Twenty-nine percent of online U.S. consumers victimized by deceptive marketing

Washington, DC – December 17, 2009 – Today Better Business Bureau joined the Federal Trade Commission and Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) in a press conference to alert consumers to online deceptive marketing practices associated with free trials with a negative option feature. According to a Visa survey, 29 percent of American consumers have fallen victim to deceptive marketing when unscrupulous e-commerce merchants require them to cancel or opt-out of a recurring charge for future products or services.

With free trials with a negative option feature, a company takes a consumer’s failure to cancel as permission to begin charging. While many merchants use this billing process appropriately, others pre-check consent boxes, bury the details of the offers in the terms and conditions and make cancellations or returns difficult, catching consumers in a cycle of recurring charges for products and services they do not want.

Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards

“Most e-commerce merchants care about their customers and conduct business fairly, but even a few bad actors can cause consumer distrust,” said William M. Sheedy, Group President, The Americas, Visa Inc. “We want to let consumers know more about the protections they have against these types of practices and how to pursue a reversal of charges if they’ve been charged improperly.”

Visa monitors its payment network to identify merchants with excessive levels of cardholder disputes which may indicate the use of deceptive marketing practices. In fact, merchants who use deceptive marketing practices have up to 20 times as many consumer disputes as the average e-commerce merchant. Visa requires the merchant and its bank to take corrective action to reduce excessive consumer disputes, or risk termination of Visa acceptance privileges.

According to Better Business Bureau, consumers should research the business before they buy. “Online trial offers for acai berry supplements, colon cleanser and detox products, teeth whiteners, free government grants and debt consolidation services may sound risk-free, but BBB has received thousands of complaints from people who learned the hard way that a free trial can cost a lot of money in the end,” said Steve Salter, Vice President of BBBOnline. “Before handing over debit or credit card numbers to any business online, shoppers should always check the company’s Reliability Report® first with BBB.”

Visa, the FTC and BBB offers tips to online shoppers on how to spot deceptive free trial offers and deceptive negative option features, and how to deal with unauthorized charges:

* Take time to read and understand all terms and conditions, so a free trial doesn’t turn into a costly purchase you didn’t intend to make.
* Pay particular attention to any pre-checked boxes before you submit your payment card information for an order. Failing to un-check the boxes may bind you to terms and conditions you’re not interested in.
* Review card statements when you get them for any unauthorized charges, and notify the card issuer promptly of any unusual activity or unauthorized charges.
* Try to resolve the situation with the merchant. If you’re unsuccessful, contact the card issuer immediately to dispute the charge.

David Vladeck, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection said, “Online shoppers: If you see charges on your statement or debits that you didn’t authorize, fight it. Start by contacting the merchant. If you are unable to contact the merchant or they can’t or won’t help, call your card issuer and then file a complaint with the FTC. You can do that online at ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-FTC-HELP.”

The FTC has outlined five principles regarding the appropriate use of negative options, which call for:

* Disclosing material terms in an understandable manner, without making them unnecessarily long or inconsistent;
* Making the disclosures clear and conspicuous by placing them where consumers are likely to look on Web pages, by labeling disclosures (and links to them) to indicate their importance and relevance, and by using easy-to-read fonts and colors;
* Disclosing the offer’s material terms before the consumer incurs a financial obligation;
* Getting consumers’ affirmative consent to the offer by, for example, having them click “I Agree” And without relying on pre-checked boxes;
* Not impeding the effective operation of promised cancellation procedures and honoring cancellation requests that comply with such procedures.

Consumers who think they’ve been victims of deceptive marketing and who haven’t been able to resolve the issue directly with the merchant should call their card issuer to dispute the charge. They also may report their experiences to the FTC at www.ftc.gov/complaint or their local BBB at www.bbb.org. More information is available at www.visa.com/negativeoption.

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An ongoing threat exists for computer users who, while browsing the Internet, began receiving pop-up security warnings that state their computers are infected with numerous viruses.

These pop-ups known as scareware, fake, or rogue anti-virus software look authentic and may even display what appears to be real-time anti-virus scanning of the user’s hard drive. The scareware will show a list of reputable software icons; however, the user cannot click a link to go to the actual site to review or see recommendations.

The scareware is intimidating to most users and extremely aggressive in its attempt to lure the user into purchasing the rogue software that will allegedly remove the viruses from their computer. It is possible that these threats are received as a result of clicking on advertisements contained on a website. Cyber criminals use botnets to push the software and use advertisements on websites to deliver it. This is known as malicious advertising or malvertising.

Once the pop-up appears it cannot be easily closed by clicking “close” or the “X” button. If the user clicks on the pop-up to purchase the software, a form is provided that collects payment information and the user is charged for the bogus product. In some instances, whether the user clicks on the pop-up or not, the scareware can install malicious code onto the computer. By running your computer with an account
that has rights to install software, this issue is more likely to occur.

Downloading the software could result in viruses, Trojans and/or keyloggers being installed on the user’s computer. The repercussions of downloading the malicious software could prove further financial loss to the victim due to computer repair, as well as, cost to the user and/or financial institutions due to identity theft.

The assertive tactics of the scareware has caused significant losses to users. The FBI is aware of an estimated loss to victims in excess of $150 million.

Be cautious — cyber criminals use easy to remember names and associate them with known applications. Beware of pop-ups that are offering a variation of recognized security software. It is recommended that the user research the exact name of the software being offered.

Take precautions to ensure operating systems are updated and security software is current.

If a user receives these anti-virus pop-ups, it is recommended to close the browser or shut the system down. It is suggested that the user run a full, anti-virus scan whenever the computer is turned back on.

If you have experienced the anti-virus pop-ups or a similar scam, please notify the IC3 by filing a complaint at www.IC3.gov.

December 18, 2009 – SoftAmbulance Data Recovery announces the release of SoftAmbulance Outlook Recovery. This new solution recovers deleted or corrupted Microsoft Outlook files and databases, first providing the user with the preview of repairable data. Outlook Recovery is able to repair as much data as possible: messages, attachments, address books and calendar entries. The straightforward step-by-step interface is the example of clarity and convenience.

The new recovery tool by SoftAmbulance Data Recovery is designed for smooth and comprehensive recovery of Outlook databases, which have been deleted, lost, or damaged due to hard drive crash or power failure. SoftAmbulance Outlook Recovery is able to locate the databases automatically on any drive or memory device, even if it is damaged and, consequently, not readable. Corrupted databases go through careful repair process, so that all messages, attachments, address books, etc. are repaired.

Besides, Outlook Recovery supports export of Outlook data to .PST, .OST, .DBF and .EML formats, so that the recovered databases can be used with programs other than Microsoft Outlook (e.g. Outlook Express or any e-mail application supporting .EML files).

To check if Outlook Recovery is powerful enough to recover necessary files, one should use the preview feature: it displays all that can be recovered including archive contents and pictures. Before purchasing the license it is recommended to download the trial edition and to try it out.

Pricing and Availability

SoftAmbulance Outlook Recovery is compatible with Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 2003 and 2008 Server. It can also recover databases in Microsoft Outlook 2003 and 2007 formats. A single-user license costs 79.95 USD. Further information on the product, as well as its free trial edition, is available at https://softambulance.com/outlook_recovery_pst/outlook_recovery_features.php

About SoftAmbulance

Founded in 2005, SoftAmbulance Data Recovery Company is a software developer specializing in convenient yet powerful recovery tools for home users. The major products by SoftAmbulance are Partition Doctor, File Recovery and Photo Undelete. For more information on the company and its products please visit https://softambulance.com/