Local Biz USA unauthorized charges on my small business telephone bill Rutherford New Jersey

I also noticed an obscure charge on my small business local phone bill from Local Biz USA for $38.10. I tried calling them to dispute the charges, was told that there was a "third party verification tape" which they would find if I held on. Of course, I was disconnected after 5 minutes on hold.

I called my local phone company and the representative informed me that these scams were common and after reviewing my account said that they had been charging me for the last 10 months! We have several phone bills so this must have slipped by me. The phone company offered to credit me for the 5 months in 2005, put a "third party billing block" on my phones and then tried to contact Local Biz with me on the line. He was successful, and after being on hold for 10-15 minutes said that they were ready with the "verification tape" of one of our employees. The tape was muffled, however, at one point they asked our employee to verify his birthday and the recording actually sounded like him! How did they do that? There is no way that he would authorize such a service, he has no recollection of it and we already have "web hosting". Shockingly I chuckled and asked the Local Biz Rep (Linda) how they did that??? Very sneaky.

I asked her what all of my money had gotten me in services and she directed me to a website that they had produced for my company (www.mycompanyname.lbu.com). I calmly asked for the address of the company and said that "I would be sending them some mail" and she then politely offered to refund me $209.70. She said that this would take 2 months or so to show up as a credit on my phone bill. I sent certified mail to the company to seal this deal.

Then, to my shock, I went on the internet and found the website she had directed me to with my company name, all kinds of pictures pertaining to my line of business and paragraphs advertising my business (multiple web pages)!

This is a horrible scam, although well thought out, which seems to make taking them to court to prove that the tape is phony the only option. The one reason that this scam seems to work is because these charges are hidden in your local phone bill. The phone company rep said that it is federal law that forces them to allow third party billing and they cannot discriminate. I seemed to have gotten lucky with her offer of a refund. We'll see. What a wasted day!

Lynne
Lawrenceville, New Jersey
U.S.A.