BOSTON -- Team 5 Investigates found a local marketing business accused of cheating hundreds of unsuspecting consumers all over the country.

NewsCenter 5's Susan Wornick reported on Wednesday that VistaPrint, a Lexington, Mass., company is accused of running one of the largest unauthorized consumer billing operations in the country.

Stamping out deception has become the focus of four area families who said they logged on to VistaPrint.com to order business cards and marketing materials for their small businesses.

However, months after making their purchases, they discovered their credit cards were still being charged. "Probably close to $1,000," said Leigh Grady of Sterling, Mass.

"It totaled about $600," said Bryant Brooks of Brockton, Mass.

"It was about $50," said Brenda Frost of Leominster, Mass. Crystal Pina of Ware, Mass., said, "There were four charges total, $14.95 each," on her credit card bill.

All of the charges were for memberships and services the customers said they did not order, along with magazines they did not want.

"I don't know where they came from, they just started showing up in my mailbox," said Brooks.

All four said they contacted VistaPrint to dispute their bills. "I've called, I've e-mailed, nobody wants to admit to it, they all pass the buck," said Grady.

The company refused to give most of them their money back. "I had to cancel my debit card because the company wouldn't help me," said Pina.

These are not isolated cases. Team 5 Investigates found that a nationwide class action lawsuit has been filed against VistaPrint accusing it and two other merchants of running one of the largest unauthorized consumer billing operations in the country.

"It's a huge revenue generator for them," said Grady.

VistaPrint makes money when it refers customers to other merchants. However, many customers don't realize they've been referred. It happens when a screen pops up at the end of their transaction, offering them $10 off their next purchase. But customers who sign up are actually purchasing additional services from those outside companies.

"I don't understand why they would need to do that, why they would need to trick people," said Pina.

Team 5 Investigates asked for an interview with company president Robert Keane. The company refused, citing the pending litigation which it says it will vigorously defend.

In a written statement, VistaPrint told Team 5 Investigates that it's sometimes difficult to satisfy 100 percent of their customers but the vast majority of them are pleased with their VistaPrint experience.

Harvard Business School Professor Ben Edelman said that's probably because most of those customers have no idea they've been deceived. "It's sneaky to charge a person's credit card without the person giving their credit card number," said Edelman.

Edelman also said another problem is VistaPrint's failure to police its advertisers, which compromises the security and privacy of many who visit the company's site.

"Consumers should be furious. Their computers are getting clogged up with spyware and adware, programs that offer nothing useful to the consumer, nothing you'd ever want on your computer," said Edelman.

Consumers told Team 5 Investigates their complaints to state and federal agencies have fallen on deaf ears. "They should be investigated," said Brooks.

"It's time for it to stop, it really is. I cannot imagine how many victims are out there that don't even know that they're victims," said Grady.

A spokesman for VistaPrint told Team 5 Investigates the company will offer full refunds to all of the customers who spoke to Team 5 Investigates.

As for the office of the state attorney general, Team 5 has learned it is refusing to investigate any complaints about VistaPrint because the office says its resources are limited and the disputes involve business-to-business transactions.