Free gift from newlyratedgadgets.com it's a scam!

 The other day I was doing some searching on my Verizon account when a website page pop-up with this sport smart watch promotion, saying that I qualified for, it's free and I only have to pay $7.95 for the shipping. I usually don't fall for scams. but coming from Verizon I taught this was legit. I paid for it and everything went well, until today when I got a surprise charge on my credit card. Today I noticed a newly $54.98 charge from the same name, that charged me for the shipping,  EXCEPTIONALLYADVANCEDS from Texas.  I had no idea what that extra charge was for. So I wanted to call them, but I realized they didn't send me any email with the purchase, so I had no contact info from them. Looked in the spam, nothing.

I called the bank and got the phone number from the company that did the charge, 1-855-442-2579, just to find out that the company is a 3rd party call center, in Alabama. I called and talked with a representative named Kyra. When I asked about the extra charge I was told that I clicked on the box where they asked me if "I am 18 years or older" and by doing that I agreed with their "terms and conditions" where apparently they inserted that $54 monthly charge in it, thinking that probably some people don't pay attention to the charges on their credit card. (That's another great reason for ALWAYS using a credit not a debit card! You are protected with a credit, and can dispute charges. Not so much with a debit card.) 

They told me that they can cancel my subscription, but only after I asked them if it's a full refund, they told me it's just a partial 30%. After going back and forth they agree with 50% refund. I told them NO, I need a full refund because I did not got any service from them. She went silent, then put me on hold and after a while I had to hang up and call back. Another representative picked up the phone and I was told was not the same representative, but her name was also Kyra. I tried to get the name of the company she was working for, but she refuse to provide it. Imagine having to deal with some company that has your personal information collected from you, but they are not willing to give you their company name and information. I asked to talk to a supervisor and she told me I will be told the same info. I insisted to talked to one. After a few minutes I was able to talk with a supervisor named Krystal and explain the situation. Shortly after, she was willing to refund me the entire amount. I was also requesting the website and some contact from the original company NewlyRatedGadges.com but the only info that they provided was the website. That website is not working or active anymore. 

When I looked up the site, I noticed that was just registered in November, 2021. The registration was done in Reykjavik, Island. No wonder there is not much history about this fraudulent site. Most likely they are using multiple similar newly created websites to scam people.

I contacted Verizon and reported the situation. This is a scam, and has to stop. 

Further more, when I looked on google, I found an AT&T forum where people were complaining about the same website and exactly the same scam, but this time through AT&T.