Active Essential Benefits

Victim Location 06897
Type of a scam Online Purchase

Several months ago, I received an email telling me that I had won a laptop for a ridiculous low price, supposedly because the company was giving these away as premiums or something. It was a stupid thing to do, but I signed up. What we noticed immediately was that we never received an email confirmation of our purchase. On July 1, my credit card was charged with $79.97 by "Active Essential Benefits". I called the number and spoke to someone overseas. I asked him what the company did, and he gave me a very confusing story about signing up for a program that would allow me six chances in some lottery contest. Very confusing. I asked for a refund, and I was told that since more than 10 days had elapsed, I could only receive a refund of $39.99. I told him I just received my credit card statement in the mail today, and since this was the first I heard about it I wanted a full refund. He put me on hold to talk to "the manager". He came back and told me I would receive a full refund of $79.97. I asked him again to explain what this company did, and he said it offered chances to win a laptop. That's what made me connect this charge to my previous stupid action. I called my credit card company who assured me that they would pursue this charge if I did not receive a refund soon, but they also encouraged me to report this to the Better Business Bureau. So here I am. This was obviously a scam. It was stupid of me to sign up for it, but I never would have signed cup if I had heard the way it was presented to me on the phone. This was definitely fraudulent advertising. Thank you for listening. Be aware of this scam.