Help! Gift card scam...

I ordered some items online, when my package came, inside the box was a paper that said "Your order entitles you to a $50.00 Visa Gift Card" and listed a number to call. I called the number and was told I could receive the gift card if I got a three magazine trial. He said all I would need to do is cancel the subscription before the trial period ended and I wouldn't be charged for the monthly subscription fee, but I could keep the gift card whether I cancelled or not. He then persuaded me to take two other offers of the same nature. Another Wal-Mart gift card, and Wal-Mart vouchers for trying out Savings to Go & Savings Store Online. Once again, said as long as I cancelled before the trial period ended, I would still receive the gift card and vouchers. He was even kind enough to supply me with all three phone numbers to make the cancellations. I foolishly supplied him with my name, address, phone number and debit card number. I felt uneasy about it afterward and researched it to find this is a scam. When you try to call to cancel after your free trial so you will not be charged the subscription fees, the numbers aren't legit, and you cannot make contact with them to do so. I understand I gave out my information willingly, but I never saw any terms or conditions, and certainly didn't expect not to he able to contact the companies because I was given fake phone numbers. Now I have no idea what to do. I want to stop this before they begin taking money out of my account. Please, I need some advice as to what I can do to resolve this issue. I am afraid if I do not handle this before charges accrue, I will not be able to get my money back because I willingly gave my information. Can I just cancel my debit card to stop this, or will I have to cancel my bank account all together? I feel like a moron, and am super embarrassed I fell for this.

You need to contact the fraud department of your bank, explain what has happened and that your account is now compromised as a result. The sooner you do so, the better.

Edit to add: Here in the US, paying by debit card is generally not a good idea. With a credit card, you have a clear dispute process and limited liability. Options for debit cards are much more limited and your risk for loss is much higher in general, whether you authorize charges or your information is stolen.

Here is more information on credit vs. debit:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/20/pf/expert/debit-credit-cards/

[AlanJones]

Can I just cancel my debit card to stop this, or will I have to cancel my bank account all together?

In the UK, scams such as this work by setting up what we know as a Continuous Payment Authority - these can not be stopped just by cancelling your card or indeed your bank account (the transactions are pre-authorised, so banks will re-open an account and make it overdrawn). I would imagine a similar method exists in the US.

As Dotti says, you need to report this as a fraud to your bank - they should then be able to deal with any debits on your account.

There are legitimate and scam companies that misuse Continuing Payment Authorities and I recently quashed one CPA that my mother had set up in respect of a legitimate company but they had used underhand and deceptive means to get her to sign up. Thankfully, without having to raise an issue over the methods they used, in the UK there are special rules governing maintenance guarantees (like shops sell you when you buy a pc), and I was able to get it cancelled by using some pretty obscure legislation.

I know of several legitimate companies that abuse the 'free trial' method to trap people in to never-ending Continuous Payment Authorities and one US based company regularly advertises on UK TV, but it's also abused by UK companies.

In the UK there is Consumer Law that does give people some protection and the first thing you need to uncover is whether the companies charging you are legitimate. Presumably they are, otherwise they shouldn't have the facility to originate charges. You need to identify them and then discover what their cancellation rules are. In the UK they must publish how such agreements can be cancelled, though you may discover that there is a minimum period.

Dotti is right...your bank will help you, and most likely they will cancel your account and open you a new one. In the USA we do NOT have that "continous payment" thing you are talking about, and cancelling a card or acct is all you need to do to stop them from billing you