8777784727

I just received the letter today and thought...wow this sounds too good to be true, which usually means it is. In the body of the letter it uses the jargon of 'interest reduction' then in the fine print at the bottom of the letter on the same page it states that 'this is not an interest reduction offer'!!!  I did not call the number, but immediately googled ACT. I was not at all surprised to find this blog site.  It's a terrible way for predatory people to make easy money off of hard working people. Very frustrating!!

Oh yeah...and another red flag was that they were using the name of my original mortgage lender. They did not have my current mortgage company info.

New phone number!!!

My letter was exactly like Johns...word for word. The only thing is a new phone number...888-509-1112.

I just received a letter from ACT as well. Unfortunately, I called to see what the deal was. The person I spoke to (Steve Stackland 877-616-5571 x 5148) made it seem like I would simply need to readjust how I was making payments and didn't mention purchasing software, just that they would audit my situation to make a determination of if they could help. I scheduled a follow up call for tomorrow and then decided to take a quick tour of Google as well (because it did seem a little too good to be true) and found this website. For the "appointment" that I scheduled tomorrow, they asked for a credit card that would not be charged to hold the appointment. I provided it to them and am now worried that they will charge my card without my authorization; however, since it is a credit card, if they do use it, I can stop the charges...

The number posted on my letter for Act is 888-432-4974. I hope this helps someone else!

Tina, I hope you read this before your appointment.

The company is AED=Accelerated Equity & Development but Doing Business As ACT=Accelerated Cashflow Technologies. BBB listing http://www.bbb.org/utah/business-reviews/fore ... per-ut-10061629 states:

"The BBB has received numerous contacts from the public regarding a mass mail campaign conducted by Accelerated Equity & Development, Inc, also known as ACT.
The BBB contacted the company and requested modifications based on the BBB's Code of Advertising guidelines. The company has modified some aspects of the mailer, however other aspects remain of concern.
The company has stated that information is confidential and will not substantiate the claim "amounts owed can range as high as $1500 to over $7800." The BBB and government agencies believe that before a company uses a claim they should be able to substantiate the claim.
Consumers continue to express concerns about the mailing - mainly regarding the fact that the company does not identify themselves completely. Consumers have stated that when a company is asking for personal information there is an expectation that the company will provide the provide their complete contact information and full name."

... and ...

"Complaints allege the company was paid for services and has been slow to complete the audit as promised.
The letter sent by the company explains that a refund can be requested if the mortgage audit does not turn up any savings. The refund is only available after filing out a "rebate" form provided by the company. The rebate must also be requested within 30 days of receiving the audit results.
The company also sells access to personal finance ***SOFTWARE*** for a monthly fee. This is sold on a trial basis and consumers must cancel within 10 days or they will be charged monthly until they cancel."   < SOFTWARE emphasized >

AED/ACT has a BBB C+ rating.

The software AED sells is the $199 down, $49.95/month ACT Program (they may have renamed it by now) which is a version of the $3,500 Money Merge Account sold by United First Financial (AED's marketing arm to sell and service the MMA software). Google "united first financial scam" or "money merge account scam" and read all about it. The $199 audit is the downpayment for the $49.95/month software which, according to the BBB's description, is a negative-option free trial. If you don't take positive action to cancel the software, you will be charged.

The software uses the well-known method of principal prepayment to minimize interest charged on any debt. Simply put, to pay minimum interest, you have to pay off the debt as fast as possible. The larger the payments, the sooner you pay them, the shorter the loan duration and the smaller amount of interest you will pay -- it *is* this simple. All their software does is *tell* you to make big payments as soon as you can but you can do the same yourself for FREE. Why send $49.95/month to AED's pockets when that $49.95/month can go into your own pockets as home equity if you simply make principal prepayments yourself? Beware that now may not be the best time to prepay principal on your mortgage in this housing crisis with millions of foreclosed homes on the market and more on the way. It may be more prudent to save cash until the economy gets better instead of tying it up in an illiquid asset (your home). AED won't caution you on this, all they want is your money.

And how lame is it to require credit card info to "hold" an appointment? What legit business wants credit card info to "hold" an appointment? Please don't buy anything from AED/ACT.

I just received a letter from ACT  yesterday and the number to call them was 888-509-1112.  After reading the posts here I am going to toss the letter into the recycle bin.  Thanks for letting me know that to respond to their letter would be a waste of my time and money.

I also got a letter recently from this company, with the phone number 888-509-1112. I thought it seemed fishy. Thank you all for the details you've posted! Your homework is much appreciated.

I got the letter a couple of weeks ago. I tired to get in touch with them about a week ago. Their hours said from 7 am to 7pm. Was unable to leave a message on their machine and nobody has tried to call me either. I had my fiancee read the letter and I was seriously going to make an inquire they were wanting to save me over 29 thousand on my mortgage! Wow!  Is all I can say, because the money would come in handy with house hold repairs and what have you. I am seriously thinking about refinancing and going with a different company. I would like to know if you all are with Beneficial too as your mortgage company?

Something interesting, is that I know that Beneficial has since pulled out of my state. There are no longer any local offices for this company! Their main head quarter is in Virgina I believe.

Thanks for posting this information on the the fraud and alerting those of us who might well have fallen into their fingers! Gawd the whole world is built on nothing but greed anymore! Just plain sucks! :(
http://www.irs.gov/individuals/article/0,,id=179414,00.html (letter from the IRS)

I am going to continue to study up on this and see what else can be done. I am current with my mortgage. I pay a hefty payment though. I could seriously use some help with a reduction.

0118777789574

Called to say someone was trying to hack into my computer. That his company Internet Security Server has intercepted. He had an African accent and laughed when I suggested his call did not sound right, I told him to call later as I could not speak at that time, he tried to scare me into saying how urgent I give this matter attention, he called back later that afternoon but I did not reply.. He had my real name, but identified my last name as my first name. How do I report this incident to a higher authority?

They called to tell me that my computer was all messed up and that they would clean it.  They had me type in a bunch of numbers/letters which gave them access to my computer..I didn't know that was what they were doing.  They said they would take care of my computer for a monthly fee...I told them I had to check with my son first..he wouldn't give me his number at first, said he would call me back in 10 minutes..I told him no...I would call him back..that is when he gave me this number:  877-778-4727.  I called Hewlett Packard (maker of my computer) and they cleaned out the stuff "Microsoft" bogus company put in my computer.  Can't believe I fell for this scam.

I received a call from "James" at this number, claiming he worked for Windows. He said they had "received many error messages from my computer" and that they needed me to check. I had never heard of anyone from Windows calling to trouble-shoot a computer problem - makes no sense. I asked if he worked for Windows or a 3rd party. He insisted he was an employee of Windows and lived in Seattle. He asked me to sign onto my computer. I declined and asked him for verification of his information. I asked him his phone number so I could call back. He gave me this number but he read the number in incorrect number groupings: 877-77-88592. I asked him to repeat it and he said it that way both times, clearly showing me he did not live in Seattle, as he claimed to.  I can't be sure, but I think this is the second call I've received from this potential scammer. I have no idea what they were planning, but I am certain they were not who they said they were. Watch out for a new scam on this number.