Boston Globe: Suit says online marketer ran scam

[Eugene]

Suit says online marketer ran scam
Shoppers allegedly tricked into paying fee

By Sacha Pfeiffer, Globe Staff | September 12, 2006

Customers of several popular online retailers, including Fandango.com,
Priceline.com, and Staples.com, were victims of an alleged Internet scheme
in which their credit cards were charged a monthly fee for a "discount club"
membership they had never requested, according to a class action lawsuit
filed yesterday in US District Court in Massachusetts.

The lawsuit accuses Webloyalty.com, an online marketing services company
in Norwalk, Conn., of engaging in a "coupon click fraud" scam in which credit
card information was transferred to Webloyalty by its dozens of online partners
-- such as Movietickets.com, Petco.com, and FTD.com -- without consumers'
consent.

-snip-

The alleged scheme worked this way, according to the suit: After consumers made
online purchases from various Web retailers, a pop-up window appeared on their
computer screens promising a $10 coupon on their next purchase. If consumers
entered their e-mail addresses to redeem that coupon, their personal information,
including credit or debit card number, was automatically transferred to Webloyalty.

Webloyalty then automatically billed the consumer's credit or debit card a $9 or $10
monthly fee for a membership in its "Reservations Rewards" discount club.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.boston.com/business/globe/articles/2006/09/12/suit_says_online_marketer_ran_scam