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Attorney General Andrew Cuomo Says Classmates.com Is a Scam

by Amar Toor on August 19, 2010 at 10:10 AM

andrew cuomoYou know those ubiquitous yearbook photo banner ads from Classmates.com? The ones that bait you into clicking by vowing to put you back in touch with your long lost high school buddies? Well, if you've never been tempted to hunt down old homecoming dates, consider yourself lucky, because the site has now been officially declared a scam.

Yesterday, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo listed the old classmate finder as one of six websites that must now pay its part of a collective $10.1 million in fines and restitution. The group settled after being accused of tricking consumers into subscribing to discount programs with hidden shopping fees. According to Reuters, the websites for both GameStop and Avon beauty products were also included on Cuomo's list of wrongdoers. "Consumers should be on the lookout for cash-back and other discount offers that suddenly appear online or in the form of a check," Cuomo said in a statement. "They are often too good to be true." It's not like we ever felt compelled to get in touch with our high school friends via a sleazy banner ad, but, now, at least, we have a legitimate reason not to do so. [From: Reuters, via: Observer]

Tags: AndrewCuomo, AttorneyGeneral, avon, AvonProducts, business, classmates, classmates.com, ClassmatesOnline, ethics, gamestop, HiddenFees, law, scam, top, web

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