O No!! Lawsuit Alleges Fraud

An angry O Magazine reader has filed a class action lawsuit against the mag and the publishers, alleging a scam designed to "trick, deceive and scare" subscribers into paying money they don't owe.

According to a lawsuit obtained by TMZ, Linda Hall claims that in December, 2005 she ordered two one-year subscriptions to O Magazine -- one for her, the other a gift. She says she paid in full for both subscriptions the same month she ordered them.

In April, 2006, Hall claims she received a letter from Hearst Magazine, informing her she was "past due" and threatening that if she did not pay for the subscriptions, her credit standing would be put "at risk."

Hall claims she paid the invoice even though she had already paid for the mags.

Hall alleges the letter and invoice she received "are part of a nationwide scheme and artifice designed and implemented

by defendants to trick, deceive and scare their subscribers into paying money to defendants for subscriptions which subscribers have already paid for in full."

Hall's class action lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive damages, as well as an injunction barring the alleged practice.

In addition to O Magazine, the Hearst Corporation and Hearst Magazines are named as defendants. The talk show queen is not personally named as a defendant.

Calls made to O Magazine and Hearst were not immediately returned.