MyLife: Difference between revisions
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==Class Action Lawsuit: John Cherken & Veronica Mendez V. MyLife.com, et alia == |
==Class Action Lawsuit: John Cherken & Veronica Mendez V. MyLife.com, et alia == |
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In February 2011, MyLife principals [[ |
In February 2011, MyLife principals [[Jeffrey_Tinsley|Jeffrey Tinsley]], [[Rachel Glaser]], [[W. Dwight Dorall]], [[Aemen Avedissian]], [[Michael Soh]], [[Sharyn Eles]] and [[Oak Investment Partners]] were named defendants in a [[Class action#U.S. federal class actions|class action]] [[complaint]] against MyLife.com for false solicitation and fraud.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/08/33988.htm|title=Web Scam Reborn as MyLife.com, Class Says|date=8 February 2011|accessdate=1 June 2011|last=Farrell|first=Glynis|publisher=Courthouse News Service}}</ref> A class action lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California alleges MyLife.com was conceived a scam which falsely baits potential users, or others searching for them, in order to gain access to their bank accounts, and online address books.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.legalzoom.com/class-actions/class-action-against-mylife-com-alleges-spam-and-scam-practices/|title=Class Action Against MyLife.com Alleges "Spam-and-Scam" Practices}}</ref> |
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The plaintiffs allege violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the Unfair Competition Law, that the company has engaged in unlawful and unethical business practices, and has enjoyed unjust enrichment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/08/MyLife.pdf}}</ref> |
The plaintiffs allege violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the Unfair Competition Law, that the company has engaged in unlawful and unethical business practices, and has enjoyed unjust enrichment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/08/MyLife.pdf}}</ref> |
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Revision as of 06:10, 18 September 2015
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| Company type | Information broker |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 as Reunion.com |
| Headquarters | Santa Monica, California |
Key people | Jeff Tinsley CEO |
| Owner | Privately held |
| Website | www.MyLife.com |
MyLife (or MyLife.com) is an American Internet company founded by Jeffrey Tinsley in 2002. It provides services allowing people to see and control information that's publicly exposed about themselves or anyone. It previously conducted business under the names Reunion.com and Wink.com, providing people search services to find old friends and classmates under Reunion.com.
History
In 2007, according to a company press release, MyLife.com received $25 Million in venture funding from Oak Investment Partners.[1] The company changed its name from Reunion.com to MyLife.com after merging with the search engine company, Wink, in the fall of 2008.[2][3] According to CEO Jeffrey Tinsely, the company's 2008 revenue was estimated at 52 million dollars[3] with 90% of the firm's revenue coming from paid subscriptions.[4] As of 2009, the company had acquired several smaller companies including: Planet Alumni, GoodContacts, HighSchoolAlumni, MyAddressBook.com.[3] That year, Ancestry.com reported it had begun a data sharing partnership with MyLife.[5]
Products and services
The company offers services that allow people to see and control public information and reviews about them. The company also allows people to search for friends, family members and business associates or anyone, read their public pages and review them.[2] Mylife.com includes public profiles of non-members which are created using collected public data and information.[6]
Reception
In August 2007, the company described its website as the 6th most popular social networking site with 28 million users[1] while a 2008 article in the LA Times criticized the company's "aggressive marketing approach."[7] In February 2009 ComScore reported the company's website as having 18.2 million unique visitors that month[3] and Tech Crunch characterized it as the 4th largest social networking website.[3]
A class-action lawsuit was filed against the company in Oakland, California in February 2011.[8] The suit accused the company of "false solicitation" by offering monthly membership and then charging member's credit cards at the annual rate.[9] The Washington State Attorney General's Office began an investigation in 2011 stemming from concerns that the company's TV advertisements may have violated the state's Consumer Protection Act, which prohibits unfair and deceptive practices.[10] According to State officials the company resolved the issue by making an "assurance of discontinuance" and paid $28,000 in attorneys' costs and fees.[11] In February 2011 the Courthouse News Service described MyLife's website as the continuation of the "scam" administered by the company under the name Classmates.com, after settling a 2010 lawsuit by paying $9.5 million.[8]
In February of 2015, MyLife agreed to a court judgment under which it would pay $800,000.00 in penalties, plus $250,000.00 in refunds to customers. The company also will be subject to a permanent injunction that prohibits false advertising and unauthorized credit card charges.[12]
The case grew out of a joint investigation by the Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. Investigators found that MyLife was tricking consumers into giving the company their personal identifying information, and later their money, through false and misleading ads.
