it, they WILL refund them all :)

I too looked up a friend on Intelius, and bam! next thing I know I have a debit on my credit card for 19.95. It's a good thing credit card companies list the number of the business making the charge. I called them immediately, and they said I had returned their offer. I almost went through the roof. I have received a confirmation from ValueMax that my "account" has been closed and my a credit applied.

I also had a problem with valuemax, however I did get back all of the money they had taken out of my checking account...4 months worth of 19.95. if you call them for a refund explain to them either you and I can settle this now on the phone or my bank will settle this with you..be nice when saying it..if they say we can only refund one payment of 19, 95, ask to speak to a manager..give him the same message nicely. they dont like to have the banks come after them...good luck to all...it took 2-3 days to get the money back.

Hi I also noticed a charge on my husbands AMEX bill for 19.95. So I called the number listed and they had none of our info. They kept saying that Paul my husband signed up for this savings plan. The only issue is that my husbands name is Jason! I called AMEX to check how many times they had charges us and it was a total of 99.75. AMEX could only give us back for the past 60 so I called VALUEMAX again and spoke to a manager and she said they would refund us in 2 days! I hope it happens!

I also had this same problem. I went to a PeopleLookup website to get the name of a person's phone number last week. Yesterday I saw my checking account had $19.95 taken out of it from something called valuemax. I went into my email and saw something that I didn't recall singing up with...these valuemax people...who the hell were they? I then googled them, came here, and saw that this company was scamming people. I immediately called this company, hit "0" like twenty times to get someone on the phone (I wasn't going to waste my time punching in my damn "account number", telephone number and credit card number). Screw them. I got a lady on the phone, and when she asked how I was, I told her "Not good". I demanded that she reverse these charges, I told her that I knew they were scamming people and that this was not authorized, and if she didn't reverse these charges that we were going to have a problem. She said that she would reverse the charges and that it would take 2 business days. It was a quick conversation that was only about 30 seconds. But I was pissed and the adrenaline was pumping... :P

The things that some people get away with...it makes me sick.

I too was scammed by these ###! I used a people finder search engine back in Oct. '08 and just discovered today that valus max has been withdrawing $19.95 from my account since that time. Additionally, two more withdrawls (both for for 19.95) showed up this past weekend (PASSPORTTO and SHOPPINGES - both addreses read 20 GLOVER AVENUE). Looking into my account further, I discovered all three charges have been taking place since Jan.! I called the [protected] number and spoke w a rep who told me I signed up for their "membership" blah, blah, blah... I told her I did no such thing and I wanted the accounts closed and my money back. The numbers on my staement were all different, however, she knew I had three accounts - so they are definitely all connected somehow. She told me she would cancel the memberships, but that I can only be reimbursed for the previous two months charges. I told her I wanted to speak to her supervisor. The supervisor (Shannon) told me the same thing (only 2 mos reimbursements). She said I will be reimburse w/i 2-3 days. I figured $120 bucks is better than nothing - we'll see if I get the money. Sounds like most people on this site have had their money returned. Needeless to say, I had to cancel my credit card and my bank is filing a fraud claim. My bank had heard of these jerks before and highly recommended I cancel my card because sometimes they wait a few months and start charging you again. Good luck to you all!

I just found out the value max has been charging $19.95 to my checking account for something I never agreed or odered. I too ordered a people search report and within that same month this charge came up on my checking account. Not only did value max want my money but they got greedy and have another name AP9 PRVICAY MATTERS and began taking another $19.95 along with the original VALU MAX account, my account was ripped off since NOVEMBER of 2008 when I made my purchase for people search report. I had my bank close the account and reported it as fraud, and it is! Regardless, of wether they give you your money back they stole from you! I have contacted the local law enforcement and the Better Business Bearue and am going to talk to a lawyer about a class action suit against this company, not only for stealing from me but now I don't know where else my information and how much of it is out there! Don't let them get you, it's your hard earned money.
San Antonio, TX

In February 2009 I used an on line service, not ValueMax, to obtain an address and phone number. The info stated the charge would be $ 1.95. I agreed to the charge and later was billed via credit card to ValueMax for $ 19.95. It is obvious from reading the history of this company and consumer complaints, this is a full scam with different company names and addresses. What I do not understand is why the Feds don't shut these scammers down since they are using the internet and phone service to do their illegal business. And this is banking fraud as well as crossing state lines. Why is law enforcement taking so long?

