Seebach Exhibit 7

It's OAN services at oanservices.com.

They are the front end for all sorts of slammers.

Hand 'em over the the FCC and the AG.

Maybe the next time Qwest CEO Dick Notebaert comes in to talk to the newspaper, I should ask him? It worked the last time Qwest took months to fail to solve a service problem.
--seebs' mom

Got a bill from OANWEB / Nationwide Connections today - same deal: 4 minute bogus collect call. I will forward to the state AG and others.

I called them, at 800-944-9646, and they said they'd dispute the charge and reverse it. I think I have the conversation taped, although, when I went downstairs, the tape recorder was off again. Dunno what happened.

Anyway, they said that OANWEB.COM really is them, although I think the woman I spoke to was not paying close attention. I told her I was home and would have noticed the phone ringing, and that our caller ID log showed no calls at all on November 7th, but she said "since you say there was no one home to accept the call, we will mark that you dispute the charge, and a reversed charge should show up on your phone bill within one or two months".

Needless to say, I'm not entirely optimistic.

I just received a charge from OAN Services for $5.26, for a collect call from Pierce, Idaho!

Looks like a scam and a fraud. Why aren't these people in jail?

Copies to the Washington PUC and etc.

Got my Qwest bill today replete with charges of $4.75 from OANWEB NATIONWIDE CONNECTIONS (800-944-9646) for an alleged collect call from Portland to Yakima. The phone call was allegedly made from 503-251-9705. No such collect call was ever accepted and no such collect call was ever even received. I have worked in the legal profession for 30 years and I will not hesitate to bring this matter to the attention of the local prosecuting attorney and the WA. State Attorney General.

Interesting to note that many people are seeing this!

I am told that Qwest is probably legally obliged to pass the charges on... The thing to do is make FCC complaints until the FCC yanks the licensing that gives these people the power to send on "real" phone bills.

The FCC has a complaint form you can fill out online. I did. If enough other people do, the FCC may start looking more closely at OAN, OANWEB, OANSERVICES, OAN Services, or whatever they want to call themselves, or perhaps more specifically at Nationwide Connections, who appear to be the underlying agency.

My understanding is that OAN is a big front-end firm that does billing for a lot of places, some of which may be, through sheer coincidence, legitimate.

Same thing happen yesterday got my SBC bill with a collect call from California to Houston I called OAN today and they said they would refund the charge on my bill. I hope they do!

My elderly dad just called me with the same complaint. I found this site telling me it was a scam. Thanks everyone and I follow the above advise to hopefully nail these bastards!

I just recieved my bill today and can't call to dispute until monday. Found this site while trying to figure out what the charge was because we had never heard of them. Thanks for the great advise above and I'll be contacting my JAG office too.

Update: I received a response to my complaint to the FCC. The FCC says that the correct agency to complain to is the FTC. You can go to www.ftc.gov if you would like to complain.

This form of fraud is known as "cramming".

Nice to see i'm not the only one who got screwed. This OAN / Nationwide Connections thing seems common. I got a "collect" call from Spokane, WA supposedly on 11/5/04 for $6.25. Qwest of course will do nothing. i've already complained with the FTC and the BBB will do nothing without contact info (address, etc.) Hope these idiots get what's coming to 'em. I'll be first in line with the wrench :-)

Got scammed too I'm going to the www.ftc.gov to get these people screwed. By the way the Qwest rep I spoke with said they never heard of a scam with this company--ha!

Apparently, OAN has gotten in trouble for this before. The earliest mention of them I found was as a billing company for some 900# and modem-hijacking scammers:
http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2001/06/11/phonescam.html

That story didn't blame OAN for the problem, but eventually some folks realized that OAN does business with very bad customers. In 2001, the California PUC sued some phone scammers, later adding OAN and some other billing companies to the suit:
http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/proceedings/I9808004.htm

The courts eventually vacated OAN from the case. Around the same time, OAN went bankrupt, and a rival company bought them out:
http://sanantonio.bizjournals.com/sanantonio/stories/2001/05/28/daily18.html

However, the new owners apparently aren't any better. In fact, Verizon recently suspended billing for USA Voicemail, one of OAN's sibling companies:
http://www.nbc10.com/consumeralert/3888234/detail.html

This company has been up to no good for a long time.

The following was an exerpt from a letter I sent to my local telephone service concerning charges from OAN SERVICES (These people need to be STOPPED!):

As for the OAN Services that charged me $20.55 for email svc: I DO NOT AND NEVER HAVE HAD EMAIL SERVICES from anyone other than AOL! I don't have any idea where that came from and want it removed immediately. I don't want these scammers, both OAN SERVICES AND APDI putting erroneous charges on my Sprint bill. It's causing me much duress, a lot of 'time' I don't have to straighten it all out, and certainly causing me to question as to why you would allow such tactics when indeed in so doing you would start losing a lot of customers! There are letters all over the Internet about OAN SERVICES, warning people that they are the biggest SCAMMERS and there are countless testimonials of what they've illegally gotten away with. I have tried to call (for a total of 19 hours) to contact them by phone 800-713-9078 to no avail! I either get a fast busy curcuit signal or a recording that puts me on hold 20 to 30 minutes at a time. I don't have time NOR should I be asked to take the time to try and track these thieves down. I've tried. Now it's your turn. Please remove this charge from my bill in its totally. Hopefully this will be the last I'll have to deal with such nonsense. Thank you for your immediate attention to this matter.

vegas von

With the help of a Quest operator who called the 800-944-9646 number for me and made a 3 way conference call, I received assurances from an operator named "Patty" at Nationwide Connections, INC that the spurious $5.25 collect call would be reversed. It was a call from CAMPBELL CA and the number was disconnected when I called ystdy. Quest was interested in any Quest customer with similar problems so I would urge all of you to call 800-603-6000 and select the "billing" option and ask for a "mechanized adjustment" to their bill. Also, it may help to mention this website.

W

We also got one of these on one of our phone numbers, $6.25 for 5 minutes. I'll submit it to the FTC and also I guess I'll call about it. Perhaps there are enough people involved to make a class action lawsuit worthwhile? It sucks that so many people have to waste their time tracking this down, I sure have better things to do with my time.

