The rock star Carol Decker was livid this week after she became the most high-profile victim of the dubious business practices of sports brand Fabletics, fronted by Hollywood actress Kate Hudson.
The lead singer of the 1980s band T’Pau, who had a number one with “China In Your Hand”, bought a product through the online store in April. But on Monday she discovered that since then the firm had snatched £300 from her PayPal account.
“I made one purchase but didn’t realise in the process I’d been scooped up into their monthly membership scheme,” she told me. “I only noticed they had docked £44 a month from my account when I did a bit of admin. All their emails had gone into spam, so I didn’t even know about the subscription or that I could stop it.
“With spam filters, it must happen to lots of people. The company seems to be totally reliant on people being too busy or unaware about the charges to stop them.”
I’ve written about Fabletics’ unpleasant business practices before. Its approach is to offer great discounts on its exercise gear, but these are only available to those who become VIP members – and agree to pay £44 a month for the privilege.
The company assures me that it does all it can to ensure people know what they’re getting into – but so many people make the same “mistake” that it almost appears a deliberate ploy by the company.
Carol – who is currently on tour with fellow 1980s acts Nik Kershaw and Go West – wants to warn others about the company. “In my view they’re guilty of unethical sharp practices. How can it be legal?”
That’s a good question and I’m going to be asking Trading Standards for its view. In the meantime, after The Independent intervened, Carol got all her money back and had her subscription cancelled “as a courtesy”. The firm said: “Fabletics provides at least 15 separate notifications – including six before a customer checks out for the first time – about the subscription model.”
Given that it is apparently trying so hard to ensure people don’t end up unwittingly with an expensive monthly subscription, it surprises me just how many sensible people do. But then again, I suspect that is what the company hopes.
Pension savers targeted as scammers find another angle
Watch out, there are scamsters about – and they’re after your cash. For starters, the pension freedoms launched six months ago have opened the door to crooks preying on consumer confusion to steal their retirement savings.
And now, a new wave of fraudsters claiming to be from authorised financial firms are bombarding people with calls offering bogus investments.
The Pensions Regulator reported this week that hundreds of people have lost almost £14m between them in a sophisticated sting. Those behind the scam cold-called pension scheme members and offered cash incentives to have their savings transferred out of the schemes and into potentially superior investments.
But the victims didn’t realise the trustees of these investments were switching the money to their own accounts or third-party firms they owned. The regulator said funds totalling £13.7m belonging to 242 pension scheme members had all but disappeared – including through the payment of exorbitant fees and commission payments.
Andrew Warwick-Thompson, the executive director responsible for the regulator’s work in disrupting pension scams, said: “If you’re cold-called or texted by people claiming they can help you get early access to the cash in your pension, or unusually high investment returns, don’t be tempted. You’re likely to lose all your money and may face a considerable tax charge.”
The problem is that many crooks are plausible, disguising themselves as reputable financial advisers from well-established firms to con people out of their savings as they cold-call them with offers of Isas and savings bonds that apparently pay extremely generous rates of interest.
Consumers should be very wary if approached out of the blue over the phone, through text message or in person door-to-door. Other warning signs are that a financial firm only has a mobile number, a website or a PO Box number as contact details.
If you have any doubts, check that the firm you are dealing with is registered with the City Watchdog at fca.org.uk/register before signing anything. You can also check the Financial Conduct Authority’s Scamsmart warning list at fca.org.uk/scamsmart.
Meanwhile, a scam using the Telephone Preference Service (TPS) – which allows customers to opt out of receiving sales calls – is among emerging threats to consumers, according to National Trading Standards. It warned of a growing number of cold calls claiming to be from the TPS and trying to extract money for registration or for useless call- blocking devices. Louise Baxter, from the NTS scams team, said: “This is a sad and cynical scam that targets people who are actively trying to protect themselves or vulnerable relatives. The TPS never cold calls and its service is always free.”
s.read@independent.co.uk
twitter: @simonnread
