888-218-5608

no call but charge made on credit card by phone.

same story here... I called the Attorney general... the said to CALL THE FTC Consumer Response Center 1-877-382-4357 which I did... the FTC needs additional complaints before they will prosecute... please call.. do not get frustrated with the automated phone steps with the FTC... make the call! Thanks, Mike

I received a charge of 9.40 on my card from HBS(same one I use with Equifax) and called them to escalate a possible leak.  Got the run around.

I just got my credit card bill today, and there was a HBS charge, is this a ghost company? I called several times and got a recording. Maybe the FBI can find something out!

Found this charge for $9.45 :  PURCHASE HBS 04/15 [then a number which i think is my bank number so i won't give it here] then  
888-218-5608 CA 6073V252065   Had to cancel my credit card.

Pulled up a free credit report from Equifax. I have an account with Equifax also.
Got 2 charges within a matter of 6 days
1) Electronic Business Resource $6.95
2) HBS Carslbad CA $9.40

Bloody cheaters!!

This is in response to all of these posts. I haven't yet received a charge and/or a call from this number. The only way to get the idiots responsible for these fraudulent charges is to have people demand that their financial institutions and/or credit card issuers to classify the charge as FRAUD not Dispute! Also, victims of fraud charges need to take the time to report this to the FTC.
Further, if people were to keep a closer watch of their accounts online (if available for the accounts) some more information may pop up when the charge is still in the pending stage. When charges go through and become transactions then the information may change and/or differ. HBS is not much to go on. If anyone can provide more detail then it would be most helpful.

Same thing happened to me. Luckily I was able to get the charge removed easily.

i was fraudently charged on my checking acct with this...

received a charge on my bank checking card for $9.45 on May 6th.  My bank cannot trace this charge other than HBS 888 218 5608.  I cancelled my card and they have it on their records as fraud.  I will be filling a formal complaint at the police department tomorrow.  If anything is found out i will post and let you know.  I also called this number and got an answering machine type message that said "thank you for calling, we are not able to take you call, please leave a message"

They have been calling my cell phone since I got it 6 months ago. I try not to open the phone until I look first. I dont know who it is. The other number that is calling is.

I also just got a charge (May 2nd) for $9.45 with the HBS 888-215-5608 CA code. This is the second charge I have gotten since doing a free one-time credit report with Equifax while buying my home. The last one was for only about $6.45 and the bank said it came up as a book store on their vendor codes. I failed to get it removed b/c I thought maybe it was just something I had forgotten, but when I called the number listed on the statement, I got the same recording as the one this time... If they do this to thousands of people multiple times, many of which may just let it go, think about the amount of money they are making fraudulently!

From an MSNBC artical:

It's being called the worst data leak of the information age. Earlier this month, U.K. officials had to admit they'd lost computer disks containing personal information on almost half the country's population, including nearly all families with children. If that's not bad enough, the databases included the worst kind of information to lose -- consumer bank account numbers.

See http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/11/britains-lost-d.html for details.

Same thing happened to me - on a credit card I haven't used in over 3 years. Then I realized my credit card issuer was purchased by a British Bank - Barkley's to be exact. Now everything makes sense.

These crooks could be operating again:

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/1999/10/holdbillingfinal.shtm

Nikki,

You might be interested in this also:

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/069/ripoff0069126.htm

I just had the same thing happen to me.  I had a similar charge from another company show up on my card a few months ago.  Both are obscure marketing companies and they try to say the charges are for advertising fees even though I've never advertised for anything!  Now, with this charge on my card, I'm cancelling it and getting a new one. I would recommend anyone who gets these charges to do the same.  Your card number is out there 'somewhere', and I can tell you from experience that this won't be the last time your card is charged!

Received a voice mail from a woman claiming to be from the Law Office of Lark & Sutton. Said to call immediately that it was essential that I call. She needed to make a decision that would effect me. This call wasn't even for me but sounded like same last name. This guys are bogus. No nbeed to call back.

this same company posted a charge for $9.40 yesterday (5.26.08).  i can't believe this is still going on.  my credit card company closed the account immediately.  Is it a good idea to file a complaint with the police?

I too got a charge on my Debit Card for $9.45 from these guys (HBS 888 218 5608 CA). My bank put a hold on my Debit Card because this is a known fraud company. Am currently working with my bank to get this recovered. In the mean time my debit card is not usable while I await a new one.

chalk me up as the newest victim of the 9.40 HBS Carlsbad scam. the transaction was made using my debit/credit card information according to my bank.