AOL Fraud is frauding me!

[Randolph]

OK. So a month ago (around July 20-30) I was signed offline on my AOL account on AIM. I couldn't get back on. Tryed to reset my password and its telling me all my security answers and information is invalid. I phone AOL's Customer Service line. They transfer me to AOL's Fraud Department. I tell them the story, they "block" the account from anyone accessing it. They asked me to send in 2 forms of documentation stating I am the original owner of the account. A drivers license and a bank statement showing when I was last billed for AOL, on it.

Now. Keep in mind. This is a Free AOL account. It was converted into a Free AOL from a Paying AOL in 2006-2007 when the Free AOL Program launched.

So we phone (also went to) the bank and ask them to look up the account that's tied to the AOL account. It's a checkings account that has been closed for several years now. They want to charge us $6 per page to go back in time because a agency has to go through the account or something like that. So $20 total, they get the statement in a matter of 1-2 weeks and ask us to come pick it up at our local bank (branch). We go to Staples, made a copy of the drivers license and a copy of the bank statement, faxed it in.

Next day. We call up AOL's Fraud Department and speak to a Customer Representative who can barely speak any English what so ever. Make a long story short: they are telling us they need the Debit card, that was attached to the checkings accounts, number. Fax in a document written by the bank, signed by the bank, with the debit card scanned or typed out on the paper. This was when I knew AOL really has lost it.

We aren't able to obtain that AT ALL. The card was shredded YEARS ago and when we went to the bank, they all looked at us funny :huh: and even the customers on line behind us said "no that can't be possible".....like we were crazy! The bank even said the 2 forms of ID we previously sent should be ENOUGH. MORE THEN ENOUGH.

Fast forward to today actually just now: I call AOL's Fraud Department. I get an American Customer Representative. She tells me straight up answers.

Me: What am I suppose to do if I can't get that debit cards information?

Her: I don't know what to tell you. It's a standard procedure to protect the owner of this account. (me obviously)

Me: So let me ask you this. If someone makes a Free AOL account at http://aol.com, how do they get their account back if its compromised?

Her: They can't, they have to sign up for a new one.

My jaw dropped. I couldn't believe what I just heard. That's when I just said OK and hung up.

I am BEYOND disgusted with AOL. :angry:

I filed a Internet Crime Complaint @ ic3.gov in an attempt hoping to get somewhere.

Please post any ideas/suggestions/comments relating to this. Thank you for reading.

edit: A big thank you to Marah Marie for posting about this on her blog. (Y)

Edited August 11, 2009 by Randolph

[Explore]

This is why all my family except for 3 (out of like over 20) left AOL in the early 2000s.

[Randolph]

We don't even know what to do now. We need those accounts back as virtually all our information is tied to those. My mom is clueless as I am as what to do....

I am going to give the bank another try again tomorrow and see what they say but I guarantee it won't have a successful outcome. :no:

[Explore]

Well good luck on everything with this hole AOL issue with you. Hope it gets resolved soon.

[Randolph]

I hope so too. Thank you very much. I also would like to point out I gained recognition of a person by the name of Marah Marie who owns a "Anti-AOL" blog. I am not sure if shes affiliated with Anti-AOL.org, which no longer is being run, but a big thank you for the post on your blog about this situation.

Hopefully, someone, somewhere out there will have an answer.

[ozgeek]

lol AOL still around? Last time I seen anything from them was back in the late 90s. lol those "free" internet CDs.

NEVER use FREE email services or at least webmail when dealing with email containing important information like banking details. What happened to you is a perfect example why webmails are not just yet perfect and should not be trusted.

At least start from strach and open a new email address from a more reputable service...NOT HOTMAIL...NOT GMAIL. What happened to the email address provided to you by your ISP? Most ISPs have a webmail interface as a BACKUP feature not a long-term feature.

Edited August 11, 2009 by ozgeek

[Panacik]

This is why you dont use free accounts to store needed information.

You wont be getting that account back. Its not AOL's fault. They gave you more help than Microsoft, Google or Yahoo might if you lost one of their free accounts.

[sweetsam]

AOL = A O HELL. I hope you get your issue sorted out soon and when that happens collect all the info you need and close down the account for good and move to something decent.

[NightmarE D]

Years ago my mom canceled an AOL account. They sent her this huge box filled with a bunch of AOL crap and charged $40.00 to her card and said it was for the cost of a "cancelation package". The next day another box came with the exact same stuff in it and she checks her account. Another $40.00 was charged for the same thing.

