I am; a born skeptic, and a poor one at that.

I was laid off five months ago. One of the happiest days of my life, truth be told. I’d escaped the corporate-America cube farm with my skin! My supervisor, bless her heart, was traumatized by having to let go some of her staff, so I did what I could to comfort her; but, by the time I got back home, I skipped with glee up the walk to the front door.

I was also very fortunate to receive a substantial severance package, so could take my time deciding what to do next.

I started down a dozen blind alleys, struggled back out, and finally found the nexus of my skills, experience, and passion: I can write! That’s great, but it’s notorious for not paying the rent. So, next up was to find market niches and sub-niches that would pay me to do what I love. Check.

Rubber Meets Road.

And that’s where the proverbial rubber met the road. Several months later, I’m still struggling with my web site and with developing a client base. I’m not the only writer who’s learned the hard way how much easier it is to develop business plans and write copy for other people than for yourself. It’s sort of like cleaning the kitchen: darn hard to clean your own but pretty easy to clean somebody else’s (that’s probably the principle behind home-cleaning services).

Are you scratching your head yet, wondering what all this has to do with “I’ve Tried That?”

Well, in desperation, I started looking into all those sites that promise easy money: data entry at home, surveys, product assembly, MLM, follow the marketing guru, buy this book, enter that contest, apply for government grants, find sellers for buyers, warm market, make a killing in real estate. The list is nearly endless, isn’t it?

And that’s where the writer and skeptic converge. I started seeing the same words, the same styles, P.S.es and P.P.S.es, disbelief-suspension strategies, get-it-NOW, and sales tactics used in those too-good-to-pass-up junk-mail offers that constipate our mail boxes in real life.

Running That Offer to Ground

So, I decided to see what I could find out about these offers – I tried to run them to ground. For each and every site I found, I did three things.

First, I read just far enough to figure out the offer and then scrolled to the bottom of the page to skip the rest of the blabber-jabber. I even continued through the multiple pages of the really annoying sites to get to the sign-up part. I clicked either Back or Close when asked for credit-card information, and about half the time a pop-up begged me to stay and offered a lower price or free shipping or some other enticement. Sometimes, I followed the enticement a little further, but was still eventually asked for a credit card, so bagged it. But before giving up, I always looked for phone numbers anywhere on the site or the pop-ups, and wrote them down.

Second, I Googled the name of the offer and appended words like ‘review,’ ’scam,’ ‘report,’ ’secretary of state,’ ‘FTC,’ ‘ripoff,’ or ‘opinion.’ Without fail, every single offer turned up in scam-report files, disgruntled discussion threads, complaints, or other forms of warning. To be fair, some also showed up in glowing reviews. But who ya gonna believe – the couple mentions of high praise or a couple hundred people complaining they’d been ripped off?

Third, if I’d found any phone numbers, I Googled them directly. (Enter any land-line phone in the search field in 999-999-9999 format, and Google will try to find it. (Do your own home phone and see what happens.) Guess what turned up? Usually, the number appeared on a call-complaint site. It might be reported to send you to voice-mail purgatory, or manned by rude or non-English-speaking salespeople, or even to be disconnected. In a few cases, Google couldn’t find the number at all.

I’m still a poor struggling writer and born skeptic, but I’m less poor than I might be if I hadn’t run those offers to ground before “investing” in them.

This article was written by Christine Rauckis who also owns and operates Clarity Communications. Be sure to give her website a visit. This is also our very first post in our series of guest postings. Get your articles featured here at I’ve Tried That. Click here for more information.

I’m excited because I found the presell page honest. No flashy gimmicks, no ridiculous claims of earnings, and no talking heads in the lower right corner. Okay sure, the name isn’t exactly the best, but I can look past that for now. I’ve read the presell page and I like what I see.

What exactly is a Niche Blitzkrieg?

From what I’ve gathered from the presell page, new members of Niche Blitzkrieg will be creating and maintaining a number of different websites. The websites you create will show up near among the top results when a user searches Google. This then drives visitors to your page and will thus result in you making money through either affiliate commissions or pay-per-click ads.

