Law Firm Investigates Possible Class Action Suit For Social Gaming Scams
Sacramento-based law firm Kershaw, Cutter & Ratinoff, LLP says it's exploring a possible class action lawsuit based on "unauthorized charges imposed on Facebook and MySpace users who participate in social games like FarmVille and Mafia Wars."
The investigation comes two weeks after TechCrunch's Michael Arrington chastised major social games developers Zynga, Playfish and Playdom for employing scam-like ads that promise users in-game currency if they sign up for sometimes dubious offers (there are also many legit Cost Per Action offers from reputable companies such as Amazon, eBay and Netflix).
Though Zynga, the studio behind popular Facebook games like Mafia Wars and FarmVille, receives up to a third of its revenues from these CPA offers, it agreed to take down the ads from all of its titles until it could validate and control which specific ones appear. Facebook's recent suspension of FishVille due to the advertisements likely pushed the developer into this decision.
"Users of these games may have been charged without their consent for 'special offers' that result in hidden charges to credit and debit cards, sometimes through the use of phone text messages and auto-recurring SMS subscriptions," argues the law firm. "Many of these companies and advertisers making "special offers" then make it very difficult — or impossible — for users to get their money refunded.
Pulling those offers signals that Zynga is taking steps to protect players from scams, but many still feel the company hasn't kept its users best interests in mind. A recently uncovered video shot last Spring seems to confirm those suspicions, as it shows CEO Mark Pincus admitting that he did "every horrible thing in the book ... just to get revenues right away."
The full list of companies KCR is investigating include Zynga, RockYou, Offerpal Media, Super Rewards, Tatto Media, Double Ding, Gambit, SendMe Mobile, Video Professor, Facebook, and MySpace.
[Via Valleywag]
