MFI Ancestry.com ripoff my checking account was charged $119.00 /MFI. Ancestry refuses to tell who authorized this debit Internet *EDitor's Suggestions on how to get your money back into your bank account!

I can see that some one who works there has taken the time to respond and ask you to call to resolve this, so I hope you do and can find the information you want. I also hope they can refund your money. I have had several online memberships and most good subcription web sites will cancel you & refund if you call. Some you may have to be persistent with, and others you have to start screaming.

Unfortuneatly ancestery.com is one that I joined for a trial membership, and then did not call in time to cancel. What I got was only online newspaper searches that really did not deliver all the information I wanted. When I did call to cancel they tried to talk me out of it. They said I could get a couple months free to see if I could find what I wanted in more searches.

So I asked, well if you give me those months free can it just be canceled at the end of that time? They told me no. I would have to call again at the end of the period to cancel. Okay, I made notes, the date I would need to call by to not get billed again.

When the free time was up I called again to cancel. Each time I stated I wanted to cancel, they tried to change my mind. They offered more free months, and other services. Okay, companies have a right to try to sell you or keep your business to a certain degree but this really went beyond reason.

I got really upset. Like what part of cancel they did not understand? Now I was really yelling to cancel my membership, I had repeated myself about 10-20 times, and finally said that if they weren't going to cancel it I would be willing to pay my bank to simply put a stop on any future debits from them. Oh, and with that threat they canceled me - of course I demanded a confirmation number.

So good luck with calling them. Maybe they have better support staff working there now. It seemed to me that they do not want to cancel or refund anything to anybody. I hope in your case a blatant fraud of your checking they will be more reasonable.

call the 800# they can look up the membership using email addresses, fist and last name, phone number, even with a credit or debit card number, they may even be able to look it up with your checking info, but i am not sure. i work at ancestry.com and have had to do some of those things to find memberships, i have talked to people who had someone use their info to set up a membership, and i have refunded those people. ancestry.com is a legitamate company and we dont like fraud. if the person you talk to can figure out how to use those other methods to find your account, ask to talk to a supervisor, or ack to be transferred to our executive offices, they will do what ever they can to help you out.

Paul,
While much if not most of what you say is probably true I have problems with the application of parts of it in this case. This lady has problems and I don't see one thing in your post that offers her any help. That's all I am trying to do is help the lady. I have specific reasons for the suggestions I made. I am not going to confuse my suggestions to hopefully help the lady with all my reasons. If she wants to know why, of course I'll explain it to her (or ripoff report privately). After all there is no way I can fix the problem. Your post is typical of many Ancestry shills who pick apart what is said to divert attention fron the original reason for the post without offering anything positive. I do not wish to engage in any discussion or debate of that type.

Paul,
While much if not most of what you say is probably true I have problems with the application of parts of it in this case. This lady has problems and I don't see one thing in your post that offers her any help. That's all I am trying to do is help the lady. I have specific reasons for the suggestions I made. I am not going to confuse my suggestions to hopefully help the lady with all my reasons. If she wants to know why, of course I'll explain it to her (or ripoff report privately). After all there is no way I can fix the problem. Your post is typical of many Ancestry shills who pick apart what is said to divert attention fron the original reason for the post without offering anything positive. I do not wish to engage in any discussion or debate of that type.

Paul,
While much if not most of what you say is probably true I have problems with the application of parts of it in this case. This lady has problems and I don't see one thing in your post that offers her any help. That's all I am trying to do is help the lady. I have specific reasons for the suggestions I made. I am not going to confuse my suggestions to hopefully help the lady with all my reasons. If she wants to know why, of course I'll explain it to her (or ripoff report privately). After all there is no way I can fix the problem. Your post is typical of many Ancestry shills who pick apart what is said to divert attention fron the original reason for the post without offering anything positive. I do not wish to engage in any discussion or debate of that type.

Paul,
While much if not most of what you say is probably true I have problems with the application of parts of it in this case. This lady has problems and I don't see one thing in your post that offers her any help. That's all I am trying to do is help the lady. I have specific reasons for the suggestions I made. I am not going to confuse my suggestions to hopefully help the lady with all my reasons. If she wants to know why, of course I'll explain it to her (or ripoff report privately). After all there is no way I can fix the problem. Your post is typical of many Ancestry shills who pick apart what is said to divert attention fron the original reason for the post without offering anything positive. I do not wish to engage in any discussion or debate of that type.

Lately, credit cards have become a lot harder to use in a scam. You have to have a merchant account in order to accept them. Plus, the customer can easily charge back the purchase once they figure out that you're cheating them.