Sean

I just received my Qwest bill and had a $5.99 charge from OAN for a directory assistance call which I never heard of! I looked OAN up on the internet and discovered that OAN has been scamming people all over! I don't know how it is that OAN can have Qwest bill people for false charges!

I then called OAN and they agreed to issue a credit. Then I called Qwest and informed them that I am not going to pay the $5.99 + $0.40 tax. The Qwest person agreed to make a note on my record that this is what I intend to do.

Francis

Looked on our phone bill today: a $4.75 collect call charge billed on behalf of "Nationwide Connections, Inc." Called OAN, got a promise that it would be refunded in two months to our phone bill. Yeah, right.

Oily bastards. I'm calling Qwest, then submitting an FTC complaint.

i have ask oan services to please take there self off my phone bill three times the phone number thay arecharging to is 903 598 2396.please see thy do this i did not ask for this to be charge to my number. nell jones at njones@hotjjo.net

I've a 14.95 monthly charge on my phone bill for 3 months now. I haven't had time to mess with this, I have to work. It is for email svcfee. I tryed to call oan services about it once, (800-944-9646) but it was after "office hours" I have told the phone co. (century tel) that I will not pay this and now my phone is going to be shut off as a result. I have complained to FCC and going to FTC also. I feel very insecure knowing that anyone can bill you through you telephone co. and shut down your phone/internet if you don't pay them. Would love to see a lawsuit over this!

I have had to call Verizon each of the last three months, including today, about an invalid charge of $9.00 plus $.27 tax on behalf of OAN Services, Inc. who is allegedly billing on behalf of AT&E, Inc. Verizon each time has agreed to credit my bill and let OAN know that this is an unauthorized charge. Even though Verizon's credit does appear the following month, a new OAN charge appears. Today, after talking to the Verizon customer rep, I called the OAN number 800-944-9646 and finally reached a customer service rep after a twenty minute wait on hold while some awful background music (some of the time it was disgusting rap trash) played, interrupted every 75 seconds by a male voice telling me to "...not hangup, your call will be answered shortly." The rep said they wouldn't be billing it if it had not been authorized but I assured her it had not been. She said all she could do was note on the file that my local phone company was giving me credit and that I was disputing the charge. I asked for the AT&E number and she gave me 866-807-5635 which I called at 4:27 PM and got an answering machine telling me they closed at 4:30 PM Pacific time and that I should leave a message and they would return my call. I left a message noting that it was not yet 4:30 PM but that I wanted them to call me and left my phone number.

We'll see how this turns out. Sounds like a scam to me alright because there are lots and lots of businesses (probably even ordinary consumers) that don't take time to comb through their bills each month. In this case, I'll come out okay because this was the final bill for this particular number and Verizon said they were crediting my account. Those of you who need continuous service though, I sympathize with you! I too hope someone is able to nail these outfits to the wall!

Hi. Got one of these as well. Here's the funny bit - the call allegedly came from a country club in NY. Looking up this country club online (since I had no idea what this charge was at the time) I see they closed their doors for the winter - must be cold out there golfing in December. Guess they called me to try and warm up. :)

just got 2 minutes collect call charge from them too on my bill, gonna call them up and dispute. :(

Just to follow up on the message I posted on the 5th. I have called the "Nationwide Connections" and said that I definitely did not accept a collect call. HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART: When you call them, ask them to perform an investigation. They were simply going to credit my account, and then I told them that many people on the net are being charged for calls they don't make.

Unless you request that they do an investigation, it sounds like they don't really care about the false charge.

I'D HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT ANYONE WHO CALLS NATIONWIDE CONNECTIONS REQUEST THAT THEY DO AN INVESTIGATION.

It's one of the few ways that we can be sure that the people making these charges be shut down.

I also filed a compltain at the FTC. It's real easy -- go to ftc.gov, and across the top of the page is a menu bar. One of those items is to submit a complaint. All you have to do is fill in the form and submit it.

Sean

got the same type charge file complaint to fcc
web site this is intersate fraud they will respound.

Add me to the list of those who got "crammed" by these people. Phone calls to OAN and Qwest are in progress, and I will be filing an FTC complaint shortly. It was supposedly a "collect" call for $6.25 from Medford, OR (541-773-9335, which doesn't exist) to my business line.

I'm also going to ask Qwest if there's any way to block billing crap like this.

Keep the peace(es).

I got a billing through SBC for non existent directory assistance call billed "on behalf of" TELSEVE LLC or OAN Services Incorporated.
Off to the California attorney General, CPUC, FCC, FDA, and whoever else.
If the major telephone carriers are conspiring with the scammers, is there a RICO lawsuit here?

what a scam, using my phone co. to cheat me? recieved my QWEST phone bill as of 13 feb 2005 contained therein was a charge by OAN for $ 6.60 . which i shall pursue as a fraud. the charge was for calling 555-1212 directory assistance. i didn't call DA. interseting thing - OAN is collecting federal, state & local taxes upon a fraud. thank you for your website. ps if QWEST doesnt want to eat it, i'll go cellular.

OAN has done it to another one. These SOB's need to be hung. Call FBI,FCC,your state Att General. We need to find someone with enough ethics to stop this.
Thank you.

Your telephone company can block collect or third party calls. Ask them.

We have collect calls blocked here, and we STILL got a bill from OAN / Nationwide Connections on our phone bill. We called to have it disputed, but I'll bet many more just blindly pay. Ours was for 6.25 (6 minute collect call).

Received the bill from SBC yesterday. Saw the OAN Service Inc charges for $5.41 on a collect call from CA. No one was at home and I couldn't reach the OAN number listed on the bill. 1-800-926-6435. Call SBC and tell them that the number is always busy, and I called the collect number shown on my bill and it was not a working number. I asked the SBC to call OAN to dispute the charges and they were unable to reach them. SBC agrees to credit me the for $5.41. charge. I just don't think, if I ever get in touch with OAN, that I will ever see the credit back.

This is a scam.

