I've Tried That - We lose money so you don't have to!

In my first post reviewing Free Money Formula, I looked at the site itself and the information it presents, concluding that there’s plenty of good stuff there to learn for free. In this post, I’m paying more attention to the money-making system promoted by the site. My conclusion? I doubt they’re trying to rip you off, but there is reason to be careful.

In a nutshell
Simply stated, Freemoneyformula.com is setting out to build a large network of consumers that buy products or programs FMF is selling (presumably on commission). You make money by signing up to sell affiliate programs and products, and then driving traffic to your site (which FMF will help you set up). Here’s their pitch:

You send visitors to the Free Money Formula website with a special customized link. When these visitors sign up to join the free membership, you have locked for yourself THREE solid and proven ways to make money.

We will do the follow-up for you, without you having to lift a finger, helping you earn handsomely for ONE FULL YEAR (from the time each referred visitor signs up)!

The three “solid and proven” ways to make money are 1. A free link to an affiliate or other income-producing site of your choice, 2. Clickbank credit for 50% of your referrals’ purchases, and 3. Purchases your referrals make through direct emails. So, let’s see, you make money by [sshhh!] referring people and having them buy stuff! Revolutionary!

Ok, why “take care?”
A couple of things about the system are suspicious. First, there’s this:

Your customized link [which you receive when you sign onto the system] will contain your Clickbank ID, your Paypal email ID and a website of your choice (your own or affiliate link). When a visitor comes in to Free Money Formula through your link, details of your Clickbank ID, Paypal ID and your chosen website gets stored on his computer. And they stay there for one year from the date the visitor signs up.

Maybe this isn’t so bad. We’re just talking about cookies, right? But it could also mean adware that feeds popups to your referrals; there’s really no way to know.

The second suspicious part of the system is the “mandatory” toolbar. Download and install their toolbar and you can increase your productivity by 400%! Wow! I could be, like, four Joes! Does that mean I’ll make four times as much money? I could stay in bed while mini-Joe goes to work! I could leave maxi-Joe at home to impress my wife while I go to work! But wait, every enhancement device comes with a catch:

Here’s what you will get from the FMF Toolbar…

• Instant access to an arsenal of marketing and webmasters tools – all the tools you will ever need for online marketing
• Little known keyword amd market research tools
• Get your latest marketing news and updates right in your browser – Be on the forefront of what’s working in the Internet marketing world
• Get Free Money Formula site updates instantly and automatically
• Direct access to secret resources mentioned in the FMF Ultimate C.A.S.H. Formula Video Tutorials
• One click access to nifty online tools such as search box, dictionary, encyclopedia, finance/stocks etc, even your local weather in real-time!
• Lifetime toolbar upgrades…delivered straight into your toolbar – hands-free and no need to uninstall/re-install

Sounds a lot like adware/spyware to me. I posted a comment in the Toolbar section of the site that said: “will you reveal your code or otherwise certify that this toolbar isn’t spyware/adware?” The comment was deleted.

Freemoneyformala.com. It’s either the next big thing (in which case I’ll kick Steve) or just new skin on an old skeleton. It’s free, so you have nothing to lose, but you do risk some privacy and maybe your computer’s security.