Further proof people are out there trying to scam you out of your money. I heard about this little fiasco a while ago but never knew who sites were helping in it.
This article on CNet does a good job covering the actual scam. But to sum it up in a small bit of information it’s this. When you go to a website signed up with a company called WebLoyalty a pop-up appears asking you if you want to receive a coupon for your next purchase. All they ask you to input is your e-mail address.
Well when you do that they begin charging your credit card every month. See the companies listed on the previous link give your credit card information to WebLoyalty who give that said company a cut of the monthly charge. The surprising thing are the names of the companies on this list. It’s not just a series of no-name retailers. Here is a list from the article linked:
Partners Paid Over $10 Million
1-800-Flowers.com
Buy.com
Classmates.com
Columbia House
Confi-Check
Expedia/Hotels.com
Fandango
FTD
Hotwire
InQ
Intelius
MovieTickets.com
Orbitz
Priceline
Redcats USA
Shutterfly
Travelocity
US Airways
VistaPrintPartners Paid Between $1 and 10 Million
1-800 PetMeds
Adteractiv
Airtran Airways
Allegiant Air
Allposters.com
American Greetings
Auto Parts
Avon
Barnes & Noble
Bizrate.com
Bookspan
Boston Apparel Group
BuySeasons/Celebrate Express
Campusfood.com
Cendant Intercompany Agreements
Channel Advisor
Cheap Tickets
Choice Hotels
CollectionsEtc.com
Continental Airlines
Currents USA (123 Prints)
Custom Direct
Digital River
Dr. Leonard’s
Drugstore
eHarmony
eTix
eToys
Fareportal
FragranceNet
From You Flowers
FTD Florists Online
Gamestop/EBgames
Gevalia
Haband
Half.com
Hanover Direct
Hertz
HiSpeed Media
Infinity Resources
J.C. Whitney
Joann.com
Lillian Vernon
Live Nation
Marketworks
Miles Kimball
Musicnotes
MyLife.com
MyPoints
Pizza Hut
Potpourri
Restaurants.com
Riverdeep
Shoebuy
Simplexity
Spirit Airlines
Suresource/Americart
Thompson Group
Tiger Direct
TimeLife
True.com
True Credit (True Link)
Upsellit.com
US Search
Victoria’s Secret
Vitacost
WayPort
West
Yahoo
You may ask why this scam works since the charges appears on your credit card statement every month. It works because nobody checks those. This scam here is a good lesson to always check EVERY item on your credit card bill.
Of course now there’s talk of legislative action yadda yadda. Really it’s another pony show by legislators to make people think they’re doing something. In all honesty if you aren’t checking your credit card bill every month and disputing things you didn’t buy this is on your hands.