The same thing happened to me. A $6.25 collect call from Memphis at a time when no one was home. I called OAN and they answered immediately. They said they would dispute the charges and I would get a credit within 1-2 billing cycles. When I asked how I could prevent this from happening again, the operator offered to put a block on our phone number for any collect calls from their service. I asked for a reference number and they only gave me the operator's name and number. I'll let you know if I actually get the credit. I will also complain to the FTC.

I just went to the FCC site and they have a specific complaint form for "cramming". It's on this page http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.

Evidently this cramming is going on nationwide. My business phone bill showed a $7.00 charge today from a collect call from Utah. I contacted OAN and disputed the charge to which they said they would reverse charges but would take one to two billing cycles. I also contacted Verizon and they said I could contact them before sending the payment and they would make sure it was reversed. I also called both Nationwide Connections and OAN, and after much effort and perserverance I got both of their addresses:

Nationwide Connections, Inc.
800-944-9646
222 Lakeview Avenue, Suite 160-157
West Palm Beach, FL 33401

OAN
800-926-7514
9255 Corbin Avenue
Northridge, CA 91325

I plan on writing letters of cease and desist and to file a complaint with the FTC.

I totally agree that this is wrong and given enough people overlook the charges, big bucks are being racked up in erroneous billing.

i used to work at NATIONWIDE CONNECTIONS, and let me tell ya something.. its not "mistake billing" they had a product that wasn't even marketable... because it didnt work.. so they'd buy bulk contact info and just shoot out bills like a machine gun at people..

" you'll get your money back in 2 to 3 billing cycles. " its such bull shit.. wanna know who the owner is? go google " Willoughby Farr " you'll see the mess the man's gotten him self into.. the funny thing is that no one has ever signed up for any of his companys.. yet the mans made millions.. its such a waste.. anyways.. good luck getting your money back..

How about this one: My mother got a charge on her phone bill today listed as OAN for GOOGLE ADVERTISING - $30 per month billed monthly. The first time she called OAN, they said she had signed up for it. The second time, they said they had sent her a "check" that she had cashed and cashing the check entitles them to bill monthly service. She never received any check of any sort, or any type of Google advertising anything (she doesn't even own a computer) in the mail so clearly this was forged by them. I've read another person's story who had their cat's name forged by this company so I'm not surprised. I'm not sure what to do with this one - the blocking is only for long distance charges, not false charges for other services. Help!

Qwest is lying!! I just called them today about a collect phone call charge from Las Vegas to Salem for $4.75 from "OAN" and the Rep said they hadn't gotten any complaints about this company. I called both numbers listed for OAN and Nationwide Connections Inc. After two diconnections and no answer, I tried again and spoke to someone named "Geraldine, Ref #162" who said that I would be issued a credit on my next Qwest phone bill. She also offered a "block" for my phone number, whatever that means! Someone please stop these creeps!

I also received a charge on my SBC bill from "OAN Services" today for $6.44, allegedly "billed on behalf of Nationwide Conn. Inc". It is for a collect call which I allegedly accepted from 903-938-9808, in Marshall, TX. Needless to say I never accepted this call (or even got it, as far as I know -- it was a daytime call when I was most likely at work).

I have filed a complaint with both the FTC and the FCC, and I will attempt to call them tomorrow, though it does not sound like it will do much good. By the way, the number I am supposed to call is 800-944-9646. It sounds like their "contact numbers" are all different.

I don't really think this is "cramming" though -- it sounds to me as if "cramming" is when your phone company attempts to charge you for services you have not signed up for. This is something different.

I am a 74 yr old deaf man-how can I accept a collect phone call for 14 minutes in the amount of close to $9. Why doesn't the government put these creeps behind bars. This is out right robbery. Imagine -deaf accepting a collect phone call from a hearing person
EVERYONE-LET'S SPEND A LITTLE TIME-TO PUT THESE
CREEPS BEHIND BARS. THEY ARE BANKING ON PEOPLE
JUST IGNORING A SMALL AMOUNT. NOT ME , I'LL TRY
MY BEST TO GET ALL OF THEM TIME IN PRISON.
WILL TOY HELP ME PUT THESE THIEVES AWAY

OAN Services, INC also known as Nationwide Connections, Inc is at it again. We just received a bill on our Qwest telephone bill from Nationwide Connections, Inc in the amount of $5.25 plus tax of $0.16 for a collect call that we did not receive.

The charge was obviously fraudulent, so here are a few steps to help others get OAN Services to credit the invalid charges.

1. Call the telephone company that is charging you for the alleged service. For example, AT & T, MCI, Qwest, etc.

2. Explain that the charge is fraudulent and that this company has a history of falsely charging for services that it does not provided.

3. Write down the name of the person who will help you stop the charges.

4. Ask that person to make a three person call to the Nationwide Connections, Inc to stop the charges.

5. As soon as the person from Nationwide Connections, Inc answers the telephone have him give his name and operator number.

6. Explain that the charges on your telephone bill from his company are fraudulent, and ask him to cancel the charges.

7. Write down the time, date, person that you spoke to, and what the person said. Ask for the reference number that the person will use to document the credit to your account.

8. Write down when the credit will be applied to your account.

9. Ask for the Telephone Operator's contact information so that you can get back to your telephone company (AT & T, MCI, Qwest, etc). This is important so that there is a record somewhere about your call.

10. Mark you calendar and make sure that the credit is applied to your account.

11. If the credit does not show up on your account within two months then contact your telephone company (AT & T, MCI, Qwest, etc) and explain what happened. Inform the person at your telephone company that you were told that the account would be credited. Be sure that they credit your account.

12. Contact your Better Business Bureau, and post your experience to the Web.

Good luck!

The S.O.B.'S got me too. There were two charges for 4.34$ each for directory assistance for Las Vegas at 12:20AM on Feb 5th, 2005, billed on behalf of TELESEVEN LLC. Also, there's a 1.65$ USF CARRIERADMIN FEE as an added bonus. The thing that really burns my ass is that I think I paid similar charges on last months bill, it seemed unusually high but I paid it anyway without looking it over. It's hard to imagine how many people (like me) have paid similar charges on their phone bills without being aware.