The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has revoked MyLife's accreditation, giving MyLife a rating of D-.[13]
On 03/20/2015 this company's accreditation in BBB was revoked by BBB's Board of Directors due to recent government action involving the business's customer relations which indicates a significant failure of the business to meet standards of conduct expected of a BBB member.
Class Action Lawsuit: John Cherken & Veronica Mendez V. MyLife.com, et alia
In February 2011, MyLife principals Jeffrey Tinsley, Rachel Glaser, W. Dwight Dorall, Aemen Avedissian, Michael Soh, Sharyn Eles and Oak Investment Partners were named defendants in a class action complaint against MyLife.com for false solicitation and fraud.[14] A class action lawsuit filed in the Northern District of California alleges MyLife.com was conceived a scam which falsely baits potential users, or others searching for them, in order to gain access to their bank accounts, and online address books.[15]
The plaintiffs allege violations of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act and the Unfair Competition Law, that the company has engaged in unlawful and unethical business practices, and has enjoyed unjust enrichment.[16]
As per the complaint, Tinsley's scam works like this: Mr. Tinsley illegally concocts user profiles of individuals which he posts on-line, for which bait them into believing several people are looking for them, and for a $5 trial subscription, they are allowed to discover out who they are. Instead, the victims’ credit cards are charged $60 or more, and billed monthly thereafter, and the company provides a list of concocted individuals supposedly in search for you, together with access to an utterly worthless website, of no conceivable value to anyone.[17]
Victims are then billed an additional if should choose to cancel, alleges the complaint. Moreover, the complaint alleges Tinsley's scam reaches into the online address books of his victims, for which to ferret out new potential targets amongst those contacts.
Specifically, the complaint states MyLife CEO Jeffrey Tinsley, a self-proclaimed "serial internet entrepreneur" essentially operates variations of the same garden variety spam-and-scam since at least 2002, when he founded Reunion.com. The company later operated using the names Wink.com and Classmates.com, before taking on its latest dba, MyLife.com in February, 2009.
Last year, a similar lawsuit brought against Classmates.com was settled for $9.5 million; the current plaintiffs allege that the company was re-branded MyLife.com, continuing "essentially the same business plan, and the same false solicitations "someone" is trying to contact you.
False solicitations "someone" is looking for constitute the modus operandi of Tinsley's business archetypes.
Plaintiffs in this class action seek injunctive relief to stop MyLIfe.com from continuing alleged illegal practices, restitution of wrongfully obtained funds, disgorgement of "all ill-gotten revenues and/or profits," and/or damages.
In spite of legal implications, Tinsley continues unabated, stridently concocting on-line profiles of hapless individuals, for which to scam them into purchasing on-line memberships to his web site.
See also
References
- ^ a b Business Wire, April 16, 2007 Reunion.com Receives $25M Funding From Oak Investment Partners
- ^ a b Yahoo! Finance Reunion.com, Inc. Company Profile
- ^ a b c d e "Reunion.com And Wink Morph Into MyLife.com". TechCrunch. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ socalTECH.com, July 22, 2008 Interview with Jeff Tinsley, Reunion.com
- ^ "Huge new content addition for more recent years". Ancestry.com. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ "Mylife.com FAQ". Mylife.com. Retrieved 2014-11-06.
- ^ "Too much contact at this Reunion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ a b "Web Scam Reborn as MyLife.com, Class Says". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ ABCNews.com, August 19, 2011 MyLife.com: People-Searching Website Sued as 'Scam'
- ^ "Mylife.com agrees to tell consumers about charges, automatic renewal". SeattlePi. Retrieved October 31, 2013.
- ^ "Washington State Challenges MyLife.com Ads". Consumeraffairs.com. October 12, 2012.
- ^ "City of Santa Monica - MyLife.com to Pay Over $1 Million In Fines and Refunds;". Retrieved 2015-07-04.
- ^ "Mylife.com, Inc. Business Review in Los Angeles, CA - Serving the Silicon Valley BBB". Retrieved 2015-07-04.
- ^ Farrell, Glynis (8 February 2011). "Web Scam Reborn as MyLife.com, Class Says". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 1 June 2011.
- ^ "Class Action Against MyLife.com Alleges "Spam-and-Scam" Practices".
- ^ http://www.courthousenews.com/2011/02/08/MyLife.pdf.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|title=(help) - ^ "MyLife.com: People Search Website Sued as a "Scam"".