I am filing a complain with the State of California Attorney General. This company should be put out of business.

I had the same charge of $19.95 from VALUEMAX - phone number [protected] on my card. It had gone unnoticed until today when I was gathering tax information. I called the number and asked who they were and why I had the charges. Apparently while I was searching on PeopleSearch I click on something that asked me to say yes or no to their offer...anyway, after requesting they cancel and refund the money (I had to ask to speak to a manager) they did cancel and have promised to refund all my money. Good luck to the rest of you who've been hit with this same scam.

A few months ago I used a website called Intelius for a people search. Since then, they have been withdrawing $19.95 twice a month, and a company called Valuemax has also been withdrawing $19.95 once to twice a month. I never authorized an Intelius nor a Valuemax subscription. I called my bank and reported these unauthorized charges. My bank credited the money to my account, while they did an investigation. I received a letter from my bank, stating :
"The transactions you claim not to have authorized are consistent with activity and spending patterns on the account. Thus, it appears that you either made or authorized these transactions"
I never authorized the above-mentioned transactions. The bank reversed the credit they had issued to my account. My new statement, reflects a withdrawl of $19.95 from Intelius. I am at my wits end.

I have just had the same experience. I am a profesional person in business who used Intellius - but never again.

Intellius must be aware of this and yet they continue to allow this to occur. Intellius appeared to be a good company - legitimate business service and experienced management - why would they allow this scam to affect their reputation? and more importantly their revenue - damn idoiots

I wrote to the Massachusetts Attorney General - this is very deceptive and should not be allowed. Intellius should be charged as an accomplice - file under another case of corporate greed

I also got the $19.95 charge beginning in November. I called and they immediately agreed to take it off my credit card BUT that is just for this month (February) and they told me they couldn't go back. If Intellus is a website that looks up people it is the one I went to to find out the criminal record of a potential renter and they did not give me the complete information. I think smoke was coming out of my ears, I was (am) so angry about this.

This is one huge scam! I beleive that their is ground for a class action law suit on Intellus and ValueMax.

I just noticed that I was being charged $19.95 a month for the last FIVE MONTHS! I used intellus in September (it's now February) using a reverse phone number search that didn't even have good information for me, and I'd had to pay $0.99 then, and ever since it's been on our bank statement! $19.95! That's $99.75 total! I can't believe I didn't notice it before! I just thought it was something my husband was buying online or something, and that's what he thought about me! I called and canceled my account there, they automatically refund you the most recent month's billing. Then, I called back and asked for a full refund and I literally just had to tell them how much I was being charged a month, and how many months. They didn't ask for anything to verify this, NOTHING, they just said the money would be back in my account in the next two business days. They must be a HUGE scam if they automatically believe how ever much money you say they took. (wondering if I should've told them a few more months... hehehe)
I am seriously ticked. The number someone posted at the top is correct, and it helped me out a lot. [protected]. Those scammers. Someone's got to stop this!

I just cancelled. It was easy enough, but what a scam. I will NEVER use Intellius again. They're the ones who are going to lose out for allowing this scam.

