If you buy items on the Web, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a popup screen after making a purchase that offers you a cash back reward on future purchases. “Cash back! On future purchases! Awesome!” you think, clicking the “yes” button and entering an e-mail address. “After all, companies can’t sign me up for any kind of mysterious recurring charges with an e-mail address, right?”
Wrong—thousands of people have seen charges of $9-12 show up on credit cards every month after clicking on such links. That’s because they have actually enrolled in a Web loyalty program, in many cases without knowing it.
Companies like Webloyalty have affiliations with merchants—big names like Orbitz, Petco, Fandango, Priceline, and FTD. When customers sign up for their “cash back” offer, Webloyalty simply gets the billing information from the merchant. Problem solved—except for consumers.
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Originally Syndicated via RSS from Ars Technica
