Let’s make this Noah’s best Christmas ever by sending him Christmas cards!

Five year-old Noah Biorkman is in hospice and we need your help to make this the best Christmas ever by sending him Christmas cards! His family will be celebrating Christmas this weekend.

Noah was diagnosed with Stage IV Neuroblastoma in February 2007. He went into remission in August 2007. In September 2008, Noah relapsed with lesions in his right arm and right leg. After going through six different trials, the cancer continues to spread. Noah is an angel and we are blessed to have him in our lives.

Please help the fulfill the Biorkman family’s wish to make this the best Christmas ever for Noah. You can send your Christmas cards to:

Noah Biorkman
1141 Fountain View Circle
South Lyon, MI 48178

My card is already in the mail. Be sure to leave a comment below if you send a card out as well.

Confirmed by Snopes and Noah’s CarePages website.

Is AcaiForceMax a scam?

I don’t know and I have no intention of finding out. Instead, I want to take a look at their sales page and their fine print.

The sales pitch behind AcaiForceMax claims that the little Acai berries will help you lose weight, tone muscles, burn fat, and increase your energy levels. The page is littered with testimonials and pictures of these jacked dudes lifting weights and looking good while trying to maintain nonchalant and carefree poses.

If I was trying to lose weight, the sales pitch has me sold. I get to lose weight, build muscle, and have girls throw themselves at me from every possible angle the minute I step out in public. What more could you want?

However, I’m going to keep reading after I reach the bottom of the sales pitch. I’m going to go where few have gone before and I’m actually going to read the fine print. It starts off with…

* These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Please consult your physician before beginning any program. If there is a change in your medical condition, please notify your counselor immediately.

Hmm, that’s kind of disappointing. But just because the FDA hasn’t evaluated their claims doesn’t mean it won’t work, right?

1 Results not typical for any and all claims.

Crap. So all that stuff you said above probably won’t happen? But the testimonials looked so promising!

** All celebrity images were found on and obtained from public websites and are believed to be in public domain.
***Picture does not contain the likeness of the customer that submitted the testimonial.

Not even the testimonials were real! Well at least I can trust Fitness magazine, CBS, ABC, and Wall Street Journal for looking into AcaiForceMax.

+ Fitness Magazine, CBS News, ABC, and Wall Street Journal are registered trademarks of their respective owners.
2 Media elements deployed are those of paid actors.

IS ANYTHING YOU SAY REAL? You say as seen on ABC, but only because you paid ABC to advertise! I’m skeptical as hell at this point, but hey, it’s a free trial. What could go wrong about free?

If you do not cancel your Trial Membership during the applicable fourteen (14) day period as set forth in Section 7 herein below, your Active Credit Card will be charged the monthly Membership fee of Eighty-Seven Dollars and Sixty-Two Cents ($87.62) (”Monthly Fee”)

I. Give. Up.

Now do you see why we urge you all to read the terms and conditions? In about 2 minutes I found out that AcaiForceMax doesn’t work, the testimonials do not feature real people, and the free trial will cost me $87.62 every 30 days.

And that’s why I now take the time to read the terms and conditions to which I am agreeing to. You should too.

If you hate spam like I do, there’s a good chance Sanford Wallace is responsible for your attitude.

The good news? He just lost a big legal fight with Facebook. A court has ordered him to pay Facebook $711 million for hacking members’ accounts and using them to send phony posts and messages. And the court referred the case to the US attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution. (Read the story.)

YES! It’s Bozos like him that have given Internet and email marketing a bad rap. They are the back-alley underbelly of a legitimate business that just about anyone can do.

Will he ever pay the full penalty? Of course not. But today is still a good day for the Internet.

If a website was featured and backed by a major news organization, you could be damn sure they are going to be linking to the news article or video as proof. It would be great publicity and a surefire way to bring legitimacy and authority to their name. Any website can put up a picture of a CNN logo, but not any website can actually be featured at CNN. Odds are, if you come across a website claiming to be featured somewhere and they don’t link you to said feature, they’re lying to you.

Why You Can’t Believe Everything You See Online.

Perhaps you’ve seen I’ve Tried That’s newest spokesperson. He’s an old friend that goes by the name of President Obama and has been on a national campaign to bring awareness to our website.

No, you haven’t heard of him? Well then maybe you’ve been to the new I’ve Tried That arena in the south. It’s being hailed as the 9th wonder of the world (FYI the fact that we’ve been operating this long and still haven’t been sued is the 8th).

Not a sports fan eh. Well then surely you’ve had to have heard about I’ve Tried That’s space program. We’re sending Joe to Mars in search of life in April 2010.

And thus concludes my segment of why you can’t trust everything you read online.

I listen to music and audio books on my Zune 30. I get the audio books from Audible.com, where a gold membership gets me one audiobook per month plus access to thousands of others at low prices.