IN MY OPINION: ALL PHONE CARRIERS WHO "ALLOW".. THESE PEOPLE TO OPERATE, SHOULD ALSO BE INDICTED BY THE FEDERAL COURTS AS ## CO-CONSPIRATORS ## AND FINE TO THE MAXIMUM
EVEN IF YOU CHOOSE NOT TO COMMENT; PLEASE LIST TOURSELF IN THIS SITE. THIS WILL HOPEFULLY CATCH THE EYE OF ONE WHO CAN AND WILL PUT A STOP TO THIS THEFT. IF ENOUGH OF US UNITES WE CAN STOP THIS -----THANK----YOU----

Add me to the growing list. I have a residential line and a business line into my home and OAN charged a collect call to both my phones. In both cases, caller ID shows no such calls were received. I have filed a complaint with the FCC and will file one with the AZ AG and the BBB. WHAT ASSHOLES! Like none of us have anything better to do than waste time trying to get refunds from Qwest. And I agree with a previous post that Qwest should be held accountable for being a party to this sham.

My 79-year old mother got one of these cramming collect calls on her Verizon bill. (that she of course never received). She did recall answering the phone and nobody was there. I'm willing to bet that THIS was the call that triggered the charge, but of course no way to prove this.

ACI bought out OAN in 2001, I think. However, I also found where some telephone companies still list them as "OAN".

I found this contact info on ACI:
ACI Billing Services Inc.
9255 Corbin Ave. Northridge, CA 91324
Phone: (818) 678-4626
Fax: (818) 709-1940
E-mail: jmerkt@acibilling.com
Web: www.acibilling.com
Contact: Jerry Merkt
BACK OFFICE SYSTEMS/OSS - Billing, Customer Care

There is a form on ACI's website that you can use to submit complaint about your telephone bill. I don't know if it works or not, but it does go through when you submit it and you can print a copy of it for your records.

My little blurb to them included cautioning them to examine their business practices and to take care of the collect call on my bill that I never received. I also told them that I would prefer that they handed this instead of forcing me to contact my attorney general and the FCC. We'll see what kind of response that gets.

See this page to note that a representative of OAN Services is on the BOARD of SERB, the "responsible billing coalition". What a joke.
http://www.cerb.org/directors.html

If you look on this page, you can see that ACI and OAN have the same address, confirming that they are one and the same entity:
http://64.233.187.104/search?q=cache:xx_5jH7BTJkJ:www.x-changemag.com/articles/351supsys.html+818-709-1940&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

Here is the direct link to report telephone bill complaint to ACI:
http://www.acibilling.com/phonebill.html

Oh, and go to the Better Business Bureau and do a company search for "OAN" and see what pops up. These people are lower than a snake's belly in a wagon rut.
It will also confirm there that ACI billing is one and the same company and you will also see Nationwide Comm INC pulled up in the same search results. This gets deeper and deeper and I don't know why the FCC doesn't get on these people like ugly on an ape.

I noticed 2 operator assistance calls on my bill and the billing name was oan servies never heard of them.I noticed the areacode was different and looked it up 702 is lasvegas dont know anyone there.i was reading the complaints here and found one with the same charges same number just different date.Billed1.1.65 usf carrier admin fee 4.34 for 2 calles .54tax total $6.53

Regarding my above post where I listed the link to report AON Services to the company that bought them out, ACI Billing company:
http://www.acibilling.com/phonebill.html

I have gotten a reply email back from them a couple of hours after I sent the email from their site. It said someone would contact me in a day or two. So evidently the link DOES get to someone somewhere (GOK where)

I called the number that the original collect call to my mother originated from , it was a truck stop called B & B in Lynn Indiana. Anybody else out there have any calls from this place? Their pay phone number is 765-874-9909.

Just wondering....this is such a travesty to have this happening to old folks like my mom. It worries the heck out of her.

See the URL, ACI (who bought out AON Services has morphed yet again. Now it is called "Billing Concepts".

Faster than a speeding bullet. Must be one reason people have problems tracking down these companies.

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/Company-Profiles/B/Billing-Concepts-Inc-Jobs_26175

I just received my Sprint bill and saw a $5.73
OAN Services charge to our home business phone for a collect call from Beavercreek Ohio. I immediately suspected a scam and voila, upon typing in OAN Services, came across this website.
I was shocked to learn that this scamming is so rampant. I am going to register my complaint with the FTC at www.ftc.gov.

It hasn't stopped yet. Same thing happened to me on last month's bill. $5.25 charge for a collect call from Miami FL from OAN Services. I called the number listed, 800-944-9646, got an operator almost immediately who offered a refund before I even had time to complain about it! What a joke.

I just received a charge on my Verizon bill of $7.75 for a 12 minute call from 903-389-9252. www.oanweb.com is a sham web site. This is such bullshit. These guys should be put away for a long time. The FCC needs to get on this one now. I can belive Verizon is so stupid to allow this.

I just got one, too. $4.89 for a 1min call from Phoenix, and I don't accept collect calls. I'll be forwarding this info to the state PUC and the FCC.(billed by SBC)

I got hit to by these scammers. Charged on behalf of Nationwide Connections Inc. Collect call from CO. I don't even know anyone in that state. Went to their website... that was a joke. Will be also reporting them to www.ftc.gov. Better watch your phone bill charges since this seems to be the most recent scam.

Just got hit with charges from Nationwide Connect for collect calls placed to my home during a period that I wasn't home. Go to http://www.ripoffreport.com/ and write up your experiences with this company. As usual, phone companies are mum on information about these slammers. Considering the volume of complaints listed here, how can phone companies claim ignorance?
Thank you for this forum.

As many rip off schemes cited above, on 3-19-2005 coming with my regular phone bill I just received an unknown long distance collect call from Westminster, CA on february 16, 2005 with a $5.41 charge for 3.5 minutes station to station call during the work day time. I did not receive the call and I checked my Caller ID and found out that there was no history for that number. Then I called the listed number from California for 3 times right after I read my bill. A message saying that "the subscriber that you called was not on service, if you think the message is in error, please check the number and call again" and the same message repeated every time I called. We need help to get rid off the fraud charge that many people complained about as soon as possible.

