Buying those discounted flowers could lead to months of undiscovered charges

Have you ever placed an order with a company and then discovered a monthly charge was being made to your credit card? Or do you have such a long list of charges on your statement that you might not even notice you've been a victim of "negative option marketing?"

With this type of marketing, you accept a merchant's offer for a free product or service and then your billing information is used to enroll you in a subscription or membership offer you never signed up for.

Why do companies use this sleazy tactic? Because it's the most effective way to bring new customers on board. According to testimony by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, fewer than 15% of consumers will sign up for a service if they get a solicitation, but that number jumps to 80% if they're recruited using negative option marketing.