While this may sound confusing or even challenging to you, Michael Brown works under the assumption that you have no experience setting up a website and driving traffic to it. This is great because anyone would be able to work with his guide and not just those who already have the technical skills. Again, there are no prior knowledge requirements to use this system. Even if you’re completely computer illiterate, have no worries as Niche Blitzkrieg will show you step-by-step with pictures exactly what you need to do.

As you use Niche Blitzkrieg, you will be developing a number of websites. These websites will serve to generate multiple streams of income. The best part about this system is that once you create a website, it will continue to draw traffic and earn you money long after you’ve finished working on it. These results are easy to duplicate and soon you’ll have an entire network under your belt, all pulling income your way with minimal work on your part.

Compared to other programs we’ve reviewed, the initial startup costs are fairly low. Also, your monthly recurring costs should not exceed $10 a month. So, we have low startup costs, an easy to use system, and a way to develop a recurring income stream each month. Check, check, and check. Ladies and gentlemen, it sounds like we have a good program on our hands.

I am currently a member of the Niche Blitzkrieg system and will have a full review on the program later this week. Judging by what I’ve seen so far, my review is going to be overwhelmingly positive. Click here and read about Niche Blitzkrieg for yourself. You can wait for my full review if you like, but it’s more or less going to tell you to click on that link anyway. Save yourself some time and get started with Niche Blitzkrieg today.

Do yourself a favor and subscribe to Michael’s newsletter as well by clicking here. He has plenty of good insight and usually offers deals to new products through his newsletter.

Click here to learn more about Niche Blitzkrieg.

How to Avoid Being Scammed

The Internet is the wild, wild west, only bigger. And without the ponies. It is unregulated and chaotic and full of snake oil salesmen who want to take your money. And they’re going to specifically target you as a retiree because they think you are naive about the online world.

You can avoid 99.9% of online scams by following two simple rules.

Rule #1: Never Pay For a Job

Never, ever. If you click on a link or an ad that promises to tell you about a high-paying job, and then you read the materials and they want you to pay for “a kit,” or “training,” or “the members area,” it is not a job. You are being mislead. This rule is infallible.

There are legitimate business and training opportunities online that are worth paying for. But they don’t pretend to be jobs.

Rule #2: If You Wouldn’t Do It in Real Life, Don’t Do It Online

What if a total stranger knocked on your door one day and introduced herself as Miss Angela Kennedy, from Senegal, Africa (or some other country). What if that person then proceeded to tell you her life story and about her rich father who left her millions of dollars in a Swiss bank account. And then she tells you that she needs $1,000 to get the money out, and if you’ll giver her the $1,000, she’ll give you half of the money.

You’d slam the door, right? And yet, every day, people fall for this lie and others like it because the lie takes place online, through e-mail. By some estimates, westerners lose $100,000 every day to online scams like this.

Here is another common scenario. What if a salesman showed up at your door hopping around, excited, shouting that you can live the life of your dreams! You can make hundreds of dollars a day with 15 minutes of easy work! You can have fancy cars and big houses! Say he pulled out big glossy photos of the cars and houses and held them up for you.

You’d slam the door because you would know he’s trying to push your emotional buttons to sell you something. The same is true online. Don’t click on unsolicited email messages promising big money. Doing so is the equivalent of inviting that obnoxious salesman into your living room.

Retirees Can Supplement Their Income Online

There are legitimate businesses and good opportunities to be found. Many people make a lot of money using the Internet, and so can baby boomers. But none of them are fast and miraculous, and you probably have a lot to learn. Make these two rules your guide and you’ll be safe.

Talk to the Merchant First

Contact whoever charged your credit card first. This works surprisingly well granted you are able to get in contact with an actual person. Explain to them that you want a refund or you did not authorize them to charge your credit card. If you find that the merchant doesn’t list any type of contact information, or they refuse to acknowledge your request, it’s time to get in contact with your credit card company.

The key here is that you are more likely to win a dispute after you’ve demonstrated that you have tried to talked to the merchant who charged you in the first place.