This set me off and I called and went off on some lady. Then she transfers me to some guy and I'm going off on him and started yelling "You have no idea who I am. Let's just say I'm in a position where one single mention of this at work would seriously *bleep* AOL over". Clearly talking right out of my butt. Three days later the money was back in her account :laugh: . A week later a third box came, but no further charges :laugh:

I can't remember what all was in the box. Some AOL CD's and other CD's that taught you how to use AOL and Windows. I remember a thick book titled "How To Use The Internet" and another called "Internet Directory".

I still get aggravated about how they were able to do that by calling it a "cancellation package". This happened sometime in 1998 or 1999.

[Panacik]

"You have no idea who I am. Let's just say I'm in a position where one single mention of this at work would seriously *bleep* AOL over". Clearly talking right out of my butt. Three days later the money was back in her account :laugh: . A week later a third box came, but no further charges :laugh:

It is unlikely your comment played any part in you being given the money back.

If someone said that to me at work, i would simply say, "ok, ill wait until the papers report who complained and what they said, see ya".

What WOULD have been impressive, is if you had emailed the person at the top of AOL and got a reply from them and a possitive result... Something a few of us on Neowin have done a few times.

Personally i had O2 and Sky give me "presents" to make up for mistakes or issues they gave me, because i emailed the top guys with a valid, professional and polite complaint.

The best result i had was with ICS though. My wife spent about ?400 on a course and had nothing but delays in recieveing work, getting stuff marked and then waited nearly a half year for the certificate, meaning she couldnt get a new job in a better possition.

After emails, calls and complaints to "managers" going backward and forward, they then got rude and told me not to contact them again as im only her husband and not the person doing the course. They ignored me when i said i was going to complain to the head of ICS group... Mistake.

I found the ICS owners name and email and sent her a VERY polite email explaining the situation and the rudness i got from their customer service and gave her names and dates of calls etc. Within an hour she called me (from the US) and appologised and asked me to give her 24 to sort it out. 24 hours later she called me again telling me she was going to have all staff in the UK customer service center re-trained and would be placing a new customer service director at the top. She also got the certificate to us 2 days later, when i was told it would have been months before we could get it by the customer service people.

I laughed to myself when i thought about how shocked and how much the customer service people must have **** their pants when they got a call or email from the top boss:DD

[FloatingFatMan]

No offense to the OP, but it's a free service. You really DO get what you pay for in these instances. Use your paid ISP's email, it's much more secure.

[Andrew Lyle Global Moderator]

Sorry this is a lot to read on my iPhone, but i didn't see why your trying to recover this account? Is there information in there you need?

Can't you just sign up for a new one?

[Arrakiv]

...Ouch. That definitely is quite a shame, not to mention it would be quite a pain to go through. I'm surprised that they required you to get that information to get your account back.

Best of luck with the bank, but from the sound of it, you're not likely going to get anywhere.

[Randolph]

Sorry this is a lot to read on my iPhone, but i didn't see why your trying to recover this account? Is there information in there you need?

Can't you just sign up for a new one?

Yes. ALOT of information...flights...POSSIBLE jobs I can have...etc. And thats only me. I also got my mom+sisters.

Thanks for the posts. (Y)

We all have new accounts on a different provider, but we still need to get our information off this current AOL one.

[ZonoBurk]

I see AOL is tighting up on security. New management is paying off, somewhat.

It used to be so easy to call and get your password changed. Ah, those days, where have they gone.

Needless to say, I'm sorry this has happened.

[yanike]

I'm beta testing AOL's new client. AOL is working close with their testers now to fix everything. So far, I've found a lot of bugs and issues that will be fixed before 9.5 is released. AOL is getting better :)

[DR3AMxCATCHER]

I'm beta testing AOL's new client. AOL is working close with their testers now to fix everything. So far, I've found a lot of bugs and issues that will be fixed before 9.5 is released. AOL is getting better :)

It was the best back in the day...now it has to get "better"? Nah, they're done. Only good for AIM.

[yanike]

It was the best back in the day...now it has to get "better"? Nah, they're done. Only good for AIM.

We'll see. I'm waiting to beta tester AOL 10 (Not the Desktop Version). AOL 10 will introduce new features. AOL 9.5 will only be fixes and improvements under the hood, which AOL needs right now.

[Randolph]

I'm beta testing AOL's new client. AOL is working close with their testers now to fix everything. So far, I've found a lot of bugs and issues that will be fixed before 9.5 is released. AOL is getting better :)

With all do respect, I fail to understand how this has to do with my thread? :huh:

Still trying to get my account back. :no:

[.Kompressor]

a little off the topic..

...lately we've been receiving alot of spam from compromised AOL accounts...

like within the last week or so....