I love that I don’t have to rip books from CD to my Zune…a simple download and I’m there, all for about $15 per month. The Web site works flawlessly for me every time, and unlike some people have experienced with Kindle, I own the audio books I buy. In case you’re curious, here are the books playing on my Zune:

• The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood (my current listen)
• A Mercy, Toni Morrison
• Omnivore’s Dilemma, Michael Pollan
• The Hunger Games & Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
• Catch 22, Joseph Heller
• Home, Marilynne Robinson
• The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell
• The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Sherman Alexie

Get a Free Audio Book

Audible is running a promotion just for friends of members. (Don’t you feel special?) You sign up for a free, two-week trial of its service and you get to download one free audio book to see if it’s a good fit for you. If you stick around, it’s only $14.95 per month for a Gold membership and that includes one audio book each month.

Click here to check out the offer. Instead of listening to Fergie or something while you jog, you could be getting smarter with audio books!

And remember, the first one is free and there’s no obligation to extend your membership beyond the free trial. Take a look at Audible today.

Paul uses the same exact sales tactics used by the scammy sales pages, but just exaggerates the numbers a bit. The result? A hilarious parody not too far from what we’ve actually seen in the past. It’s a perfect mockery from the names used, to the fake comments, to the ridiculous fine print.

Here’s a sample.

In March I finally found the only legitimate, scam-free way to work from home. I signed up and made Ten Million Dollars my first week! Needless to say both my wife and I were in total shock. Three weeks later I was making $42,893,622.51 or more EVERY SINGLE WEEK. We were totally blown away, this was more money than I made doing paid surveys!

The humor doesn’t stop there, of course. The fine print is filled with plenty of quality information, including.

Some individuals purchasing the program may make little or NO MONEY AT ALL…well, probably nobody will make any money, but someone might so we don’t want to completely crush your hopes and dreams. … In the event you do not cancel within your alloted number of trial days, you will be automatically enrolled in our convenient home delivery plan and your credit card will be charged $2,972.34. Thereafter, 30 days from your initial order, you will be billed the monthly charge of $5,241.22 each month. … You are entitled to a refund of one month if you contact us within 2 days of the original trial order date and you have not logged onto your computer or visited any website on the internet from any internet access point at all (this includes free wifi spots and paid hotspots).

Do yourself a favor and spend time looking over the $10 Billion Dollar Sales Page and then spend some time over at Paul’s http://www.workathometruth.com. It will definitely be worth your while.

The spam box is where your email system sends messages that it thinks should never see the light of day. It is not for the uncritical or the unwashed newbie. In fact, I haven’t even told my mom that she has a spam box. She’s the kind of person that believes and clicks on whatever shows up in her email.

Why do I do it? Because on days when people send us messages that say, “should I pay $500 to EZMoney to set up my automated online store?” it reminds me that the work we try to do here at I’ve Tried That is important work.

Stay away from your spam box. Here there be dragons.

Dear user of the ivetriedthat.com mailing service!

We are informing you that because of the security upgrade of the mailing service your mailbox (joe@ivetriedthat.com) settings were changed. In order to apply the new set of settings click on the following link:

http://ivetriedthat.com/owa/service_directory/xxxxxxxxemail=joe@ivetriedthat.com&from=ivetriedthat.com&fromname=joe

Best regards, ivetriedthat.com Technical Support.

First, ivetriedthat.com doesn’t have a mailing service. I would know because, well, it’s kind of my domain. And if one of us had ever upgraded this nonexistent mail service, I would have seen the bills.

joe@ivetriedthat.com, You’ve Received a $1,000 Wal-Mart G-Certificate

http://alynnadelida.com/solim?e=xxxxxx=29028016&l=0&email=joe@ivetriedthat.com

The advertise rsinthisemail arenotaffi liatedwith anyof the above bra
nds. Thisis a third-partyadvertisme ntsent to you by the list onwer. If
you nolonger wish to receiveemail fromthisadvertiser, please write
101-1001W.Broadway,Suite765 Vancouver,BC V6H-4E4

An anonymous spammer sends me a link to supposedly claim a $1,000 gift certificate from Wal-Mart. Yeah, like I’m gonna click that.

Why Do Spammers Do It??

Why do they send such blatant security risks and ripoffs? Because they work! People click them all day long!

The harder question is Why Does It Work?? Why do people click them?

I don’t know. If you can ask that question, padawan, you no longer need me. Now go forth and share your wisdom with ten million Internet users and have them do the same. That’s the only way we’ll make a dent in this kind of spam.

The wicked awesome photo for today’s post brought to you by: Luke Forshaw

Work-at-Home Schemes

Be part of one of America’s Fastest Growing Industries!
Earn thousand of dollars a month – from your home – Processing Medical Billing Claims.

You can find ads like this everywhere – from the street light and telephone pole on your corner to your newspaper and PC. While you may find these ads appealing, especially if you can’t work outside your home, proceed with caution. Not all work-at-home opportunities deliver on their promises.

Many ads omit the fact that you may have to work many hours without pay. Or they don’t disclose all the costs you will have to pay. Countless work-at-home schemes require you to spend your own money to place newspaper ads; make photocopies; or buy the envelopes, paper, stamps, and other supplies or equipment you need to do the job. The companies sponsoring the ads also may demand that you pay for instructions or “tutorial” software. Consumers deceived by these ads have lost thousands of dollars, in addition to their time and energy.

