The Marin County District Attorney's Office was among other state DAs accusing Pacific Magazine Billing of violating
Attention local magazine readers: If Pacific magazine sends you a bill—don’t pay!
The Marin County District Attorney’s Office recently was awarded part of a $275,000 settlement in a “fraudulent billing practices” case against the San Marcos-based Pacific Magazine Billing, which was accused of violating false advertising and unfair competition laws.
“The company’s business model was a scheme built on deception,” said Marin County Deputy District Attorney Michael Wear in an announcement of the settlement. “Consumers believed they were paying legitimate bills, when in fact they were being scammed.”
Under the settlement terms, Pacific Magazine Billing is also permanently banned from sending solicitations for magazine subscriptions and from mailing solicitations that resemble bills or invoices in any business capacity.
After receiving complaints from consumers throughout the state, several District Attorneys’ offices, including those in Sonoma County and San Francisco, and the California Department of Justice launched a joint investigation into Pacific magazine in late 2022. The investigation uncovered that, from 2016 through 2022, the company mailed tens of millions of deceptive solicitations to households across the country. These mailers were designed to look like legitimate bills for existing magazine subscriptions—but, in fact, they were intended to trick unsuspecting consumers into sending payments for subscriptions they had not ordered or intended to renew.
Thousands of consumers were misled, according to the Marin DA.