WOW ! I used Intelius to look up a phone number, and I too was scammed by this ValueMax crap ! I just noticed on my bank statement yesterday that I was charged $19.95. I called the number that was on my statement and that is who was on the other end. I googled the name and was brought to this board. I about s*&t when I saw soooo many people had been scammed also. What is up with this crap ? I don't know who to blame, Intelius or Valuemax ! They both suck in my opinion! Then, upon further investigation, I was also charged in November and didn't realize it. When I called, they cancelled my membership, but would not refund my money from the November charge. I got some of the same comments from the "supervisor" that some of the people on here did. This is disgusting ! People are getting cheated and this needs to stop ! Tell everyone that you know NEVER to use Intelius and check their bank statements carefully !

I used the web based company Intellis, as well. I have the $19.95 charge from Value Max. I called today to cancel and get my money refunded. I also canceled my bank card so there can be no other charges as a safe guard to any further problems. I asked how I had signed up in the first place. It was one little thing hiding on the sign up page for Intellis. Hopefully we can all recover our losses from this scam.

I just noticed they were stealing from my PayPal debit card. I submitted a ticket with them on every charge and through the fraud report that reads:

Last September I used a company called Intellus to get an address of an old friend. They gave my PayPal debit card info to a company called Valuemax. I did not sign up for any Valuemax and I did not notice until just now in December they have been leeching 19.95 a month from my account. In my opinion it’s a pyramid scheme and it has been noted on several sites such as Value Max — Unauthorized charges to my checking account I contacted them this month after noticing the charges and they said the account would be closed and my money refunded but I have not seen it yet. They claim I signed up with them and I had 5 days to call them on the phone and cancel the subscription. I never heard of Valuemax until they decided to steal from me.

Additional research uncovered that Adaptive Marketing, LLC is a subsidiary company of Vertrue Incorporated located at 20 Glover Street, Norwalk, CT. President of the company is Gary Johnson...

I think a letter writing campaign should start!

I was alerted to this by an e-mail I got from Intelius yesterday about my "membership." I was looking up a phone number in early November, but never approved any "membership."

I looked at my bank statement online and located a $19.95 charge yesterday from "Intelius." I called, told them it was an unapproved charge and I did not sign up for any "membership." I was assured my membership would be cancelled and the November charge refunded. I looked at my online statement today and there was an additional $19.95 charge YESTERDAY! The name also appears to have changed from "Intelius" to "ValueMax."

I telephoned my bank and cancelled my card in order that no additional unapproved charges will be made. I also called the 888 number next to the charge. First, I spoke with a rep who advised my membership was cancelled and the December charge of $19.95 would be refunded. I told her I wanted all payments refunded and she said she couldn't do that. I asked to speak with a supervisor - and told the "supervisor" that I expected a full refund of all charges - $39.90 - or I would be contacting the Connecticut Department of Banking and the Connecticut Attorney General's Office. I would assured the full amount would be refunded.

It appears from further research that ValueMax is a part of a company called Adaptive Marketing, LLC. The website for Adaptive Marketing states it is headquartered in Norwalk, CT. I could find nothing on the Connecticut Secretary of State's website, for a business of this name. Also, there's no physical office address on their website.

I've e-mailed the company via the website again, reiterating that if I do not receive a full refund - the CT Department of Banking and the CT Attorney General would be contacted.

Oh holy! I just called valuemax to cancel (which they did & refunded my 19.95) and complained about my overdraft fee. This guy who answered the phone had the guts to ask me to fax him my bank statement! That's a little too much info for a complete stranger. What's next-my underwear size? Please everyone get a hold of the attorney general- this is FRAUD!

What a scam! I used Web Detective only 4.95! like a duh (to locate a relative regarding a family death) and have no one to blame but myself which ticks me off to no end. I should no better that it would have been so cheap and easy. But seriously, I have had charges of 39.95, 38.83 and 19.95 show up on my statement. I called all the companies including valuemax and all my money refunded. Too bad they won't cover my overdraft fees, but my bank is looking into it since I had no idea this would happen to me. Valuemax should be reported by all to the attorney general! Buyer beware! Also try to get your bank to close out your credit/debit card and give you a new one with new numbers.

