The Federal Trade Commission and the State of Florida are suing Chargebacks911 for unfairly thwarting people who were trying to dispute credit card charges through the chargeback process.
In a complaint filed in federal court, the FTC and Florida say that the “chargeback mitigation” company and its owners, Gary Cardone and Monica Eaton Cardone, have used multiple "unfair techniques" to prevent people from successfully winning chargeback disputes.
Among the techniques used by Chargebacks911, says the complaint, was the regular sending of screenshots on behalf of their clients to credit card companies that supposedly show that consumers had agreed to the disputed charges — often recurring monthly subscription charges.
The complaint notes that, in many instances, these screenshots have not actually been from the website where consumers made the disputed purchases and that the company ignored clear warning signs the website screenshots were misleading.
Chargebacks911 also used a system called Value Added Promotions, which allowed the company’s clients to run numerous small-dollar transactions via prepaid debit cards. By doing so, clients could raise their total number of transactions, lowering the percentage of their charges that were disputed by consumers.
“Chargebacks911 helped scammers stay in business and defeat chargeback attempts by consumers hit with fraudulent charges,” says Samuel Levine, director, bureau of consumer protection, FTC.
In a statement, Chargebacks911 says: "We have always followed all rules, laws processes and will aggressively defend the purpose of our business, the privacy of our clients, and our own corporate ethics and reputation against overreach by the government and its various policing bodies."