The Fair Credit Billing Act

There is a lovely piece of federal law that was enacted quite a few years back that protected consumers against unfair billing practices called the Fair Credit Billing Act. This act protects you against many unjust practices including:

• Unauthorized charges not made by you
• Charges that list the incorrect amount or date
• Charges for goods that were undelivered or that you didn’t accept
• Math errors
• Failure to post payments and other credits to your account;
• Charges that you want clarified or request proof of

To take full advantage of the law and start a dispute, you must first write to your creditor. This means you have to write out or type up and actual letter and mail it in. It must be sent to your creditors “Billing Inquiries” mailing address and you must include a full description of the error along with your name, address and account number. All of this must be done within 60 days of receiving the bill that contains the fraudulent or erroneous charge.

The FTC recommends that you send your letter through certified mail and that you have a return receipt requested. The also say to make copies of sales slips or any other document that will help support your decision. Do not mail away the originals! Keep a copy of the dispute letter for your own sake as well.

Your creditor now has 30 days to acknowledge that you are opening a dispute on a charge made on your credit card. Now you play the waiting game as your creditor looks into the charges and determines whether or not a refund should be issued. They are required to respond to your request within 90 days.

Before you start the above process, I highly recommend you speak with a customer support representative from you credit card holder. They will be able to explain the process in full and they will give you all the information you need in order to open a dispute. Be sure to see what your creditor has to say first.

This post was designed to give you the basics on how to dispute credit card charges. There’s no guarantee that the above will work, but it will get you started in the right direction. For more information, visit the FTC’s page on Fair Credit Billing.

Okay, those things are lies. All of them. How can we have a limited number of ebooks? We could ship a million of them and be really happy, without a single worry about supply. I was just trying to fit in as many online marketing cliches as I could.

The Complete Guide to Telecommuting

If you’re new to I’ve Tried That, The Complete Guide to Telecommuting is our ebook that shows you how to use the Internet to find genuine jobs you can do from home. It teaches you how to avoid the gimmicks and how to land real jobs from real people that will help you earn a couple hundred bucks per month or more using skills you already possess.

This version is a huge improvement over version 1.0. It looks a lot better and contains new content on managing your telecommuting work, how to approach your boss to let you work from home, and how to grow from part-time telecommuting work into a full-time freelancing business.

We’ve also kept our multi-tiered pricing model, but instead of simply letting you decide how much you want to pay for the guide, we’re offering several package purchase options as well as add-on products to supplement your telecommuting resources. You can buy just the guide, or the guide and a guide about income taxes as a freelancer, or both of those with a trial membership to I’ve Tried Telecommuting. In the future, you can purchase professionally designed resume and cover letter templates. You pay more, you get more value. Click here to check it out and to get your package today.

Is The Guide for Me?

Can I Upgrade?

If you already purchased the first version of our guide, and paid more than $5.95, you can upgrade to 2.0 for free. Just login to your account and the new guide will be waiting for you. If you paid $5.95 or less, you can upgrade by paying the difference between your purchase price and the new package you want to buy. (For example, if you paid $5.95 and want the new guide only, send $9 via PayPal and we’ll send you the new version. Send your payment to: steve[at]ivetriedthat[dot]com)

Sounds great. Point me to it.

You can find the guide in our freshly-designed store. We moved away from the traditional online sales page and wanted to incorporate a more aesthetically pleasing environment for our products. Be sure to leave your opinion on the new product and store front. Help us move forward by leaving comments below.

Click here to be taken to our store now.

Help from inside?

Recent developments in our comments that fuel our belief that the Rebate Processing fad is coming to an end. Joseph Ashford, an apparent employee at Penbrook Productions, has offered up his personal email account in order to take the helm in offering refunds to those who are unsatisfied with their purchase.

As some of you may realized, this is Joseph. I have talked to many of the customers that once purchased Penbrook Productions Process from Home. I do everything in my power to refund people. Sometimes it’s harder than others. If you still have not received a refund and demand one but refuse to talk to the customer care people who you talked to previously, please email me, and I will respond with 48 hours. Be it by phone or email. I am the Customer Care Manager, and I take my job very seriously and do it well. If you only want to tell me how crappy my employer is, there is no sense in you wasting my time. I need my time to help people get their money back not to read somebody’s artistic way of using four letter words. my email address is

ccm@penbrookproductions.com

I beseech you, email me so that we resolve this issue A.S.A.P.