I am glad that I check my account daily, you have to do that when you don't have a lot of money to begin with.I noticed the charge and for once the family and I didn"t really do any purchases over week-end to that amount and said company
Got new card # and filled form to reverse charge, also called company with number furnished by "TIM" and thanks for info.

I too had this issue. I checked my credit card activity and saw a charge for $19.95. I called them and they asking me for an account number or the credit card I used to sign up. I told I didn't sign up for this, so one I didn't have a membership number and two there was NO WAY I was giving out my credit card information. He said right away he would cancel the membership and refund the money and that it might take 3 to 3 days for this transaction. I'm furious because I didn't sign up for this. I can't understand how they can get away with this?
It's crazy! Oh well another 10 minutes of my time lost due to scammers!

I used Intellius to find an old friend early last week. Well, the scammers at valuemax123.com got my CC info and have charged my account $19.95 twice in the past two days. I canceled my "account' at valuemax123.com and contacted my back to get the charges reversed. I can't believe how people operate like this. They are stealing money and it needs to be stopped!

today is nov.24.2008 i was just charged 19.95 that was unauthorized after a price of $ 1.99 on an internet search Value Max / Intelius- Intelius people search . This is an unauthorized fee . Told Value Max (who you can internet search )we were calling the state attorney general and they told us how to get it refunded. this is internet mis -leading pricing and perhaps if enough of people report this as internet fraud( interstate commerce ) this might be a federal offense that we could report to the United States Attorney General.
If thousands of people are using this service and only a few are noticing the charge think of the money they are making. Remeber the words STATE ATTORNEY GENERALS OFFICE ! They don't seem to like that !
Please report as necessary this is probably some cheap call center paying people only if they rip others off !

I too used Intelius in October...and just had this Valuemax charge of $19.95 show up on my account...I also had to have Intelius refund me there $19.95 fee they'd charged me without notice as well. These people are scammers and crooks, you should make sure to cancel all accounts with them if you've started one.

And more helpful information:
-when searching "ValueMax" saving service on the internet
the company website does not come up first, a complaint board does!

-the "ValueMax" website is: www.valuemax-program.com
one look at the website should set off alarm bells.

-"ValueMax" is apparently owned/operated by Adaptive Marketing, LLC, located in Norwalk, CT
Adaptive Marketing, LLC's website is: http://www.vertrue.com/adaptivemarketing.asp

Rec'd "Irregular Activity" notice from my bank. Called immediately to learn about numerous small charges attempted. Confirmed that all charges were not authorized (acct was idle for over 6 months). Bank closed account and fraud dept is investigating these companies: ValueMax, YourSavingsClub, 24Protect and Todays Escapes+. One week later, I rec'd 4 letters in the mail, each a form letter indicating "Our attempt to email membership materials to email address provided was unsuccessful." One form letter was rec'd from each of the following: ValueMax, YourSavingsClub, 24Protect and Todays Escapes+. All letters originated from POBox 5152, Des Plaines, IL [protected]. Although bank resolved the situation - I still called each number on each letter and via the automated service learned that each of the 4 memberships was cancelled (on the same day I contacted my bank). Congratulations Bank of America, for actually doing a good service for your customers.

valumax and other companys like them get your debt/cc# when you enter a site to place and order or do a web search such as the examples from others then if you click on any banner your debit/cc# and personal info is transfered to that new site with out you autherizing it then on your statment you will start to see fraudulent charges for many different companys you never gave your info to.there need to be a stop but to this .these companys are stealling from you, me and the banks and getting away with it.

