GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - This holiday season, the Better Business Bureau is warning consumers about so-called "free trial" offers.
Just enter your name, address and credit card number, and the product will be on its way (+shipping). You guessed, it -- if it seems too good to be true, it probably is.
The BBB conducted an investigative study and found that many free trial offers are not what they say they are. Complaints from free trial offer victims come in daily to the BBB.
According to a press release, the study – "Subscription Traps and Deceptive Free Trials Scam Millions with Misleading Ads and Fake Celebrity Endorsements" -- looked at how free trial offers ensnare consumers in so-called "subscription traps" that hook them for expensive shipments of products they did not explicitly agree to buy.
Pay Attention
Many free trial offers come with fine print, buried on the order page or by a link, which gives consumers only a short period of time to receive, evaluate and return the product to avoid being charged oftentimes $100 or more. The same hidden information may state that by accepting the offer, you've signed up for monthly shipments of the products and such fees will be charged to your credit card.
According to the BBB, victims span all income and education levels.
How Can I Avoid Being Scammed?
The report recommends:
- BBB urges credit card companies to do more to ensure victims receive charge-backs where key conditions are not adequately disclosed. Because this fraud is dependent on the use of credit cards, more effort is needed to identify and combat deceptive free trial offers employing credit card systems. Also, it would helpful if they could do more to educate their customers.
- Additional criminal prosecutions of this conduct are needed. The FTC and BBB have done much to address the issue, but do not have the ability to bring criminal charges. Only criminal prosecutions are likely to deter this type of fraud.
- Social media sites should do more to curtail such deceptive advertising.
- International cooperation is needed to combat this fraud. U.S. and Canadian law authorities need more information about victims from other countries. In addition, evidence and other key information may be located in a variety of countries around the world.
- More consumer education is needed from news media and consumer groups like BBB.
What If I Already Fell For It?
What to do if you believe you have been a victim of a free trial offer fraud:
- Complain to the company directly. If that is not successful, call the customer service number on the back of your credit card to complain to the bank.
- Complain to www.bbb.org.
- Report the fraud to www.bbb.org/scamtracker.
- Report it to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call 877-FTC-Help.
- Report it to Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.
- Report suspicious, confusing or misleading ads to BBB Ad Truth.
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