Everyone loves a bargain, and there’s no better bargain than free! Online ads offering free stuff flood our browsers, inboxes, and social media feeds. You’ve likely considered clicking on more than one, especially when they hint that the deal won’t last long.
Unfortunately, there’s no such thing as a free lunch or a truly free product. Even worse, you might unknowingly hand over your personal data along with your disappointment when suddenly hidden strings and unexpected rules appear.
This is just one example of where “free” offers can lead. Let’s uncover the shady practices behind free trials and the subscription scams that often follow. More importantly, learn how to avoid them and what steps to take if you ever fall victim.
How Do Subscription Scams Work?
Trial-based subscription scams start with website ads, email, or text messages advertising free samples or trials for multiple products and services. Vitamins, dietary supplements, beauty products, and online streaming services are the most common. You get something without having to pay, how cool is that?
More often than not, agreeing to the free offer locks you into a subscription. These can be costly, ranging from tens to hundreds of dollars monthly.
The scammers hide their terms and conditions or make them intentionally vague and complicated, hoping you’ll agree without reading them. Worse yet, canceling the subscription is usually extremely troublesome and time-consuming and doesn’t necessarily stop the payments.
How Can You Avoid Such Scams?
A healthy dose of skepticism and some prior research go a long way toward staying safe from subscription scams.
Stay Smart and Skeptical
Approach any free trial with suspicion, especially if the offer sounds too good to be true and involves expensive products. Before signing up for anything, be sure to research the company that is suggesting the offer.
Look up their website and browse any reviews or testimonials to estimate their reputation. If you can’t find any, use customer review sites to see what real people say about their experience with the company or website.
Additionally, even if companies or their websites appear legitimate, it’s crucial to carefully read through the terms and conditions to avoid unwelcome surprises, such as hidden fees, data-sharing practices, or automatic renewals that could impact your privacy or finances.
Set Reminders and Check Charges
Many people who take advantage of free offers promptly forget about recurring subscription fees, even if they’re fully aware of them. Set up a reminder for yourself to cancel the subscription before it renews as soon as you sign up, and monitor your bank account to see if unsubscribing stops the charges.
Additionally, consider using a virtual card instead of giving out and potentially compromising your banking details. Virtual cards have a separate account and CVV numbers, so no one can link them to the original if a data breach exposes the information. You can also set spending limits and effectively stop payments even if you forget about them.
Become Invisible Online
While it’s unlikely you can filter free offers out altogether, there are ways to reduce how many you’re exposed to. Activating a VPN while browsing is a good start.
The most well-known benefit of VPNs is their ability to hide your IP address. This prevents advertisers from discovering your geographical location, following you across websites, and displaying enticing but scammy offers they think you’ll be more likely to engage with. Private browsing and encrypted data transfers are a welcome bonus.
There are tons of sources explaining how to set up a VPN on your devices, making it inexcusable not to use one for your own good.
What Can You Do if You’ve Been Scammed?
If you end up subscribed to an unwanted service due to misleading tactics, try canceling it right away. And if cancellation turns out to be challenging due to the company’s policies, contact their support team and insist on termination.
In case you’ve been caught in a subscription scam involving recurring payments, document your efforts and dispute the charge with your card issuer. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, consider asking for a new card and repeat the dispute to keep those charges from following you to the new one.
Subscription scams often grab hold of your personal and payment information, sometimes sharing it with cybercriminals or data brokers. This can lead to you receiving even more suspicious offers, phishing emails, or spam.
Since tackling this alone can quickly turn out to be overwhelming, data removal services can help. These services reach out to data brokers and other companies that hold your information and get it taken down, helping reduce current and future risks. This way, you can better protect your personal information and avoid further headaches.
With all this being said, be discerning about the offers you receive. Remember, nothing online is truly free, and if an offer costs no money, it’s likely taking your data, often for questionable purposes.
