We’ve investigated dozens of reports of consumers being signed up for recurring monthly payments when verifying their bank details after looking for a loan.
Read on to learn more about these suspicious subscriptions, and for advice on what to do if you notice an unexpected transaction on your bank statement.
One-star reviews
Consumers shopping for loans online have found themselves paying £29.95 a month for subscriptions to websites they've never heard of.
Commonly, those affected had previously been asked to approve a charge of 12p or 14p to ‘verify’ their bank account when using a loan broker website. Later, they’ve noticed a recurring payment coming out of their account.
We received reports of 13 different ‘savings’ sites appearing on bank statements:
These sites claim to provide daily discount codes for consumer products, exclusive deals, and cashback offers. Some also say they offer help with rebuilding bad credit.
We analysed 909 Trustpilot reviews of the above sites. Nearly all reviewers gave one star (894), with many claiming they’d never heard of the sites until they noticed them on their bank statement.
163 reviewers said they were applying for a loan online before they were signed up to one of these sites, and 119 said they’d approved a charge of 12p or 14p.
How users signed up to subscriptions
It’s difficult to say exactly how people signed up to these subscriptions, but it’s likely that some were signed up after inadvertently ‘opting in’ to a service, perhaps by ticking a box or failing to untick one when searching for a loan.
One reviewer on Trustpilot stated: ‘I have never heard of this savings website. I applied for a loan and apparently opted into your services and money was taken from my bank account.’
When you search for a loan online, brokers may share your data with third parties - but this should be stated in the terms and conditions.
We analysed the Ts and Cs used by payday loan brokers and lenders. Commonly, companies stated that they share information with parties that ‘assist with the application process’. This usually includes lenders, credit reference agencies and fraud prevention agencies. Strangely, some of the sites also stated that they share data with telecommunications companies and brands such as Facebook and Google.
We asked a handful of payday loan brokers and lenders about whether they work with third parties. One confirmed that it previously worked with a subscription service that allowed customers to gain access to discounts and cashback, but said it had removed this option due to a significant number of emails from customers asking to cancel and get their money back.
Problems getting a refund
Many affected customers reported issues when trying to cancel one of these subscriptions.
One wrote: ‘I’ve tried logging into the website but it appears I don’t have an account with them’. Users also reported difficulties cancelling due to there being no evidence they’d ever signed up, other than on their bank statement.
We signed up for accounts with Monster Savings, Go Saving, Total Saver, On Savings, Savingshield and Walletsaver, but couldn’t access our account page on any of the sites. Savers Club and Cash Saving didn’t have sign-up pages, and we couldn’t access the sign-up page on Scope Savings.
Of the websites where we successfully made accounts, two provided a phone number and email address to cancel, while three had cancellation pages which requested your email address.
We attempted to contact all 13 sites mentioned in this story, but none responded. Four websites were no longer live, so we weren’t able to find active email addresses or phone numbers.
How to stop a payment
If you’re unable to unsubscribe via the company’s website or customer service line, contact your bank or credit card provider to block any future payments.
The Financial Conduct Authority says subscription payments are usually taken by a card-based continuous payment authority (CPA). This is when the customer authorises the merchant to take payments on a recurring basis using their credit or debit card.
How to get your money back
If you’re still struggling to get your money back, you can use the letter of deadlock to take your case to the FOS.
undefinedsource https://www.which.co.uk/news/article/suspicious-subscriptions-borrowers-targeted-by-30-a-month-savings-sites-after-searching-for-loans-aK7Wz3M392Dg