I am creating this blog for the sole purpose of warning people about IKOBO.com
IKOBO.com is a way to send money to people around the world, their web site says:
iKobo has been helping people send money safely, quickly and easily since 2001. With iKobo you can send money anytime day or night and money can be picked up using the iKobo prepaid Visa card at over 1 million ATMs worldwide. The iKobo card can also be used to make purchases at the over 20 million stores that accept Visa.
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My own experience with IKOBO.com didn't exactly go the way the web site claims it would and they have stolen money from me. This is not a mistake, I'm not overreacting, there is no other way to say it. They are running a scam, they are criminals, they steal your money.
Here's the quick version of the story.
I was told by a software developer in Russia that I could use IKOBO to send payment. He did give me some other options but IKOBO seemed like the fastest and easiest way.
The reason I used IKOBO was because they allow you to use your credit card, without verifying all sorts of information or funding your account like so many payment processors do now a days.
I created an account, added the recipient, made the payment.
The payment shows as waiting to be sent for a few hours and then is cancelled.
That's fine with me, I will use another service to send the money.
But wait, it's not that easy, they have placed a hold on the money in my bank account, since I used a VISA Debit card, not an actual credit card.
Ok, so, wait a few days and the hold will clear.
I spoke to one of their customer support reps on their live chat and was told that the money could not be sent to the person because they already had too many people sending them money. In other words, too many other people had them listed as a recipient in their accounts. The amount of people? 4.
4 people is the limit but they don't tell you when you add the recipient that you can't send them money, they wait until you try and send the money, then they say, you can't send them money because of that reason.
This should be a no brainer, can't send them money, no money is taken. Period.
But, not this wonderful scam of a company, they put a hold on the funds even though in my account it says the transaction is cancelled.
To top that off, the money went from on hold to purchase, which means, they took the money out of my account as if I had actually made a purchase. Of course, this only shows in my bank account, not in my IKOBO account.
I call them. The address listed is Florida, but the person that answers the phone is not in Florida, I don't know where she was but she had never heard of my bank, Wachovia.
Obviously, not in the US if she never heard of Wachovia.
The address is bogus.
But, someone did answer the phone so that's a plus.
She tells me they did not accept the money. She tells me their compliance dept. (yeah right), will send a fax to the bank letting them know that the money was never accepted by IKOBO and should be put back in my account.
I call the bank already knowing what they are going to say.
What the bank said is; the money was taken as a purchase, it is no longer on hold, it would have to be refunded to the debit card used.
I call IKOBO back and let them know this.
I should say that the woman on the phone was a complete bitch, could not have cared less about my issue and was obviously annoyed that she even had to bother with me.
She informs me that the compliance person will take the necessary steps, whatever they may be, to ensure my funds are put back in my account.
The bank tells me I should just come in and do a charge back, which is what I am going to do, since I've never done one I have no idea how long it will take to get my money back.
Proof they stole the money:
Bank Account:
10/06/2009 _ Purchase _ PURCHASE _ WWW.IKOBO.COM _ 10/05 _ $210.46
IKOBO account:
2009-10-05 _ 12:36:34 _ Sergey Private _ Cancelled _ 199.00 _ 11.46
The $11.46 is their extra stupidity fee, I got to pay it for being stupid enough to use their service.
My bank also charged me an International Transfer fee of $6.31.
Total loss $216.77, at least until I get the money back through a charge back.
I could have used Western Union for around $225, it certainly would have been worth the extra $10 bucks to actually have the money sent and not stolen.
So, save yourself the aggrivation, don't use IKOBO, http://www.ikobo.com
Use Western Union like I should have done.
IKOBO info, the phone number is real but I'm sure the address is just a mail box.
The 214 number is a Texas Number but the address is Florida.
Email us at Support@iKobo.com
Help by Phone:
USA/Canada toll free 1-866-800-4562
Local/International - 1-214-446-3820
Fax:Customer Inquiries: 866-800-9826
Mailing Address:
iKobo Customer Support
M2 Financial
2301 Maitland Center Parkway
Suite 240
Maitland, Florida 32751
USA
A Domain name check gives you this:
REGISTRANT CONTACT INFO
M2 Systems Corporation
Perry Rhodes
2301 Maitland Center Parkway
Suite 240Maitland FL 32751
US
Phone: +1.4075511300
Email Address: administrator@ikobo.com
The 407 number is a Florida number, which I would guess means whoever owns IKOBO is using customer service companies for their customer service, since the customer service numbers are not Florida numbers, this helps especially when you are running a nice scam since you are just paying someone to answer the phone, which people will normally take as a sign of legitimacy.
I will update this blog as I continue to deal with iKobo and if they really do give back my money, I will certainly post it here, even if they do, it's not worth the aggrivation so consider this a warning and don't use IKOBO, use Western Union.
iKOBO Scam
