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Hello Brad, I feel really awful this happened to you and happy that you are contesting the unscrupulous charges to your account. If there's anything I can do please contact me directly. I also thank you for alerting others who may have been unwittingly conned into these false charges. ./fxk On 3/12/15 8:08 PM, Brad Busenius wrote: > Hi everybody, > > I hope this is the right place to inquire about this. I have some > information about a possible problem with the company handling > registration for code4lib. I recently noticed a suspicious charge on my > credit card for the amount of $64.95. The charge showed up as > ACT*ACTIVE-NETWORK. After some investigation I found out this was from a > company called ACTIVE Network, LLC. Apparently this company handles > registration for events. > > To my dismay I found out that I had been charged for this annually since > 2013. I'm very embarrassed that 1. I didn't notice this during the > registration process and 2. I didn't catch the charges earlier. Anyhow, > after a quick email search I found something surprising; I had received > emails from this company at my /work/ email address. I never noticed the > emails because they looked like junkmail, however, upon reviewing them I > discovered that at some point I had supposedly registered for a free > trial that ended after a month, at which point I was automatically > enrolled into an annual subscription. Needless to say, I//did /not/ ever > sign up for any trial or subscription, at least not to my knowledge. > > Since I have only used my personal credit card for work purposes 3 > times, it was easy to tie this to code4lib 2013. I looked at my receipt > for code4lib 2013 and saw that something called RegOnline (owned by > Lanyon Solutions Inc) was used to process my event registration. Though > I'm not sure this is the same company, RegOnline, Lanyon Solutions Inc, > and ACTIVE Network, LLC all share the same physical address. I suspect > these three companies are one and the same and will refer to them as > ACTIVE Network, LLC for the rest of this email. > > I did a little investigating and found out that ACTIVE Network, LLC. > uses unscrupulous business practices to trick people into singing up for > their annual subscription. The crux of this is an "automatic opt-in" > they employ while processing enrollments for third parties. Though I'm > very embarrassed I didn't catch this, in my own defense I wasn't > expecting it while registering for an academic conference. I'm not > blaming anyone nor am I angry with anyone on this list. I only send this > email to inquire and inform: > > 1. To see if anyone else has had a similar experience. > 2. To warn other people from code4lib to check their bank statements. > 3. To plead with the community to stop using ACTIVE Network, LLC and > anything affiliated with them for registration. > > Let me be frank for a moment. ACTIVE Network, LLC engages in highly > unethical business practices. I did not intend to enroll in any annual > subscriptions when I registered for code4lib and I never would have > agreed to anything of the sort had I noticed what was happening. > Additionally, the subscription isn't at all relevant to code4lib. I'm > not even sure what value is being provided by the subscription. I think > it has something to do with coupons for outdoor exercise equipment but > I'm not even sure. Also, these guys are bad. They lost class action > lawsuits in Iowa and Vermont. In fact, this whole thing is just bad all > around. Since noticing the fraudulent charges this morning, I've already > disputed them with my bank and filed a formal complaint against ACTIVE > Network, LLC with the better business bureau. Apparently I'm not the > only one: > > 1. > http://www.outsideonline.com/fitness/bodywork/the-fit-list/Active-Network-Consumer-Complaints.html > > 2. http://www.yelp.com/biz/active-network-san-diego?sort_by=date_desc > 3. > http://legalnewsline.com/news/253622-active-network-will-pay-160k-to-consumers-after-action-by-vermont-ag > > 4. > https://encrypted.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Iowa%20ACTIVE%20Network%2C%20LLC#hl=en&q=Active+Network+scam > > > I apologize if I've made an error in my investigation or if I've done > something inappropriate by emailing this list. I can't imagine that > anyone would have intended anything like this but I thought you should > all be aware. > > Sincerely, > > Brad Busenius > Web Administrator > The University of Chicago Library > (773) 702-4391 -- Fame is a vapor; popularity an accident; the only earthly certainty is oblivion. -- Mark Twain