Years ago someone order thousands of dollars of telephone switching equipment and billed it to my phone number. The telephone company explained what happened. When I requested they cancel the order, they said they couldn't do that because I already told them I was not the one who placed the order. Sometimes I think these organizations don't want to stop fraud.

That was the last time I allowed automatic deduction for utility bills - the money had been taken from my checking account.

I got lucky. My wife worked in the legal department at the telephone company. Her boss got it straightened out super fast.