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Listening to Clark Howard today on the radio, he mentioned a new danger to us that stems from an agreement with banks and telemarketers. See, there was a new law passed that said that if you put your name on the Do-Not-Call registry, they could be fined for contacting you. However, this registry does not stop businesses who you are currently dealing with or have recently dealt with as a client. Since you are a member of a bank, your bank is allowed to solicit you as well as anyone that is working directly with that bank as a partner. This is where you get abused. A bank can (and will) accept a bribe from a telemarketing firm to obtain records of all their clients, and then the bank turns and looks the other way while their new "partners" call to solicit you...but that is not as easy to deal with as you might imagine. There is a trick involved. A new law was passed that said that telemarkers must be able to provide a recorded "yes" from you stating that you want a product. So they will call you and let you know that they are calling you because you bank with so and so, and our records show that you live at so and so address, is this right? "YES".
From there on, it does not matter if you say no to the actual offer to take their product, because a sneaky company that has gone this far just to get your name and call you because of a loophole in the law now has your "yes" on digital recording and can edit the conversation anyway they choose. You will not know that you agreed to anything until you get your next bank statement and from your bank statement, you might see a strange fee that you've never seen before, but since its from your bank and is only a couple dollars for some kind of "member fee", you may ignore it.
In other words, the telemarketers are making money off of bank clients through their accounts, and you never get a "bill" that you might dispute because it is hidden in your bank statements that some people never read anyway.
This is not speculation. This has already been happening, and people are starting to try to make the public aware of it.
Therefore, if you bank with a bank and not a credit union, please read your statements carefully and do not be shy to call your bank and ask them to explain charges that you do not recognize.
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