March 23, 2010
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News: Iowa Credit Card Customers Win Big
Strike one up for the Iowa Attorney General, Tom Miller, who won a major victory for credit card consumers. A Polk County, Iowa District Court judge ruled against a Connecticut based emarketing firm for deceptive and unfair practices. Vertrue, Incorporated defrauded nearly 500,000 Iowan credit card customers through a deceptive buying club membership scam. The company charged the customers $10 to $20 monthly for the membership after the individual click "yes" on a link without realizing what it meant. Vertrue was able to access the customer's credit card information from online retailers where an original unrelated purchase took place. When cardholders realized there was a monthly recurring charge on their account, they notified Vertrue asking the company to remove the charges. In some cases, it took months to get the charges removed and in most cases, no action was taken at all.
Attorney General Tom Miller said the over $36 million suit was the largest consumer protection case his office had ever won. According to Miller, the victims didn't even realize that the company was charging their debit and credit card accounts. One of the victims said at first he didn't notice the recurring $9.99 monthly charge. The first time he noticed it, he thought it was a charge for a credit report which he had ordered which he thought was free. He notified the company and a representative told him it was related to his credit report. As he kept watch on his credit card statements, he realized the fee was recurring. He continued to notify Verture asking them to remove the charges but no action was taken. The charges soon increased to $29 on three separate cards. He continued to refuse payment and the company continued to threaten him that failure to pay was hurting his credit.
According to court documents, Vertrue had been selling the club memberships through telemarketing, direct mail, and online over a 20 year period. Many of the victims thought they were signing up for a free credit report. Vertrue was able to get the victims credit card information when the customer called or signed up for an advertised T.V. product and agreed to a "risk free membership." The consumer didn't realize they had to cancel it before the free trial expired.