You may have seen the online ads, which are common on Yahoo mail servers. They often picture a young woman sitting at a computer and smiling at the camera. The caption says the woman lives in your city and has discovered a way to earn thousands of dollars a week working from her home computer. One image is even recognizable from a different online ad for a teeth-whitening product.
These ads promising riches for home-based workers are now the subject of a class-action lawsuit in Illinois, according to the Chicago Tribune. One plaintiff said she clicked on the ad and ordered the $5.00 CD-Rom entitled, “Start Making Money Today!” According to the lawsuit, the product never arrived and the defendant, Convert2Media, charged her credit card a one-time fee of $88.87 and then $24.90 a month after that.
The plaintiffs claim that they requested their money back from the defendant, but the defendant refused. The ads also link to fake news articles from major media outlets mentioning the defendant’s product.
Most people would never think twice about clicking on these online ads, but the defendants take advantage of the people that do. It seems like a low-cost risk at an advertised price of $5.00, which ultimately costs the victims hundreds of dollars in credit card charges. The plaintiffs are both the out-of-work and the under-employed in need of additional income. Considering the targeted consumer, it borders on predatory.
Colson Hicks Eidson – Florida class action attorneys