Class Action Claims Credit Sesame Email Ads Meant to ‘Mislead, Deceive’ Consumers

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit aims to stop Credit Sesame, Inc.’s alleged practice of falsely advertising via email that customers are pre-approved for credit cards and that applying for those cards would boost their credit scores.

The suit, filed in California’s Central District Court, claims proposed class members who bought into the defendant’s emails applied for the advertised credit cards and were denied, which subsequently damaged their credit scores. 

According to the 15-page lawsuit, the plaintiff received around November 2019 multiple email advertisements from Credit Sesame, a credit monitoring outfit, encouraging her to apply for a credit card or loans by claiming she was “pre-approved” or “matched” with a particular card. Further, the case says the woman was told in the defendant’s advertisements that her credit score would actually increase upon application, with the subject lines of the emails relaying: 

• “Your score could change +27 points!”;
• “Strengthen your credit usage with this personal loan!”;
• “Hey Hey [Plaintiff], Congrats! You have a match!”; and
• “Congratulations! You have fresh approval odds, [Plaintiff]!” 

Per the suit, the plaintiff, upon receiving Credit Sesame’s false advertisements and in an effort to improve her credit score, applied for two credit cards for which she was guaranteed apparent pre-approval. According to the case, however, the plaintiff was denied approval for both credit cards for which Credit Sesame claimed she had been “matched,” which caused her credit score to plummet. 

The lawsuit alleges Credit Sesame’s email marketing tactics are part of a common scheme to mislead, deceive and incentivize reasonable consumers into contacting the company. The plaintiff says she would not have applied for two separate credit cards if not for Credit Sesame’s false statements concerning her odds of pre-approval and credit score increases. 

The complaint looks to cover all consumers nationwide who, within the applicable statute of limitations period, were induced by Credit Sesame’s email advertisements into applying for a credit card or loan through the company’s service.  

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s newsletter here.