Wow what a wealth of information- Googled OAN Phone Bill Scam and WHALA.....I don't even HAVE long distance on my verizon account and they STILL got me. I called Verizon, Washington State Atty General, E-mailed FTC and so on, Keep you all posted.

Vonage anyone? I'm seriously considering it.

Same thing happened to me on my Qwest phone bill this month. A collect call from Utah for $6.25.

Called Qwest and filed FTC complaints against OAN and Qwest.

What a mess. We just got one too, from Nationwide Connections from Medford OR. $4.75. We don't have long distance on our phone either. Will be following all the channels available to report this.

Just received Verizon bill with a collect call dated 2/17/05 from (904) 696-9421, a number that does NOT exist, for a total of 3 minutes, $5.25 plus .27 tax, billed by Nationwide Connections Inc. I called Verizon and they told me they would issue a credit, no questions asked. Filed a complaint online with the FCC. Finally got through to the Nationwide toll-free number that I found on this web site (it was not on my bill) after getting a busy signal for a couple of hours. Spoke with #157 "I don't have to give you my name" and she also said a credit would be issued. Told her I had filed a complaint with the FCC -- she could have cared less.

Any ideas on what we as consumers can do to get companies like this shut down and fined??

Mar 22, 05
I just got an OAN charge for a call to Chicago, 702 555 1212 for $6.17. I don't even know anyone in Chicago. Why does Quest pass on these phony charges? Margaret Coe

oan

Me, too. Got a bogus $8.03 charge from OAN Service/Nationwide Conn. Inc. Thank you for whoever's hosting this page so I know what this is all about.

I called 800-892-8424 this morning and surprisingly "Jessica #147" answered in under 2 minutes. She was at least polite and said they'll reverse the charge in 1 or 2 billing cycles--we'll see.

I then called Verizon to complain about why they haven't done anything against OAN Services. "Sherry @Ohio" said they're obligated to pass on the charge. They won't even register my formal complaint and investigate the incidence because they're plain not "responsible". It's probably more the case that they don't want to do anything rather than they can't. I asked about having collected calls blocked but that would cost a $2 monthly fee!

Anyway, I am so disgusted by Verizon--because I think they're ultimately responsible and should look out for their customers. I'll be looking for alternative phone and broadband internet services soon.

My phone bill is every month the same amount.

This month I noticed and extra charge from OAN Services stating a phone call on behalf of TELESEVEN LLC to this phone number 702-555-1212 for 4.34 which after taxes ends up being 6.44

I called the 1800 number the give but it doesn't even ring/call. 1-800-926-6435

Any suggestions? I don't want to pay for this made up B.S.!!

Help is most welcomed.

Same deal. 4 calls to 702-555-1212 in a 4 minute period on 2/22. Total cost $17.36. Clearly spurious. File complaints with your state PUC and with the FCC.

I got charges on my phone bill as well for $5.37 for a call in Englewood CO which I never received or placed the call. I saw this site and would like to add my complaint. I tried calling them but no one's answering the phone. It's not even ringing. These BASTARDS SHOULD GO TO HELL FOR ERRONEOUS BILLING. I already filed a complaint to FCC and might file complaint to other agencies.

Yet another victim...I was charged on my latest bill for accepting a collect call from Mexico! I called Verizon and the customer service woman I spoke to said that they were well aware of complaints about OAN Services and she alone gets about 20 calls a day from frustrated customers. The problem is that they are not allowed by law to block any third party carriers. I also finally got through to OAN who said they were billing on behalf of West Star Telecommunications. They transferred me to a representative who said that the charges were billed to me by mistake...but I'm sure they wouldn't have notified me of their little "mistake" on thier own. I am going to file a complaint with the FTC and hopefully I won't see this charge on my bill next month. Also, I blocked all collect calls and 900 #'s from my line to try to prevent it from happening again... the saga continues

Add me to the list! The charges on my bill were for a collect call from Mt. Vernon, WA which "Jasmine" at OAN said was from a pay phone (360-424-9920); she said a credit would be issued w/in 1 - 2 billing cycles. On contacting SBC, they said there have been some complaints against OAN, but that some people actually pay the charges. I will complain to FTC, CA PUC, etc. Thanks for all the info!!

I was fraudulantly billed for a collect call I never reveived by Nationwide Connections Inc at www.oanweb.com. They billed me $8.56 for a 10 minute collect call from 734-279-9900 in Petersburg, MI. We have never received a collect call...EVER...and we do not know anyone in the whole state of Michigan. I contacted my phone company, Qwest, and they told me that this number is no longer in service. How can companies do this and bill through my phone company? They should be blocked from charging through phone companies if they are a known source of fraud. I have read countless reports on the internet of fraud by this comany so my question is...why are they not in jail?? I have also contacted the FBI so I sure hope something gets done about them!

Qwest phone bill dated March 7, 2005. OAN (1-800-947-5084) charges billed on behalf of NATIONWIDE CONNECTIONS, INC (1-800-944-9646) from Portland OR #503-256-9109, (which is not in the internet reverse lookup, and was disconnected when I called it on the 14th of March 2005) for 9 minutes during the daytime billing cycle (at 6:46pm) for a total of $6.80 plus taxes, fees, and surcharges of $0.78, for a grand total of $7.58.
When I called Qwest on 14 March 2005, Brian, the customer service rep, suggested that I check the internet for OAN, and I found you folks. After careful deliberation, I have filed an FTC complaint (thank you for the suggestion), and this morning I called OAN three times to complain, but their answering system simply dropped my call each and every time.
I then called Qwest.
Crystal, the customer service rep who answered my call, listened to my complaint and what I wanted to do about it carefully. I gave her this web address, and she said that she would read it. After we discussed the available options and the actions that I had already taken, she initated a three-way call with OAN (1-800-947-5084), which brought "Gloria, operator # 135" on the line, who then informed me that 503-256-9109 was a pay phone, and that SOMEONE must have answered that collect call.
When I informed "Gloria" that A) there was no record on our caller ID of an incoming call from that number on that day at that time, B) the number was disconnected when I called it, C) no one in our household knows anyone in the state of Oregon, and D) I had already filed an FTC complaint, and would continue to file one each bill until the charges were dropped from my phone bill, she grudgingly agreed to reverse the charges. She told me that it would take 30 to 60 days to apply the reverses.
After OAN diconnected, the Qwest cutomer service rep, Crystal, ran the reverse through right then and there. In retrospect, carefully reading this site and your postings gave me the correct information, and allowed me to solve this problem with the minimum ammount of fuss.
Thank you all for your effort and time.

