Class Action Blog : Consumer Fraud, Consumer Protection, Securities and Antitrust Lawyer & Attorney : Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz

One of the classic means by which unscrupulous business deceive consumers is by imposing unauthorized charges on phone bills. These types of scams have been going on for decades, and as a result, many states have specific statutes requiring explicit authorization and notice before a charge can be added to a consumer’s telephone bill by a third party. Unfortunately, not everyone gets the message.

One such company might be Member’s Edge, which provides voice mail and email related services. Member’s Edge charges $19.95 for monthly voice mail charges. It also sells email services marketed under the name “Family Discount Network,” with monthly charges of $14.95, with a $14.95 non-refundable set-up fee. According to the Vermont Attorney General in a recent lawsuit, Member’s Edge does not just rely on fair marketing to convince consumers that they should pay for their voice mail and email services; it also imposes unauthorized charges on phone bills. Many consumers who have identified charges by Member’s Edge complain that they never authorized any such charges. The Vermont Attorney General also claims that a similarly company, Residential Voice Mail, is guilty of imposing unauthorized charges on telephone customers.

If you or anyone you know has been the victim of unauthorized charges by Member’s Edge, Family Discount Network or Residential Voice Mail, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

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Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C. is currently investigating a potential class action against the websites Classmates.com and Memory Lane for charging unauthorized fees to customers.  Many consumers claim to have been victimized by this scam.

Getting in touch with old friends is fun and the Internet has made reconnecting easier than ever.  Unfortunately, some companies have been taking advantage of people who are just trying to reconnect with their past.  Several customers have reported that the websites Classmates.com and Memory Lane have charged them for unauthorized fees.  These customers report that they agreed to pay a certain amount of money, and then found that their credit cards were charged for a higher amount.

If you gave money to Classmates.com and Memory Lane or a similar website and were then treated unfairly, you may have been a victim of fraud.  Please contact us immediately to discuss your legal options.

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Previously, we reported on potentially deceptive behavior by United Marketing Group in connection with clandestine Internet and telemarketing “sales” to consumers following a purchase from an otherwise legitimate retailer. However, it appears that United Marketing Group may have teamed up with Discover to deceptively charge small businesses for unwanted “Merchant Technical Solutions.”

A number of small businesses have reported mysterious charges for $49.95 appearing on their Discover Card statements that are cryptically described as “UMG*MERCHANTTECHSOLUT.” It turns out that these and other similarly ambiguous charges are for programs run by United Marketing Group; apparently, United Marketing Group and Discover have become “business partners” in connection with these offerings, and it appears that United Marketing Group and Discover may be working in concert to deceive businesses into “enrolling” in these programs without their knowledge or authorization.

Many small businesses report receiving a call from United Marketing Group (although the callers sometimes identify themselves as being associated with Discover) informing them that they will be sending technical information and requesting an address verification. These calls are often not made to the business owner; the caller states that he or she understands that the person answering the phone is not authorized to make purchases. Nonetheless, charges begin appearing on the businesses’ Discover account. Others report that United Marketing Group “slams” their phone bills with unauthorized charges for these services.

If you have been charged by Discover or United Marketing Group for services you did not want or authorize, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

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Here at MDPCE, we have written a number of times about the need to be careful to catch unauthorized charges that may appear on consumers’ credit card and checking account statements. Unfortunately, the number of unfair and deceptive “cramming” schemes about which consumers must be wary are legion. One such scheme appears to be run by Stonebridge Benefit Services, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas. Stonebridge appears to use at least two tactics to deceive consumers into paying its unauthorized monthly charges for bogus membership programs. The first involves post-transactional marketing, whereby Stonebridge entices consumers with “free gift” or “cash back” offers that appear to be a reward for an otherwise legitimate Internet transaction with another company. Stonebridge also appears to be using deceptive telemarketing, tricking consumers who are making a legitimate purchase over the phone into signing up for “free” trial memberships whose unfair terms are not adequately disclosed.

