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GameStop, Other Retailers Subpoenaed Over Credit Card Information Sharing

Posted by Soulskill on from the you-can-trust-us dept.

New York State's Attorney General, Andrew Cuomo, has subpoenaed a number of online retailers, including GameStop, Barnes & Noble, Ticketmaster and Staples, over the way they pass information to marketing firms while processing transactions. MSNBC explains the scenario thus: "You're on the site of a well-known retailer and you make a purchase. As soon as you complete the transaction a pop-up window appears. It offers a discount on your next purchase. Click on the ad and you are automatically redirected to another company's site where you are signed up for a buying club, travel club or credit card protection service. The yearly cost is usually $100 to $145. Here's where things really get smarmy. Even though you did not give that second company any account information, they will bill the credit or debit card number you used to make the original purchase. You didn't have to provide your account number because the 'trusted' retailer gave it to them for a cut of the action." While there is no law preventing this sort of behavior, Cuomo hopes the investigation will pressure these companies to change their ways, or at least inform customers when their information might be shared.

5 of 117 comments (clear)

  1. For once ... by nospam007 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... it seems like PayPal looks good in comparison.

  2. What we've known for years.. by goldaryn · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Wow, that's incredible. I find popups and popunders very invasive, so for years I haven't clicked them on principle. I had no idea that it had gotten this far.

    I'm going to print off this article (I suggest you do the same) and find the dopey people that I know (the ones who use IE and think sending chain emails is a good idea), thrust it to them and say: "Don't... click... popups!". If that doesn't wake them up, nothing will..

    If anyone is interested, I posted the other day about the marvels of Privoxy, which stops a lot of ads, irrespective of browser.

  3. Re:So if I use some one else's credit card by Hognoxious · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I disagree. If I authorize a 20 buck one-off charge on whatever.com, I'm not authorizing a 30 buck per month charge from somethingelse.com, whatever the small print says. Just because it's there doesn't make it enforceable.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  4. Re:Social Games and the Federal Probe by jimthehorsegod · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Don't ever put your credit card information into Facebook or a Facebook app.

    Well, no - but I'm no more likely to do that than I am to put my genitals in a meat grinder... I'm amazed that anyone would

  5. Re:So if I use some one else's credit card by Svartalf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Yes. I strongly suspect that these things fall under "bait-and-switch" laws on the books.

    Just because you agreed to it doesn't make the "it" any less fraudulent.

    The main problem is...for many, "illegal" really means it's against the law if you're caught out doing it and someone calls you on it.

    --
    I am not merely a "consumer" or a "taxpayer". I am a Citizen of the State of Texas