I suspect some of their email servers have been compromised or some of their subscriber accounts have been

[Sir Nick]

a little off the topic..

...lately we've been receiving alot of spam from compromised AOL accounts...

like within the last week or so....

I suspect some of their email servers have been compromised or some of their subscriber accounts have been

Yeah I always get stuff from their " TOS GENERAL@aol here it is

Dear Custumer,

GeneralTOS has recommended the following site:

http://www.aol.com

GeneralTOS Recommend You To - Do This Now!

Action: Clear TOS NOW!

One or more of the ScreenNames on your account have received a TOS Violation

for inappropriate behavior. In order to keep your account active and clear the

violation, you must sign in to our Secure Online TOS Center, Failure to do so

within the next 24 hours may result in, but is not limited to a temporary

suspension of your account. Thank you for your time and we apologize for any

inconvenience this may have caused you.

- Please click the Clear TOS Now link below and and

view your TOS and read the infomation to take steps to be able to clear it.

Clear TOS Now <<<which is a link to... http://idate.freehostia.com/bill.aol.com-S...ment_update.php

If you have any questions, Please call. Don't call until you go to the

site as we need information from it.

Basically , a phishing website, cause when I went to it, Microsoft Anti phishing thing told me it was a reported phishing site... It's made to look like a aol login, but isn't.

I keep getting these once in a while... but the real AOL email from AOL says Certified AOL mail.

[cabron]

Reading the comments of some people saying that this happened because the guy is using a free service. First, this happened because his account were compromised, don't know how, but It could had been his fault or AOL fault. It has nothing to do for been a free account. I had been with Hotmail since 1997 and never had a single issue. My main account now is a Gmail and working great. I really never like AOL, back in the days, they were the most expensive service ever and today they still wants to continue their failed business by providing free services. They need to die, and people using their services, crazy!

Reading the comments of some people saying that this happened because the guy is using a free service. First, this happened because his account were compromised, don't know how, but It could had been his fault or AOL fault. It has nothing to do for been a free account. I had been with Hotmail since 1997 and never had a single issue. My main account now is a Gmail and working great. I really never like AOL, back in the days, they were the most expensive service ever and today they still wants to continue their failed business by providing free services. They need to die, and people using their services, crazy!

[Sir Nick]

Reading the comments of some people saying that this happened because the guy is using a free service. First, this happened because his account were compromised, don't know how, but It could had been his fault or AOL fault. It has nothing to do for been a free account. I had been with Hotmail since 1997 and never had a single issue. My main account now is a Gmail and working great. I really never like AOL, back in the days, they were the most expensive service ever and today they still wants to continue their failed business by providing free services. They need to die, and people using their services, crazy!

It is because it's free though, AOL doesn't give support at all to non paying members, even if you have paid in the past. Although it might be their fault , or his fault, they wouldn't care, because they are providing a free service. Just as if you use hotmail , you lose your password / your account gets compromised , they usually won't provide tech support , because it's a free service, and as stated in the Terms of service , most of the time, they aren't liable for damages, and whatever else.

[bryonhowley]

This is why you dont use free accounts to store needed information.

You wont be getting that account back. Its not AOL's fault. They gave you more help than Microsoft, Google or Yahoo might if you lost one of their free accounts.

I had no problems at with Microsoft in getting my Hotmail account back.

[Sir Nick]

Just got this email from AOL via Official AOL mail

Today marks a very important milestone in AOL?s history ? and future. As we separate from Time Warner and become an independent company, we mark the beginning of a fresh start and open the door to new opportunities. I believe this is a perfect time for rebuilding trust, confidence and passion around AOL and the products we bring you.

I realize that ? at times - over the past few years, it?s been challenging to be an AOL Mail user. I?ve heard your feedback and we?re going to start making changes with a renewed focus on you. We can and will make our free AOL Mail product world class!

If you?re not already a user, I encourage you to check out our Web-based version of AOL Mail at mail.aol.com. Our hope is that your email experience will significantly improve.

We?re starting today with three simple (but important) changes:

1. Significantly fewer ads

2. An easier AOL Mail sign-in experience

3. A new message reading pane that helps you get through your email faster

I know that some of you are comfortable with your current email experience. So, wherever possible we?ll provide you with the choice to disable new features and keep the classic email product.

This is just the beginning. I?m truly excited about what?s to come in 2010 so please stay along for the ride. Our promise going forward is to keep you well informed of the changes we make and the new features we launch. In the meantime, please continue to send us your feedback or suggestions as we work to build a world class email experience ? focused on you.

Thanks again for choosing AOL Mail!

Sincerely,

Brad Garlinghouse

President, AOL Consumer Applications