Stonebridge’s memberships claim to offer savings on consumer goods, health products, and entertainment. Stonebridge’s membership clubs include:

Savings2Go
LeisurePlus/Select
PlanPlus/Select
Savings Solution
BackPorch Home and Garden
Everyday Bargains
Experts-on-Call
Fun Family Rewards/Select
Home & Auto Protection Plan
MotorPlus
Perfect Home Rewards/Select
Pet Club

If you or someone you know has been charged for these or other monthly membership programs without consent or authorization, please contact us to discuss your legal options. 

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It is virtually impossible to live in modern society without a credit card. Consumers need plastic to rent cars, make on-line purchases, prove their identity, and even buy a bag of peanuts on an airplane. As a result, consumers have to increasingly rely on the honesty and integrity of credit card companies with whom they have accounts. Given how many charges appear on most consumers’ credit card statements every month, it becomes all but impossible to monitor each and every charge. This is especially true of elderly and vulnerable consumers.

Unfortunately, some credit card companies abuse their customers’ trust, and it appears Citibank may be one of them. A number of consumers have reported that mysterious and unauthorized charges for a shopping discount club called Essentials Gold have appeared on their Citibank statements.  When confronted, Citibank sometimes reverses the charge, in what seems to be a tacit admission that it was unauthorized in the first place. The scheme appears to be widespread, as consumers also say that Citibank customer service reps confirm that they have heard a number of similar complaints.

Essentials Gold also appears to go out of its way to make it difficult for consumers to cancel these unwanted memberships. When they call, Essentials Gold demands their member number (which consumers rarely have, as they never agreed to join in the first instance) or asks for the credit card number. Naturally, consumers calling to cancel and to seek refunds for unauthorized charges are reluctant to provide their credit card number to a company they have reason not to trust.

Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz P.C. is researching a potential consumer class action against Citibank and Essentials Gold. If you or someone you know was charged for membership in Essentials Gold, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

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The Internet continues to grow as an important commercial channel for American consumers. More than half of American adults have either made an online purchase or travel reservation, and e-commerce revenue in the United States accounted for more than $165 billion in 2010. The rapid growth of e-commerce has been immensely valuable to consumers, offering easy access to a wide variety of goods and services, and it has led to valuable business innovations. 

Unfortunately, shopping on the Internet can also result in unauthorized charges by companies that “cram” unwanted membership charges onto consumers’ credit cards following a legitimate purchase. For example, many consumers have been victims of apparently unauthorized charges by an Internet search company called Intelius. This company sells contact information regarding people for whom consumers are searching, typically at a nominal charge. However, many consumers complain that Intelius also enrolls them in unwanted membership programs that come with substantial recurring unauthorized monthly charges. Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz, P.C. is investigating whether Intelius deceptively enrolls consumers in unwanted membership programs that come with substantial recurring unauthorized monthly charges. As a result, and seemingly in violation of consumer protection statutes, American consumers have incurred millions of dollars in unauthorized charges.

If you were charged fees by Intelius that you did not agree to or authorize, please contact us to discuss your legal options.

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One of the country’s largest credit and debit card payment processing companies, Heartland Payment Systems (“Heartland”) based in Princeton, New Jersey, announced on Monday, January 19, 2009, that credit and debit card numbers, expiration dates and cardholders names were stolen after its computer systems were hacked. Although the Heartland breach exposed the personal data of 600 million or more cardholders, and Heartland became aware of the breach in fall, 2008 -- and may even have been aware of the breach as early as May, 2008 -- it did not publicly reveal the breach until just two days ago, exposing millions of cardholders to the possibility of fraud for many months.

The Heartland data breach could wind up rivaling some of the largest data thefts in history. In January, 2007, the retail chain TJ Maxx (“TJX”) admitted that confidential credit and debit card data on more than 45 million customers had been compromised. Avivah Litan, a data security analyst interviewed by the New York Times, said that the Heartland breach may dwarf the TJX breach and could result in hundreds of millions in losses and other expenses. “If you add it all up . . . it could cost as much as half a billion dollars in losses – or twice as big as TJX,” she said.

Cardholders are advised to examine their credit and debit card monthly statements closely for any evidence of fraudulent unauthorized charges. Should you find unauthorized charges on your credit or debit card statements, and you believe that your credit or debit card information was stolen as a result of the Heartland breach, please contact us immediately to discuss your legal options.

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