Podclubs has no active website or social media pages, but a Trustpilot page describes the company as a 'UK based supplier of Nicotine Pouches'.
Reports to Which? and complaints on Trustpilot all claim that victims have never knowingly signed up for any memberships with the firm and have never received any communication or services from Podclubs in return for the money taken from their bank accounts.
Read on to find out more about Podclubs payments and how to stop them.
undefinedWhy is Podclubs appearing on bank statements?
Podclubs sets up a continuous payment authority (CPA) on bank accounts after gathering payment card or bank account information.
Victims may have been misled into handing over this information online, or over the phone. Personal data may have also been bought.
A CPA allows companies to take any money from your account, whenever they believe you owe them payment. It’s different to a direct debit or standing order.
You may have CPAs set up for regular subscription products or services you buy, such as a magazine subscription or gym membership.
Unscrupulous companies can use CPAs to take your money, without your permission, if they get hold of your name, payment card number or bank account details.
'Payments appeared out of nowhere'
Podclubs also seem to target older people - the victims we spoke to were all aged 85 or over.
Victims and their relatives told us they first noticed unexpected charges of between £69 and £99 on their bank statements that they didn’t recognise.
The transaction information on their bank statements includes a phone number, which some victims tried to call to find out more about the payments.
One victim told us she called the number and spoke to someone who said they were from ‘The Rewards Club’. She was asked to confirm her bank details, name and address to confirm the cancellation of the payment plan. This was potentially a ruse to further confirm her payment information as a few hours later, a further £99 was taken from her account by Podclubs, followed by another £99 payment a week later.
The son of another victim told us he discovered Podclubs had been charging his 90-year-old mother £99 a week over four months. Despite cancelling the CPA, Podclubs continued trying to charge her, although her bank was able to block the charges.
When Which? tried calling the phone number included in the bank transaction details the calls went to voicemail. We also tried reaching out to Podclubs using an email address found on its Trustpilot page, but received no response.
How to avoid subscription scams
The tactics used by subscription fraudsters are cunning, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do if they’ve bought or stolen your personal data from other companies.
There are a few things you can do to avoid and spot these kinds of schemes:
What to do if you’ve lost money to Podclubs
Contact your bank and explain a CPA has been set up on your account without your permission.
Ask the bank to both refund any money you’ve lost and to cancel the CPA immediately.
Sometimes banks class this type of issue as a customer dispute but tell the bank this is fraud. Insist the CPA is cancelled straight away to prevent any more money being taken.
Don't call the Podclubs phone number that may be included in transaction details on your bank statement.
Unfortunately, if you’ve had a recurring payment like this set up once, you could be targeted again in the future by similar firms operating under different names. The fraudsters behind these scams usually sell personal data they’ve used successfully to other crooks running the same cons.
Keep an eye on your statements and get back in touch with your bank if you notice anything suspicious. If the problem keeps happening, you may need to consider getting a new bank account.
source https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/podclubs-charges-what-are-these-payments-and-how-to-stop-them-au7s30J1cm7h