Online companies tricking young into long-term subscriptions

ONLINE companies are using 'dodgy tactics' to lure ­consumers into taking out subscriptions they do not want, Citizens Advice Scotland has warned.

Picture: PA

Customers are offered “free trials” with a small-print contract that locks them into a long-term subscriptions. Many are unaware they need to act to cancel the service once the trial period is ended.

A total of 84 per cent of Scots said they did not realise they had taken out a subscription just by taking part in a free 
trial, according to the study.

The report warned that companies use a tool called a “Continuous Payment Authority” (CPA), which, like a direct debit, allows companies to take money from a customer’s bank or credit card account. However, unlike a direct debit, a CPA has few protections, and allows the company to alter the amount it takes.

Young people are most vulnerable to the scam, Citizens Advice Scotland found, with 18-24 year olds least likely to know what a CPA is, yet almost half of this age group have set one up in the past year.

Spokesman Fraser Sutherland said: “In this report we have identified a major ­problem facing consumers across the country.

“Many online companies are luring people into signing up for long-term subscriptions, often without even realising it.

“One of the problems is that the company will use complicated language to describe what you are signing up to. In many cases they even with-hold key details altogether.”