Online “marketing” company Webloyalty has settled with the New York AG for $5.2 mil. You know how when you buy movie tickets and at the end it says, “You won a free $10 gift certificate!” And then if you read the small print it says that if you accept the gift certificate you get signed up for a discount club that charges a monthly fee? Yeah, that was their game.

Pictured: Webloyalty CEO Rick Fernandes

Webloyalty’s partners like Ticketmaster, Pizza Hut, Orbitz Worldwide, Shutterfly, and MovieTickets will have to cough up $3.3 million to consumers in refunds, fees, and education.

If you happened to have signed up for Webloyalty, you can get your “membership” cancelled and all your previous fees refunded by calling them at 1-800-361-1786. Readers report that it’s really easy to get your money back.

Remember that “free” can have a high cost, always read the fine print before agreeing to something, and to scan your credit card bill monthly for unexpected charges and dispute them immediately.

Online Marketer Settles With New York for $5.2 Million [NYT] (Thanks to David!)

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