Nevada not part of newspaper scam lawsuit

A national scam to sell marked-up subscription renewals involves a Henderson business and the Las Vegas Review-Journal, but the state’s top prosecutors failed to join a lawsuit in the matter.

Attorneys general in five states — Oregon, Texas, Minnesota, Missouri and New York — on Tuesday filed a lawsuit against several companies that they say overcharged for subscriptions.

In some cases, the companies charged twice what the publications typically bill, officials alleged. The publications did not have a business relationship with the subscription sellers, and have not endorsed their renewal sales.

Associated Publishers Network, a company with offices at 850 S. Boulder Highway, was named in the lawsuit. Other companies include Orbital Publishing Group, Liberty Publishers Service and Express Publishers Service.

Also, the Review-Journal is among the victims of the scheme, said Mark Hinueber, the paper’s vice president and general counsel. At least one subscription renewal from a California company shows a Review-Journal renewal rate of $369.95. A one-year subscription renewal actually costs about $150.

The lawsuit alleges that companies taking renewal orders would buy the subscription from the paper at the standard price and pocket the difference between that price and their higher rate.

Review-Journal representatives contacted then-Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto’s office in the fall about the scam and reached out to Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s office in early 2015.

As part of National Consumer Protection Week in March, Laxalt’s office issued a consumer alert warning to Nevadans to look out for deceptive subscription billing notices, spokeswoman Patty Cafferata said.

Cafferata also praised the lawsuit’s filing.

“Attorney General Adam Paul Laxalt commends the suits brought by the attorneys general for New York, Oregon, Minnesota, Missouri and Texas against Orbital Publishing Group,” she said. “The Nevada attorney general will continue to collaboratively work with our sister states whenever possible.”

“The Nevada attorney general’s office cannot comment on the existence of an active investigation.

“However, this office is committed to protecting consumers from deceptive business practices, and education is the strongest defense against these types of schemes.”

Consumers have sued publications including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, believing the papers were behind the overcharges. The Times said in a Wednesday article that it is processing “valid refund claims.” The Wall Street Journal’s publisher, Dow Jones, has provided $2.6 million in free, one-year subscriptions to subscribers who were overcharged.

“Many of our members have incurred considerable costs in connection with this scam,” Caroline Little, president and CEO of the Newspaper Association of America, said in a statement. “We strongly encourage subscribers who encounter suspicious renewal notices to contact law enforcement and the named publication.”

The Review-Journal is not disclosing the number of subscribers affected, Hinueber said. But he added that the paper “made arrangements so no customer suffered a monetary loss and they should not be affected in the future.”

Attempts to reach Associated Publishers Network by phone on Thursday were unsuccessful because of long hold times and automatic disconnections. An email went unanswered.

The Southern Nevada Better Business Bureau has compiled a long list of complaints against Associated Publishers Network, which sells subscriptions to Forbes magazine, the Madison (Wis.) State Journal and the National Enquirer, among others.

Consumers have filed 342 complaints against the company in the last three years, alleging that it failed to be transparent about its ownership, location or services; failed to respond to complaints; and failed to “resolve underlying causes of a pattern of complaints.”

Contact Jennifer Robison at jrobison@reviewjournal.com. Find @J_Robison1 on Twitter.