Scammed by a popup on Vitacost

ComplaintsInternet ScamsMVQ Shop Essentials

Complaint

0
Penny Weller
Country: United States
I still cannot believe I have been scammed out of this monthly charge from May 2008 - December 2013.  The fee started when my daughter who was in college evidently viewed a VitaCost website.  Supposedly she was going to get a $20 coupon -- per MVQ Shop Essentials (which I understand is a buying club).  She is so upset.  I was horrified.  I called Citibank and they gave us credit for the past four months, however, I have been bilked out of $1,764.00 -- UNBELIEVEABLE.  I called twice and they tried to sound like they were going to do something but all I got was a message that they showed their name and phone # on each statement and it isn't their problem that I never heard of nor used their services.  I do not know how they can sleep at night.  Horrible treatment.

Comments

  • 0
    tj
    | 2 replies
    They are running a cramming scam.

    This "buying club" supposedly offers "discounts", but with the attached strings, it's unlikely anyone gets any value exceeding what it costs them in monthly charges, and since most victims don't even know they are being charged, it's money totally pissed down the drain.  The monthly charges are small enough that many people don't notice for months.

    They may go through the motions of offering a "product", as an excuse for continuing charges to claim you got something, but practically all their victims never even knew they were being charged until they questioned them after months of charges.  Notce how they were prepared to string you along some more, then just brush you off.

    You can't even be sure that their story about "agreeing through a pop-up".  It's to their advantage that you believe YOU (or your daughter) did something to give them the money.  For all you know they just hid terms in some marketting partner's fine print, or called in a follow-up call after the order and made a deceptive pitch, even just made it all up.  All of the above show up with cramming scams.

    File fraud complaints with FTC and your state Attorney General.  In addition, file a fraud complaint with the Minnesota Attorney General.  It may be they have settlement agreements with some AGs, or are tip-toeing carefully due to too many recent complaints, but they might not volunteer that if they think they can brush you off agaiin.

    You want your money back, make a fuss.
    • 0
      tj replies to tj
      Be sure to block your card number, or they might start charging again in a few months, when they think you might be less vigilent.
    • 0
      tj replies to tj
      By the way, several years VISA tightened up their merchant agreements to require separate entry of credit card numbers into pop-up offers to authorize charges, rather than just handing off the card number from some other purchase.  There was so much fraud going on, the Senate Commerce Committee held hearings on the problem, and VISA and Mastercard were feeling some heat.  They also cracked down on other fraudulent crammers, includng a bunch of "acai berry" cramming scams.

      Your charges started before this tightening of antifraud rules, so your "authorizaton" was probably obtained through a deceptive pop-up that didn't clearly disclose that charges would be made.  Alternatively, the "pop-up" claim might just be a cover for a fraudulent order processing call center just handing off your card number to get their cut.

      Contact FTC and the AGs, and see if an AG letter shakes out your money.

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