What to do now…
Pay the bill
Unless this is a case of boyfriend/girlfriend stole the credit card, and you are willing to file a police report, you have to pay it. When a family member in your household uses your credit card, you are responsible for that charge.
Cancel the service
The charges are recurring monthly fees. They will show up again on your credit card statement if you do not act quickly.
Cancel your credit card
This is actually the first thing you should do. I know this is going to be a hassle, but it is necessary. There are 2 strong reasons for this:
- You not know who has your credit card information
- There might be more charges on the way. There could be other ‘bonus’ offers that you might not yet be aware of.
This creates the possibility of Identity Theft in the future. This could be thru an overt act on the part of the one of the unknown entities that has your credit card, or an inadvertent act because of lax security policies and practices. The secrecy that this company or companies operate under is just not acceptable when they hold personal and financial information. When you are dealing with an unknown, there is no accountability.
To cancel the service, visit shnvme.com. The customer service site has functions to cancel the subscription / membership, and a chat feature should you want to do that. If you prefer, you can call the Staffordish customer service number.
Staffordish Customer Service Number:
Opt out of the Card Updater service.
When you get a new card, tell your bank that you want to opt out of the Card Updater service. For VISA, its called Account Updater, for MasterCard, it is Automatic Billing Updater. A card updater service provides merchants your new credit card number, when your card number changes. This is intended to keep subscription services uninterrupted.
Banks are required to participate by the card companies. Merchants can sign up for the service by paying a fee. This service is very beneficial for companies who charge monthly subscriptions, like the charges you are investigating.
Banks are not required to provide opt out, but most major financial institutions do so. If your bank does not, find a new bank.
A card updater service provides merchants your new credit card number, when your card number changes. This is intended to keep subscription services uninterrupted.
Banks are required to participate by the card companies. Merchants can sign up for the service by paying a fee. This service is very beneficial for companies who charge monthly subscriptions, like the charges you are investigating.
Opt Out is not required of US Banks, but most major financial institutions do so. If your bank does not, find a new bank.
If this charge came from a significant other
I hope that this is not bad news. I doubt that they joined a dating site. Most likely scenarios:
- Attempted to meet a person who was actually just a common scammer. It could have been on Tinder, or anywhere really; I get reports of scammers everywhere. They thought it would be discreet. They were wrong. This is the reason 80% of people visit this site.
- Cam Scam
- Free iPhone Scam – respond to a you win an iPhone ad, or register to win iPhone ad
It might be worth using a background check service, such as Instant Checkmate, Been Verified, or TruthFinder. Links below.
PS I do not get compensation a referral. I think it is a common sense thing to do in this situation. My advice is be calm, measured, thoughtful, and thorough.
https://www.instantcheckmate.com/
https://www.intelius.com/background-check