Very Respectfully,
Joseph Ashford-

Our Readers Respond
I’ll admit, I was a little apprehensive at first and didn’t want the comment posted for fear that someone was posing as an employee of Penbrook Productions in order to phish for personal information. My partner, Joe, went into talks with Joseph and decided Joseph was genuinely concerned with handing out refunds. It took a few days, but our readers took Joseph up on his offer.

First, we have J. Presley, who wrote somewhat skeptically:

This Joseph Ashford called me yesterday about my refund and was supposed to call me back later on. I called the phone number he left me on the message 949-706-3183 this morning and got a voice message. I left my information on this voice mail. They also give you a Customer Care number to call which I have called at least twice before and have not seen any results. I would suggest everyone call the number above and leave a message for this Joseph Ashford about receiving a refund. He sounded very cooperative but it remains to be seen if he will come through with the refund. Going back through the credit card company before the charges are on there 60 days is most likely the better option to get your money.

And Gina:

Just wanted to let you know that I contacted Mr. Ashford. I sent him an email and quickly called me back. My refund was put through on 5/5 and was posted to my credit card on 5/8. Please give Mr. Ashford a try to get your money back.

The beginning of the end

Joseph Ashford is the person you want to talk to in order to get your money back. Period. Email him and you can skip the overseas call centers, which may or may not result in you getting your money back. Stick with Joseph and avoid 1-800 numbers and we now believe you can have your money back fairly quickly.

While rebate processing looks to be finally running its course, I think it will only be a matter of weeks before another program pops up hyping the same drivel with a different name. Stay sharp, and subscribe to our updates in order to stay up to date on the latest scams.

When it comes to finding jobs, Google is not your friend
Unless you’re a very sophisticated Google searcher, you’re not going to find real telecommuting jobs with a typical Internet search engine. This is because online marketers aggressively pursue search engine rankings and keywords. Employers do not. Enter “work from home” as a search term and you’ll 169 million hits (not kidding), most of them linking to a pre-sell page for data entry jobs or Ultimate Wealth Package or some other affiliate sales program.

You’ll get slightly better results if you search for “telecommuting,” but even that term is now flooded with junk ads. And it used to be that you could tell a lot about a site by reading its URL, but that is not as helpful as it once was because scammers and people trying to sell you stuff have become good at masking their real business by padding the URL.

If you must search, search wisely
Steve and I have been pointing out real work-at-home opportunities together for almost a year now, none of which resulted from Google searches. We’ve even been known to advise you to stay away from Google in your job search. But you’re going to do it anyway. It’s hard not to use Google when you’re searching for something. I even go to Google for help with my lost car keys! So if you’re going to ignore our advice about job searching, at least follow these tips to minimize the chances you’ll get burned:

• Don’t click on sponsored ads. The first links after you hit “Go” and the links on the side of the page are sponsored ads. That means someone has paid Google to put them there whenever you type in certain search terms. Real employers do not look to fill jobs this way. It’s too expensive and inefficient. If you click on a sponsored ad, you’ll go to someone trying to sell you something, not to someone wanting to hire you.
• Scroll to the end of the page. Once you think you’ve found a job link and clicked on it, scroll all the way to the bottom before reading it. Is there a Buy Now button or link and payment options? Then it’s not a job. Employers don’t charge you to work for them. They pay you.
• Try multiple keywords. “Work at home jobs” is just one keywork combination. You could also search for “telecommuting jobs,” “homeshoring,” and other possibilities.
• Don’t overlook forums. Forums are an underappreciated resource in today’s age of ever-flashier Web content. But they are amazing sources of information because people who do or have done what you want to do hang out there. I’ve seen many, many people find jobs by following relevant forums in their niche.

Once again, let me warn you: your chances of finding a genuine telecommuting job through Google are small. But you’re probably going to do it anyway. The least you can do is follow the tips above to protect yourself and keep the waste of time to a minimum.

[Update: Alert reader Willy wrote to let us know about a post on his blog that contains detailed instructions on how to use Google for job searches. I said above, “Unless you’re a sophisticated Google searcher, you’re not going to find real telecommuting jobs with a typical Internet search engine.” Willy’s instructions could very well turn you into that sophisticated searcher. Check out “How to Use Google to Find a Job.”