Matthew

Wow. Well i to received a charge on my SBC phone bill from OAN (billed on behalf of Nationwide Conn. Inc) for 7.17, to a location in seminole TX - phone number 432-758-9473. Seminole TX? Where the hell is Seminole Tx. I called the number right away and a woman answered. I said "who is this". She said "Bonnie. Who is this?" I said " is this 432-758-9473" She said "hey this is just a payphone and i was walking by."

Then i searched the net and found this site. This definately sucks. I will follow the advise on these posts and file complains. I will follow up with any information in the future.

Thanks to all.

I had a charge crammed onto my last SBC bill that was billed on behalf of OAN Services for Nationwide Connect. I was billed 6.44 for a collect call I supposedly accepted from someone in North Dakota. I don't know anyone in North Dakota and I just don't answer the phone unless I know who is calling. A caller's number has to be in my phone book, otherwise the call goes to my voice mail. So I called SBC and disputed the charge. They wanted me to call OAN Service but I told them I would not simply because I wasn't going to waste my time talking to a company that adds fraudulent charges onto my phone bill. I then filed a complaint with the FCC and was even called by a person from the FCC to get verification of the company name that OAN Services billed for. I would recommend that anyone who has these charges added onto their phone bill immediately file a complaint with the FCC.

Yup, same bogus collect call charge. They say they will "credit withing 2 billing cycles" ... I am going to lay this at the feet of my local .. since they are acting in concert with a now reported scam ... I think THEY should be responsible for investigating . .just like web site owners are responsible for certain type of content and "peer to peer transfer services" can be held responsible for pirated music moving thru their system. Can you say "class action suit" ?

.. REPORT THE SCAM to your local phone company and dispute the charge so you don't have to pay. They also keep a database on scams like this.

I just got my SBC bill today with a $16.37 OAN Services, Inc. charge. I tried calling SBC and OAN to dispute the charge and I got an answering machine saying the offices were closed as of 6pm. I called at 5:55pm. I will be calling tomorrow and will not stop calling until this charge is taken off my bill. I never received a collect call nor do I have online service through SBC, but appartantly I am getting charged for an online service with them.

I got a bogus collect call from OAN on 4/7/05.
I quickly called OAN's number (800 944-9646) and immediatly complained about fraudulent charges. The telemarketer made a feeble attempt to convince me that I accepted the bogus collect call but I firmly repeated that I will NOT pay for fraudulent charges. She then gave me a credit but that it won't show for "2-billing cycles".

I then called SBC to complain but they saw that a credit has been requested already. I then asked the SBC rep about "OAN" but she had no idea about this scam.

THANK YOU for hosting this site
i'm beside myself with hostility that this cr*p is going on for so long and the FCC hasn't stepped in and intervened

thanks for making all this info available
i'll call OAN tomorrow and see if i can get the $5.25 "collect call"
removed from my bill as well
SBC should know enough by now to prevent this
thanks again

kodi

I've just gone throught the motions. I had a collect call from Caro, MI placed to my house before I even moved in. It was a 7 minute call to my distinctive ring line and they charged me $6.25. Qwest transferred me to OAN, OAN transferred me to Nationwide Connections, Inc. Finally Nationwide told me they would credit the charge to me in 1 to 2 billing cycles. I'm filling out the FCC complaint form right now.
I'm also trying to find a story I heard on NPR about one of their show's producers who was having problems getting charges removed from her phone bill. It was not directly related to OAN or any of that, just about the unreasonably difficult path she had to take to get it taken care of. I think they would be interested in doing a story on this. If any of you know what I talking about, please let me know if you remember the name of the show.

I had a collect call from West Star Communications billed on 2.1.05 through OAN on a line that comes into my home which is used only for a security alarm and does not even have a phone connected to it, so obviously I was not receiving a collect call! I called OAN and they said they would creit me within 2 billing cycles after they investigate why this charge appeared to insure it won't happen again. I'm not holding my breath. I'll jump on the FTC complaint bandwagon now too.

A charge of $6.96 from OAN Services was included in my SBC bill for spurious call from/to 702 866-5558, a number in Nevada. My reverse phone search on this number yielded no results. I called the billing center number 1-800-295-3933. It answered without identifying who the company is, but simply "billing center". Even before I said anything, the rep proceeded to assure me that credit will be given for the disputed payment of $6.96! She said the call center belonged to Nationwide Conn. Inc., who worked for OAI.

I called SBC then to ask why they are including charges from a third party in their bill, without my authorization. They are after all not a collection agency! I asked to talk to the manager, who said she "believed" that by law they are required to include the charges of third parties, if they requested them to do so! Is this correct? if some Fictitious, Inc. sent them charges on John Doe for services NOT rendered, are they obliged to include them in THEIR bill to John Doe under law?

Yep, add me to the list. I got a 1 minute charge for dir asst to NV 702-555-1212. The alleged call was made while I was out of town, and my husband was at work. Qwest acted as though they have never heard of this company, and said they would reverse the charge. The OAN person is more than willing to credit my account for $5.99, even though I told her I only wanted the billed amount of $4.82. She said, "Oh, you don't have $1.65 on there too?" I said no, but she insists on crediting me for $5.99 in 2 billing cycles. This extra $1.65 must be another scam that is normally added onto the bill, so she says she will credit that amount. How can Qwest say they are "unaware" of this? Especially after I read the tons of complaints on this site, and ripoff report, and many other sites about this company. I have taken the time to file with FCC, FTC, and BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU. It is not so much the amount, but the fact that there are so many people who just pay their bill without looking at it, and are getting RIPPED OFF. That is the most annoying thing about this. Wow, every time you turn around, someone is trying to steal your money. Lately, it seems to be either your own phone company, AND NOW THE OIL COMPANIES TOO!! What a SCAM!! Everyone, please be careful and READ ALL YOUR BILLS, especially your PHONE BILL, and any CREDIT CARD bills you may have. Thanks for letting me post my complaint.

