What course of legal action do I have against a magazine subscription scam?
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What course of legal action do I have against a magazine subscription scam?
I am a victim of a magazine subscription scam. They called asking how satisfied I am with their service. I claimed I had not signed up for their magazine service but they came back with all my information claiming I had signed up for a 3 year terms and that I can reduce down to a 12 month term. I, confused as I was, went through a questionnaire, where unfortunately they recorded saying that I agree to the 1 year term. It wasn’t until they mentioned a false credit card number that I realized it was a scam and hung up. Now I have received a bill. I have not received any magazines as of yet.
Asked on September 20, 2010 under General Practice, California
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 14 years ago | Contributor
1) If they committed fraud, any contract or agreement would be one that you could rescind (cancel as if it never happened) at will. Of course, if they will not accept your recession and try to collect, you may end up in litigation to prove your case.
2) Even if it wasn't fraud at the outset, if they are not providing you what you allegedly paid for, that would be breach of contract (and again, possibly fraud if they intended to never provide it). As with the above, it's possible that if they try to push the matter, you might need to defend yourself from collections efforts or a suit.
3) You could report a fraud to law enforcement--maybe the state AG's office (they'd be a good one to contact anyway, to ask which agency would be relevant--e.g. maybe consumer protection?)
You can try to work this out on your own, though if you believe it was a scam, you should definitely contact law enforcement. However, at some point, if the company tries to really push matters, you need to weigh how much they want vs. the cost of fighting it.
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