Hello everyone,
I wanted to make everyone aware of a scam which I very nearly fell foul of today, had it not been for the vigilance of my bank!
Basically, I took the decision to do the AQ50 and RAADS tests; AQ50 was easily available for free. The RAADS one I ended up doing with a provider as a 'supposed' cost of £2 for the results. Took it on Saturday and got my score - was very high but that's another tale.
Anyway I was busy at work today when my mobile pinged, and I just managed to get a glance that it was a notification from my bank. Opened the notification and it was a Fraud Prevention Alert from my bank, where someone was trying to take £50 out of my account. The company attempting to take the money was called MentaLab - the very same company that had acted as paid-for middleman between me and the company offering the RAADS test (which I later found could be taken for free).
MentaLab are apparently scamming people by doing auto sign-up subscriptions known as Continuous Payment Authorities. When you pay for a purchase or a service, they don't tell you that they are going to set a CPA up. A CPA is like a Direct Debit, but it comes off a bank card instead of out of a bank account. That basically means that if you pay for something with a card, that's enough detail for a rogue company to set up a CPA with you, without asking your permission and this is exactly what MentaLab did with me.
I spoke with the bank on the phone and they said MentaLab had been added to the fraud protection filters in the last few weeks, as thousands of people were falling for the scam. Thinking they are paying for a £2 test, but then entering a £50 / month agreement without consenting to it. The call handler at the bank said she found it even more disgusting that this company is preying on the vulnerable people it's claiming to be helping.
So if you see any offers, tests, or anything else from MentaLab or Sitefusion Tech Ltd (the companies behind the scam), steer well clear for sake of preventing yourself messing about. I've had my debit card cancelled / destroyed, and I'm now waiting for a new one to be issued so that the company can't attempt further debits (they'll get a payment declined error from now on).