An Eyewitness News investigation is exposing a consumer scam sweeping North Carolina and the nation.
Telemarketers are calling people in North Carolina, saying they're from Wal-Mart, K-Mart or Best Buy. They say you've been chosen to get a $400 shopping voucher - - but it's a lie. Some people are getting ripped off for $100.
We went to California to hunt down the people behind the scheme and worked to get money back for victims in North Carolina.
"They selected, I think they said, 11 phone numbers in the Raleigh area and they chose us," said Kristine Kelley, who thought she won a prize. "It was $200 gift certificate to Best Buy and $200 worth of movie passes."
They were offering $400 in free stuff for just $3.95. But the telemarketer wouldn't let Kelley pay by credit card or send a check. The only way to pay was to give the company her checking account number.
"They started talking really fast, and I could not understand them - - and I was like, I just don't want to do it," Kelley said.
But the company would not let her cancel. Within days, they not only charged $3.95, but also $119 - - a charge she says she never authorized.
"I work hard for the money I make, and they just took it away," Kelley said
State Attorney General Roy Cooper estimates North Carolina consumers have lost $500,000 in this scam.
"These scammers come in, tell you a lie, take your money," he said. "I think it's the lowest form of low."
That's why Cooper has filed a lawsuit against a company called Consumer Reward Network and five of its subsidiaries.
"We spend a lot of time chasing these bad guys because they're pretty good at the shell game," Cooper said.
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Best advice is not to give out your bank information to anybody.
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