Here in Denver I was charged $5.25 plus taxes for a bogus 3 minute collect charge from Omaha NE.

Yep. They got me, too. I had a collect call for $5.25 plus tax from somewhere in Texas on my most recent SBC bill.. I spoke to operator Dana #131 at OAN, who said he credited my account. I have filed a complaint with ACI Billing, SBC, and my state AG's office. I guess ANYONE could create a charge FOR ANY AMOUNT on my phone bill. I'm outraged!!!

I have a regular charge of $14.95 with taxes $16.22 per month on my Centurytel phone bill from OAN Services INC, billing on behalf of Affinity Marketing Partners, LLC. for E-Mail SVC M. I first noticed this charge 3 months ago but I have no idea how long I have paid it. I have phoned the provided (1-800-944-9646) the last 3 months in a row and have been told each time I would be credited the last months bill although It may take a month or two and I would not be charged further, BUT this hasn't happened yet... I must be a slow learner or at least to trusting. I propose we convince the federal government the scammed monies are being funneled to support terrorism and then we might actaully get them to do something about it... Thank You for providing all this information. I will file with the FTC or anyone else I can think of... Will keep you posted.

And here in Boston, "OAN Services" billed me $7.34 for a collect call from a pay phone in Cedarhurst, NY, on behalf of "Nationwide Connect".

This is clear fraud. I did NOT spend eight minutes on the phone at 10:58 AM talking to a collect caller from a pay phone.

This wretched outfit is not slowing down even a little bit, and they've now moved into BellSouth territory. Same scam..."The following Service Provider(s) have notified BellSouth that they are billing new services on your bill this month: Nationwide Connections Inc." The bill claims that somebody made a collect call in the amount of $4.75 to me (west Tennessee) from Lexington KY on March 22. Needless to say no such call was accepted.

Look over your phone bills--there should be a notice that your company (this is BellSouth's phrasing) "offers options that provide for the blocking of miscellaneous third party billing..." and other things like 1-900 calls. These options are FREE and will also prevent some crooked outfit from switching your long-distance service without your permission, which is an even bigger pain in the butt to get changed back.

We received a billing through Qwest on behalf of TelesevenLLC/OAN.com for "DIR ASST"......There's another twist to this OAN scam.
I have an 80 yr old mom. She is afraid to call regarding any of her health care/ doctors or any other business so I do it for her. I was to call her "SeniorCare" Customer Service line as directed by customer service on a previous call. I was to verify one of the doctors she has....I have called the same customer service line more than a few times over the past year. I had never had a problem getting through. Except for the first week in April...I called the customer service number I have always called and a voice recording came on instucting me to dial what I thought sounded like an odd phone number. I hung up thinking I had the wrong number. After I checked my mom's healthcard and... made sure.... as I entered the number that it was correct, the same recording came on. I entered the number given and another odd recording came on and I hung up. A few days later I called again and got through with no problem and forgot about it. ....Until we received this extra charge on our bill. My husband called and asked QWEST about it and they suggested we call OAN and they'd note it on our account. I called OAN this morning the 1-800-947-5084(took approx. 10 min) I spoke to "Maria" I told her I had never asked for, needed or even wanted DIR ASSIST...she said that when the a 1010 number is called they state that it is directory assistance and that there will be a charge. I told her there was no mention of directory assistance or a charge....I had the correct number and didn't need assistance but as I see was charged for something I didn't ask for or even receive! She said as a courtesty she would electronically remove the charge. I also told her there are many reports of fraudulent billing by QWEST/OAN and if they are a reputable company that they should investigate this. I also reported back to QWEST (spoke to "Pablo") and told him the update..I was informed that I was't the first person today to call about fraudulent billing. I told him QWEST needs to go on line and see how many other people are victims and that they are being blamed and need to check into this!! I told them that I would pay my bill minus the OAN charge. He said that they would make a note on our account and that it should not appear within 1-2 billing cycles.....The other thing that disturbs me is how many senior citzens who try to call their heathcare customer service are being charged? By the way....I called my mom's healthcare provider and reported this to them....the rep. had not heard of it and said they hadn't had trouble with their phone lines this month and would never charge someone to get through!! Just another way the scam goes on!! Should we report this to our local investigative TV stations? How can we get these guys??

Just got a bill yesterday from SBC. OAN Services, Inc. - 16.15. And this is already not the first time they charge! I am pissed already, i'm going right now to call SBC and those suckers and I am gonna curse them out. If i ever see another OAN services on my bill, i will personally go and whip tehir a$$es!! :D

I received my Quest phone bill today and had a charge for 6.25 plus 1.00 tax for a long distance
call from Portland Ore. to Spokane Wa. Collect.
No one was home April 3rd so the call couldn't have been completed. It is beyond me why Quest
is not investigating NATIONWIDE CONNECTIONS,INC.
and WWW.OANWEB.COM FOR, RUNNING THIS SCAM.
There have been a large number of complaint ongoing for months nationwide with several different phone companies.
Quessing the large number of people that overlook
and pay these bogus charges it is not a small-time scam. It is rediculus that they can get away with it this long.
mad as hell

OAN Services, Inc. / Nationwide Connections, Inc. billed me $6.85 for a collect call from Elk Rapids, Michigan from telephone number (231) 264-6309. I have never been asked to accept a collect call from anyone.

I was charged for a supposed collect call on my Verizon (Buffalo, New York) bill from OAN. Supposedly the call was made from a Bob's Hot Dogs in New Jersey. I know no one in New Jersey let alone anyone who would call collect from a Hot Dog stand pay phone. The ease at which fraudulent charges are passed through on your phone bill is scary. Changes need to be made.

