Ever sign up for a free trial, but surprised to find you were charged money later on? With more and more businesses opting to use a subscription model, many consumers have signed up for a free trial, only to be charged for the subscription after the free trial expired. These charges can quickly add up, leaving consumers saddled with hundreds of dollars of unwanted payments, every month.  Worse, it can also be extremely hard to cancel your subscription compared to how easy it was to sign up for the free trial offer.  These types of transactions are called “negative options” and they have grown in popularity in recent years.

This Consumer Alert will discuss how negative options work, whether they’re illegal, and what you can do to avoid unwanted monthly payments when it comes to free trials and special offers.

Read the full alert here.