AG Moody Secures $150K from Chargebacks911 Over Deceptive Tactics Used to Reverse Disputed Charges
TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Today, Attorney General Ashley Moody secured $150,000 from Chargebacks911, a deceptive credit card chargeback mitigation company. The payment comes after Attorney General Moody’s Consumer Protection Division and the Federal Trade Commission reached an agreement with Chargebacks911 over deceptive practices used to prevent consumers from reversing disputed charges and evade fraud monitoring programs. The settlement requires Chargebacks911 to pay $100,000 in civil penalties and $50,000 in legal costs to the State of Florida.
Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “Chargebacks911 submitted screenshots to make it look like consumers agreed to payments that they were never even shown. This deception and exploitation is despicable, completely undermining the integrity of financial transactions in Florida. I am appalled by Chargebacks911 and proud of my Consumer Protection Division’s success.”
The agreed settlement prohibits Chargebacks911 from working with high-risk clients who use affiliate marketing and negative option plans to sell certain products that are often fraudulently marketed. The order also prohibits them from using deceptive or misleading information on behalf of clients and prevents them from using techniques, such as the Value-Added Promotions service to help clients evade fraud-monitoring programs.
In April, Attorney General Moody’s Office and the FTC filed a complaint alleging that Chargebacks911 sent misleading or inaccurate materials to credit card companies on behalf of clients, including screenshots of websites different than the ones visited by consumers. The complaint also alleged that Chargebacks911 used its Value-Added Promotions service to bypass the systems that credit card companies use to detect fraud on payment networks.
Chargebacks911 served numerous companies previously sued by the FTC for deceiving consumers, including Apex Capital, F9 Advertising and AH Media. The complaint notes that Chargebacks911 disputed tens of thousands of chargebacks on behalf of each of those disreputable companies.
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