Classic Work-at-Home Schemes

Several types of offers are classic work-at-home schemes.

Medical billing. Ads for pre-packaged businesses – known as billing centers – are in newspapers, on television and on the Internet. If you respond, you’ll get a sales pitch that may sound something like this: There’s “a crisis” in the health care system, due partly to the overwhelming task of processing paper claims. The solution is electronic claim processing. Because only a small percentage of claims are transmitted electronically, the market for billing centers is wide open.

The promoter also may tell you that many doctors who process claims electronically want to “outsource” or contract out their billing services to save money. Promoters will promise that you can earn a substantial income working full or part time, providing services like billing, accounts receivable, electronic insurance claim processing and practice management to doctors and dentists. They also may assure you that no experience is required, that they will provide clients eager to buy your services or that their qualified salespeople will find clients for you.

The reality: you will have to sell. These promoters rarely provide experienced sales staff or contacts within the medical community.

The promoter will follow up by sending you materials that typically include a brochure, application, sample diskettes, a contract (licensing agreement), disclosure document, and in some cases, testimonial letters, videocassettes and reference lists. For your investment of $2,000 to $8,000, a promoter will promise software, training and technical support. And the company will encourage you to call its references. Make sure you get many names from which to chose. If only one or two names are given, they may be “shills” – people hired to give favorable testimonials. It’s best to interview people in person, preferably where the business operates, to reduce your risk of being mislead by shills and also to get a better sense of how the business works.

Few consumers who purchase a medical billing business opportunity are able to find clients, start a business and generate revenues – let alone recover their investment and earn a substantial income. Competition in the medical billing market is fierce and revolves around a number of large and well-established firms.

Envelope stuffing. Promoters usually advertise that, for a “small” fee, they will tell you how to earn money stuffing envelopes at home. Later – when it’s too late – you find out that the promoter never had any employment to offer. Instead, for your fee, you’re likely to get a letter telling you to place the same “envelope-stuffing” ad in newspapers or magazines, or to send the ad to friends and relatives. The only way you’ll earn money is if people respond to your work-at-home ad.

Assembly or craft work. These programs often require you to invest hundreds of dollars in equipment or supplies. Or they require you to spend many hours producing goods for a company that has promised to buy them. For example, you might have to buy a sewing or sign-making machine from the company, or materials to make items like aprons, baby shoes or plastic signs. However, after you’ve purchased the supplies or equipment and performed the work, fraudulent operators don’t pay you. In fact, many consumers have had companies refuse to pay for their work because it didn’t meet “quality standards.”

Unfortunately, no work is ever “up to standard,” leaving workers with relatively expensive equipment and supplies – and no income. To sell their goods, these workers must find their own customers.

Questions to Ask

Legitimate work-at-home program sponsors should tell you – in writing – what’s involved in the program they are selling. Here are some questions you might ask a promoter:

• What tasks will I have to perform? (Ask the program sponsor to list every step of the job.)
• Will I be paid a salary or will my pay be based on commission?
• Who will pay me?
• When will I get my first paycheck?
• What is the total cost of the work-at-home program, including supplies, equipment and membership fees? What will I get for my money?

The answers to these questions may help you determine whether a work-at-home program is appropriate for your circumstances, and whether it is legitimate.

You also might want to check out the company with your local consumer protection agency, state Attorney General and the Better Business Bureau, not only where the company is located, but also where you live. These organizations can tell you whether they have received complaints about the work-at-home program that interests you. But be wary: the absence of complaints doesn’t necessarily mean the company is legitimate. Unscrupulous companies may settle complaints, change their names or move to avoid detection.

Where to Complain

If you have spent money and time on a work-at-home program and now believe the program may not be legitimate, contact the company and ask for a refund. Let company representatives know that you plan to notify officials about your experience. If you can’t resolve the dispute with the company, file a complaint with these organizations:

• The Federal Trade Commission works for the consumer to prevent fraud and deception. Call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or log on to www.ftc.gov.
• The Attorney General’s office in your state or the state where the company is located. The office will be able to tell you whether you’re protected by any state law that may regulate work-at-home programs.
• Your local consumer protection offices.
• Your local Better Business Bureau.
• Your local postmaster. The U.S. Postal Service investigates fraudulent mail practices.
• The advertising manager of the publication that ran the ad. The manager may be interested to learn about the problems you’ve had with the company.

For More Information

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters consumer complaints into the Consumer Sentinel Network, a secure online database and investigative tool used by hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Read the original post here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/invest/inv14.shtm

We worked hard for months to develop the book and spent a lot of time on both the content and the design. We like to think we came up with a pretty good end result and now we’d like to hear what you think. While you’re at it, let us know what you’d be interested in seeing in our newsletter. We’d like to offer exclusive content to our most loyal subscribers and are open to anything!

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It has sold steadily since we offered version 0.8 for $1. Version 2.0 is $10. No, that’s wrong. Version 2.0 was $10. Now it’s free.

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