I just got a "Nationwide Connection OAN collect call charge on my Verizon bill. I called Verizon and they removed the charge but told me that I may hear direction from Nationwide Connections.
First, the FTC will hear from me.

I received a fraudulent collect call "billing" from OAN Services originating from a pay phone in Princeton, MN for $7.00 ($6.80 and .20 Federal tax) I have reported it to the Iowa utilities commission and will follow up with submitting to the following FCC link: http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/complaints.html.

These people are slime. Keep sending the complaints in. The squeaky wheel gets the grease!

You'd think by now Quest would shut this nonsense down!

yup, just happened to me on my last bill. Nationwide Connections scammed me with a fraudulent collect call bill for $5. The worst part about it is that you have to fight the local phone company who acts as a bill collection enforcer for these criminals.

Hey, here's what to do. I talked at length with Verizon about fraudulent bills from Nationwide Connections, as it just happened to me. They are submitting erroneous collect call charges under New Service Provider to make it look like it isn't a collect call bill, because Verizon allows you to block collect calls on your phone line. Unfortunately, that is not completely foolproof, because honoring a collect call block is optional and dishonest small phone companies like Nationwide Connections opt to ignore that. Anyway. Verizon will post a bill dispute for 60 days. I asked about what to do after 60 days, if the credit is not posted. Verizon said, dispute it again! That's right folks, this is America, people just can't submit phoney bills and make you pay, even if your local phone company is the bill collection enforcer. The biller has to prove the charges are legitimate, usually in court if you fight them hard enough. Every 60 days, just dispute the charges again. Verizon will back you up that way, although I had to dig into their fraud department to get that assurance. I suspect many people do not realize that their phone bills can be disputed just like you can dispute a fraudulent bill that is dropped in your mailbox. Do not be intimidated by your phone bill late fees and threats about not paying. Place the dispute and keep placing it until you get satisfaction. That's the only way to beat down these crooks. Hang tough!

Ok people. What can be done? I'm reading all this but I've yet to see a result. I'm still getting false OAN charges to my bill month after month. It seems like it'll never stop. SBC clams ignorance and said they can only reimburse these false charges once and from now on it's up to me to call OAN and take care of it! That's nice customer service!
Has anyone received a response from the FTC? Any lawyers out there want to start a clase action lawsuit? I'm in! Let's DO SOMETHING!

I got my first "slam" bill last month on my SBC bill from OAN Services. I already had long distance and collect call blocker, but that didn't stop the charges from coming through. I called SBC last month. They said a credit would be given. But here it is on my new statement as a past due charge. I called today, and they suggest I call OAN. I don't think I should have to. It's been a long call. The SBC lady is nice. But this is a pain - and it is a crime. I'm sure lots of people just pay the bill. Why aren't these guys in jail?

Still happening as of May 5. Has anyone gotten any refunds.

Still happening. I called Verizon, who contacted OAN, whose representative promised to "issue a credit". I have electronic bill paying but discontinued it immediately to avoid paying them any money at all. I also filed a complaint with FTC and am trying to reach the Texas AG.

This is Alfred John Rose, and I have a problem with a charge on my phonebill.

Below, is what my Yahoo mail default was set at. I never received an e-mail, nor any e-mail for welcoming me to my so-called 800 number or anything from OAN NAtionwide, except for the charge on my phone bill, for that matter (the 1x setup fee).

I strongly feel that i should not have to pay for this unauthorized charge on my phonebill because the entire purpose any confirmation e-mail is to CONFIRM, not take it upon yourselves (OAN Nationwide), to automatically assume that i wanted this service. This borderline SCAM, possibly illegal, is entirely wrong. OAN, Knowing your "confirmation" e-mails are considered SPAM, and also knowing about the problems with SPAM on people's e-mail in today's world, OAN Nationwide is continuing to send these confirmations without looking into this problem. I've done some research on this and there are others out there who are experiencing the same problem. If the charge is not "deleted" from my bill, i will create a web page and also join others for a civil law suit, report OAN Nationwide to the BBB, and join in the lawsuits already in progress in small claims court. So please remove/credit, or however you guys go about purging charges on phonebills.
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I just got my Sprint bill and these bastards, OAN inc, are charging me twice for "voicemail setup and vmail premium" for $15.74 and $12.95 respectively. Now that I see this is a real old scam I have a few choice words for Sprint cause I am sure they know about this. I don't have a dial-up, nor any extra services through Sprint, just basic landline local service as a back-up.

OANWEB.com continue their scamming ways. Just got my Qwest bill which includes a $7 charge for a collect call from Kent WA from a number which is disconnected. I can prove that I did not accept any such call. Possibly I can get the charge reversed if I work at it for a few days. In the meantime have informed FTC. Does anybody know an attorney who would like to initiate a class action suite to put these people out of business?
Morris

Recieved a phone bill with an eight dollar collect call from Springfield OR on it.

Absolutely ridiculous. Not mine. Had to call SBC, punch 6 buttons, wait while listening to bad music for 20 minutes. I'm certain they'll try and hand it off to Nationwide Conn. Inc, the outfit the charge was billed "on behalf of."

My check is paid to SBC. They are responsible for eliminating this kind of scamming, in my opinion. Why are these jerks allowed to operate? Where is the control? How can someone lay something like this on an unsuspecting member of society and get away with it?

It isn't the money; it's the blatant disregard and bureaucratic shuffling that flames me out.

This has to stop.

I also got OAN collect call charge on behalf have Nationwide Connection Inc. for $6.44 that we never received. As I have seen so many people have been hit on this scam, how is the effective solution to remove this charge? It looks to me that some people got credit back from SBC and some don't(depending on how answer our calls). I am really puzzled why no one can stop them??? Did anyone have this kind of charge fall into collection agency at all???

ACI BILLING SERVICES
(O A N SERVICES, INC.)
9255 Corbin Avenue
NORTHRIDGE, CA 91325
(818)678-4722
http://www.billingconcepts.com

BBB Rating: F

FOR MORE DETAIL INFO, PLEASE VISIT FOLLOWING BBB:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=43551&hA