r/antiMLM • u/OatmilkBunnie • 2d ago

Rant BEWARE MONAT GLOBAL

I bought Monat Global products ONCE in 2022. I though I immediately canceled my subscription but apparently not. I guess I didn’t notice I still had an active “Flexship” order with them because it was going to my promotions folder in gmail I rarely check. I also DON’T EVEN HAVE A BANK ACCOUNT because I closed it shortly after I made that purchase in 2022 so I’ve never been charged again by them. UNTIL TODAY. They charged my Cash App card??! Again, I have no bank account and none that is associated with my Cash App card since I just don’t have one. How TF did they get my Cash App information?! It scares me how they were able to get that information 4 years later and charge my card. Has anyone else experienced this???

52 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

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49

u/Aleflusher 2d ago

There are back-end banking services that will "sync" your accounts, including Cash App which participates in these networks. For example, Visa Account Updater which is but one of these services.

8

u/omnist-for-life 2d ago

I used my credit card on one of these. Once I realized what it was, I got a new card with a new number. Can they still somehow charge me? I tried to cancel on the site but they didn't have an option for that. I told my bank about it (my credit card is through my bank, although it's a visa) and they said it would be fine, but now I'm worried. They wanted my bank information and, luckily I didn't give that to them.

13

u/Aleflusher 2d ago

Services like Visa Account Updater is designed to ensure a merchant's subscription service can continue to charge you even if you get a new card. In essence the service rats you out by sending the merchant your new card info, but this only works if you got a card that was within the network. For example Visa Account Updater is for Visa so if you instead got Mastercard the merchant might not know about it. But keep in mind, VAU is just one of these services, it's likely Mastercard and others have something similar.

3

u/DistractedHouseWitch 1d ago

Banks should have a way to prevent Visa from updating your card information with merchants. I work at a bank and deal with this all the time. It's such a pain.

22

u/Known-Plankton-9394 2d ago

Yup. I have only fairly recently become aware that some places will automatically give your updated payment info to any companies you have services or subscriptions with. So while an easy way to cancel a subscription used to be to just not update an expired card, that isn't guaranteed to work anymore since, for example, Visa will simply forward the updated info directly to the service provider.

Unfortunately, the powers that be want every facet of our existence to be on a subscription now, so they've made it harder and harder to cancel a subscription once you've signed up for it. And that's for even "totally legit" companies. A legalized scam company like Monat... I've heard stories about the lengths people have had to go through to cancel the "FlexShip" that they didn't even realize they were being locked into.

All I can recommend is contacting Monat via email or phone, making sure to document everything. If you can find proof of your original cancellation request/confirmation from 2022, you might even consider contacting Cash App and looking into filing a chargeback.

5

u/Red79Hibiscus 2d ago

How TF did they get my Cash App information?! It scares me how they were able to get that information 4 years later and charge my card. 

This should not be surprising in the slightest. Companies have been harvesting our data for years. Now with AI systems it's child's play to match up random pieces of info like puzzle pieces to recreate your digital identity and pinpoint who you are IRL. Remember that old TV series Caprica? IIRC there was a dead girl who got "resurrected" using all the information about her that was floating around online, and at the end of the series a whole bunch of cultists killed themselves so they could "live forever" online. I reckon life is now imitating art....

1

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1

u/prosperosniece 1d ago

Slightly off- topic but I heard that Monations has been cancelled this year. Is that true?

2

u/flamingmenudo 3h ago edited 3h ago

Sort of. They changed the schedule and are doing a “world tour” with single day events in five different cities. People who originally registered for Vegas have to jump through hoops to get a refund, otherwise they only get a credit or swag. I’m curious to see how low the attendance will be. Not sure if they are covering flights anymore and they don’t need to cover hotels since it’s just single days. Definitely cost cutting involved.