So, the crooks have turned to demand drafts as the preferred method of stealing your money.

A demand draft is used to remove money right from your bank checking account. Here's how the con works.

First, the crook needs to get your account information. There are two ways to do that.

The first way is to con you out of it. They can offer you a free sample or a free gift. You just have to pay $3 for the shipping. They can get that charge from your bank account. What's the number?

Or, they can offer you a loan or some kind of free handout. What's your bank account number? We'll transfer the money right into it today.

The other way to get your account information is by copying it right from any check. That's right, each check has all the information anyone needs to rob you blind. Think about how many checks you hand out each month. The babysitter. The lawn care guy. The grocery store.

Once you have the person's account information, you use software to create the demand draft. Or, you can have a fraud like Qcheck do it for you for a small fee.

A demand draft looks just like an actual check, with one exception. No signature is needed for the bank to accept it. The crook can deposit it just like a normal check. The bank will remove the money from your account.

You can make as many demand drafts as you want. Use the same account numbers over and over until the account is empty. You can make them for any amount you want, too.

Here's the real problem. The bank can't stop it or reverse it. Many banks won't even get your money back even if you explain that it was fraud. They don't care about your problems. They figure that you gave out your account number. So, you get to take the loss.

The truth is that anyone with a checking account is vulnerable to this. Like I said, you don't even have to give out your number. Just pay someone with one of your checks. That's all they need.

Read more about this. Google demand draft fraud.

Obviously, you should close any checking account to protect yourself.

Forget the BBB. Look them up here. Once you read the complaint about who they REALLY are, you'll never suggest that anyone use them ever again.

The same with the FTC. Your complaint will be number 145,327,062. They will get around to investigating it in the year 2064. I hope you're not in a hurry for a refund.

The truth is that once you hand away your money to a scam, it's d**n hard to get it back. That's why you always need to come here and check first, BEFORE you send anything.

Elena,
Have you contacted your bank? First I suggest you read the first response to your post by the editor at the top of this thread. The editor is far more knowledgeable in dealing with your bank than I am. Read it again, print it, and take to your bank. I would start looking for a new bank after this if they don't help. The bank should be on your side. If the 1st person you talk to does not help, ask for their supervisor. Many clerks have not run into this and don't have a clue as to the banks responsibility. I know credit card companies must investigate disputed charges.
Call the Ancestry 800 number again. If they don't agree to help, tell them you have no valid login. Tell them you tried "Password (Forgot?)" for every family email and non has been registered. If they still are not helpful, tell them you are filing complaints with the BBB (better business bureau), The California State Attorney General's Office (your state) and The FTC (Federal Trade Commission). To keep an acceptable rating with BBB Ancestry must address your complaint. Otherwise BBB is worthless for companies like this.
FTC is the federal agency with jurisdiction over issues like this. With a $ loss they should respond.
Complaints can be filed online with BBB and FTC. Complaints can also be filed online with many state attorney general offices but I don't know about CA. If you need links let me know and I will post.
One additional recommendation. After this if you stay at same bank, insist on a new account number.

Hi I am Elena-Palm Desert the original report Author

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

Hi I am Elena-Palm Desert the original report Author

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

Hi I am Elena-Palm Desert the original report Author

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

Hi I am Elena-Palm Desert the original report Author

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

Thank you for your input

In answer to your question "I don't know how they received my account number can a checking account number be obtained,easier than a credit card number. They did not charge my credit card they went straught to my checking account....

I took your advice and input every single e-mail address in my family into the ancestry web site and there was no match found for any e-mail I put in. They still cannot or will not give me the name of Authorization or what free trial offer was agreed to. Now what???help

MFI is My Family.com Inc. One of their main genealogy websites is www.ancestry.com.

How did MFI get your credit card number? Did you or someone in your family sign up for the Free Trial possibly? That's the bait. The hook is that you must call their toll free number 1-800-262-3787 within the trial period (7 days I think) to cancel or your account will be charged. Once you click on agree There is no final statement or warning, Here is their terms and conditions:
http://www.ancestry.com/legal/terms.htm

If you fell for the free trial, remember many of those are quarterly payments depending on what you signed up for, and carry a years commitment. They also carry CSM (Continuous Service Membership) which means the subscription will automatically renew next year unless you call the 800 number +#4 and cancel.
To find out who and maybe what subscription go to their web site listed above, click on password Forgot. Enter your email address or a family email address that might have been used. They will send you a reply for any email address you try advising you of your login if there is one. From their website you can now log in and click on "My account" to find what they have you subscribed to.