I had 5 of these charges appear on my statement all for 29.95 and all on the same day. Its funny that when you call, the first option on the recording is an offer to cancel your subscription. Its like they are expecting you. I refused to go through the automated system. I wanted to not only cancel, but get a refund. I pressed '0' and got someone. They used textbook customer service language from the chapter, “How to handle the angry consumer”, i.e., “what may I do for you today, ma’am”. I called 4 of the 5 DIFFERENT "800"and "888" phone numbers listed on my statement ; Value Max, Deal Max and one that, ironically so, was an credit/identity theft watcher service. By the time I got to the 4th one, I was speaking to the lady I spoke to at the first one ! She said that there were 7 accounts for me. I guess I cancelled the card too fast for the other two charges. I only found out because my bank sent an email about activity on my account that was "unusual". (Yea Bank Of America) I don’t know how these people are allowed to do this. But if people only cancel the subscription, and not demand the refund, they are making a lot of 29.95’s for no service. At least some of you go some type of paperwork in the mail alerting you. My charges appeared on the 10/16. I have yet to get anything warning me of the impending doom. You’d think one of the 7 would have sent something during the “7-day free period”.

I have no Idea what I'm being charged 19.99 for .I want an explanation, My money returned or I goto my attorney now

I have no Idea what I'm being charged 19.99 for .I want an explanation, My money returned or I goto my attorney now!

This is what I got from them and I also did a one time check yesterday with Intelius, I sent a note to my online bank account customer service. Letting them know I did not such charge. I hope that the Better Business Bureau does somethng about this. Intelius should not be doing this. Here is a copy of what they sent me. 1st Notice than the one they sent me after I called and them and canceled through the phone automated service. I hope I covered all my bases. SEE BELOW:

FIRST NOTICE:
Welcome! You are receiving this email because you accepted a special offer to save money through the ValueMaxSM savings service. With your ValueMax membership you now have a terrific opportunity to save on the things you use every day -- in every area of your life. This robust collection of benefits covers everything from Dining & Travel, to Health, to Home & Auto and more. Just take a moment to browse the ValueMax website and see how you can start at saving from major retailers today!

Claim your gift!
To claim your gift, simply log on to www.valuemax123.com and click on the "Claim Your Free Gift" link.

Start saving right now -- simply go to the URL below!
www.valuemax123.com

For your reference, your membership ID# is: ?

Here are just some of the benefits and savings that await you:

l Save 20% on dining out at participating popular restaurants such as Olive Garden(R)1 and Outback Steakhouse(R) with gift cards purchased through ValueMax.

l Save up to 30% on car rentals -- through specially negotiated ValueMax discounts with Alamo(R), Budget(R) National Car Rental(R) Hertz(R), Avis(R) and Carey Worldwide Chauffeured Services. Simply call the toll-free number provided on our website for the latest rates.

l Save 20% at Linens 'n Things, Bed, Bath & Beyond(R) and other retailers with gift cards purchased through ValueMax.
Be sure to log into your account at www.valuemax123.com to print out your membership card for immediate access to all your benefits. It's easy to find -- just look for the My Account section tab in the upper right-hand corner of the ValueMax website.
All of these benefits -- and many others -- are fully explained on the ValueMax website.

So take advantage of your ValueMax benefits during your 7-day trial membership period. We invite you to use our services for the full 7-day trial period. If within 7 days you don't feel that our services and benefits are everything we say they are, simply call us toll-free at [protected] to cancel your membership. ValueMax will automatically charge the membership fee to your card at the end of your 7-day trial period and, unless you call to cancel, at the then-current fee each new membership month.

Important: Please save this email for future reference, and bookmark www.valuemax123.com for instant access to your benefits.

Sincerely,

SECOND NOTICE:

This email confirms that your membership in ValueMax has been cancelled per your membership terms. Your cancellation confirmation number is ?. You do not need to do anything else to cancel your membership.

We thank you for your interest in ValueMax, and we hope your membership experience was a positive one.

If you have any comments or suggestions that might help us better serve our members, please feel free to email us at membershipservices@valuemax123.com.

Sincerely,
ValueMax
Member Savings

CAN YOU BELIVE THESE PEOPLE?
TICKED OFF... Writing from California.