Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Subscription Scams
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Subscription Scams
From pills that resolve chronic pain issues overnight to diet supplements which promise to help shed pounds in days, the internet is awash with adverts making bold claims. Some come with a celebrity endorsement, where household names appear to give their personal stamp of approval to a product. But many of these are scams, with customers tricked into parting with more money than they realise ever intended.
File on 4 investigates the growth of online subscription scams, where customers are unwittingly signed up to schemes which hit them with hidden charges, unexpected monthly fees and products which are made deliberately difficult to cancel. We hear from victims with chronic illnesses desperately searching for a solution to their ailments, who are instead left out of pocket and we speak to the celebrities furious their names are being used to endorse such products. The programme goes in search of those running these schemes online and exposes the tools and tricks designed to scam unwitting customers and sheds light on the creation of a global multi-million pound industry.
Reporter: Athar Ahmad
Producer: Anna Meisel
Editor: Carl Johnston
View all episodes
By BBC Radio 4
4.4
3131 ratings
From pills that resolve chronic pain issues overnight to diet supplements which promise to help shed pounds in days, the internet is awash with adverts making bold claims. Some come with a celebrity endorsement, where household names appear to give their personal stamp of approval to a product. But many of these are scams, with customers tricked into parting with more money than they realise ever intended.
File on 4 investigates the growth of online subscription scams, where customers are unwittingly signed up to schemes which hit them with hidden charges, unexpected monthly fees and products which are made deliberately difficult to cancel. We hear from victims with chronic illnesses desperately searching for a solution to their ailments, who are instead left out of pocket and we speak to the celebrities furious their names are being used to endorse such products. The programme goes in search of those running these schemes online and exposes the tools and tricks designed to scam unwitting customers and sheds light on the creation of a global multi-million pound industry.
Reporter: Athar Ahmad
Producer: Anna Meisel
Editor: Carl Johnston
More shows like File on 4 Investigates
View all
In Our Time
5,390 Listeners
From Our Own Correspondent
393 Listeners
The Documentary Podcast
1,856 Listeners
Global News Podcast
7,823 Listeners
Crossing Continents
78 Listeners
Profile
106 Listeners
6 Minute English
1,773 Listeners
Learning English Conversations
1,058 Listeners
The Media Show
31 Listeners
Lives Less Ordinary
592 Listeners
The Infinite Monkey Cage
2,085 Listeners
Newshour
1,058 Listeners
In Our Time: History
1,895 Listeners
Moral Maze
80 Listeners
The Briefing Room
78 Listeners
Newscast
697 Listeners
Americast
748 Listeners
You're Dead to Me
3,023 Listeners
The Slow Newscast
185 Listeners
The Story
265 Listeners
Was There Ever A Crime? The Trials of Lucy Letby with John Sweeney
78 Listeners
AntiSocial
3 Listeners
Double Jeopardy - UK Law and Politics
6 Listeners
The Other Side of Lucy Letby
16 Listeners
In Dark Corners
0 Listeners