Danish consumer watchdog shows its teeth
The Danish consumer ombudsman carried out an extensive investigation into providers of unwanted paid subscriptions in recent years. Thanks to this investigation, numerous fraudulent businesses were reported to the Danish police and Østre Landret, the Danish court, recently imposed the first prison sentence on the director of one of these providers.
Unsolicited subscriptions
Thousands of consumers in Europe are tricked into unsolicited subscriptions every year. They are tempted with appealing offers via email or social media, for example, ‘Participate in this competition and win an iPhone for just one euro’. The small print – which is often not even visible - states that they agree to an expensive subscription for a non-existent service. The offer that initially appeared so appealing later proves to be nothing but deception.
Reporting fraud
The Danish consumer ombudsman received many reports from consumers who were scammed via such competitions in 2016. After extensive investigation, the ombudsman reported one of these providers and the director for fraud.
Danish court ruling
Østre Landret ascertained that the company failed to show consumers important information about the subscription, such as the price and duration. The company also used an extensive network of advertisers to reach as many consumers as possible. The court held the director of the company responsible for distributing misleading advertisements via these networks. In 7 months, 8,000 consumers were affected. The company made almost €500,000 that way.
Prison sentence for director
For the first time in Europe, the Danish court imposed a prison sentence on the director of a company that organised misleading competitions to get unsolicited subscriptions. The director received a sentence of 2 years and three months for this.