1. Thou shalt do your research! – First and foremost, always do your research. This is as simple as typing in the websites name along with the word ’scam’ into a search engine. While reading the results, try and stay towards forum and user discussions and avoid websites that are trying to sell the product you’re researching. You can also register for our forum and start a discussion there.
2. Thou shalt read the URL – The first strong indicator of whether or not you’re viewing a scam is the URL. If it’s something like www.proven-system-to-make-you-four-million-dollars-while-you-sleep.com, you can safely move along. Key scam words in URLs include: wealthy, rich, million, proven system, Enron, and of course, scam.
3. Thou shalt avoid sites with stock photography – These are the websites that have happy people holding bags of money and gold in front of their Ferrari that’s parked in their 8 car garage attached to their mansion on the Moon. I hate to say it, but you’ll never become that rich online.
4. Thou shalt not view the dreaded Google Adwords Image – Many websites promote the same crap packaged with different names. You’ve probably seen data entry, rebate processing, home typing, or make money on Google advertisements. They are all selling the same scam and they probably have an image that closely resembles this. If you come across that image, you’re going to get scammed.
5. Thou shalt copy the text – Randomly select a paragraph on the presell page and copy and paste it with quotes around it into Google. Make sure the paragraph you choose doesn’t contain any specific name related to the site. You want something generic like this:
   

   “Whether you are purely a customer using our products and services, or also an affiliate promoting them, we have an incredibly exciting year in store for you!”

   Copied and pasted into Google yields numerous results and presell pages. It’s safe to say that it’s a scam and you’ll likely be selling the same program you are buying.

6. Thou shalt watch out for “high-pressure” situations – No website magically sells out of PDF files. It’s impossible to run out of digital copies. So if you see that membership is closing tomorrow and there is a timer counting the remaining time left for you to join, it’s a scam. Refresh the page and the timer will reset. Visit the page the following day and again you will read that membership is closing tomorrow. These are common sales tactics that put you on the spot to make a decision in a split second. Don’t fall for it.
7. Thou shalt talk to a human being – Always try and get into contact with the websites owner if you have any doubts. If you can’t get in contact with an actual person or you receive an automated message, stop trying and move along. Although, getting in contact with an actual person isn’t a clear indicator on a sites legitimacy, but it will help you narrow your decision down.
8. Thou shalt not sign up for an offer through an unsolicited email – Never, ever sign up for a random program that was sent to your email address. Simply put, it is a scam. Also, upgrade your spam filter. You shouldn’t be receiving unsolicited emails in your inbox anyway.
9. Thou shalt check the BBB – Use the Better Business Bureau’s search function to check the legitimacy of a company as well as any complaints previous customers have had. Be sure to read any complaints in full.
10. Thou shalt go with your instincts – If all else fails, go with your gut instincts. If your eyes are telling you “Sign up! Look how happy those people are with their gold plated spaceships!” but your gut is telling you “I don’t think this is such a good idea…” follow your gut. It’s usually right.

Bonus Tip: Visit our subscription page to subscribe to our RSS feed or receive email notifications of updates to stay on-top of the programs we review. We do find the occasional legitimate program and you’ll definitely want to know what we have to say about it.

Bonus Tip 2: Buy our ebook to learn how to truly make real money online. We teach you the methods behind landing real work at home jobs and provide you with all the resources you need to learn how to make a few extra hundred dollars per month. Click here to visit our store.

Rebate Processing Refunds

Angela Penbrook and myrebateprocessor.com Refunds

A number of our readers have successfully received refunds from one of the worst scams we’ve ever seen. Angela Penbrook is running a rebate processing scam that costs $197. One hundred and ninety seven dollars! For complete crap! If you’ve fallen victim to this scam, follow these stories below in order to get your money back.

Numbers to Call

1-866-885-8126
1-888-514-6001
1-800-875-8042 (Warning: possible sex chat line at times!)

Success Stories

From April:

First I called every one of her 1-800 numbers (and if someone needs one just shout out to me. ) I think the Bimbo has 3 numbers. I called all different times of the day and always got that annoying voice then that annoying music, then I just constantly pressed the “0″ until I was connected. Then i spoke to 3 different people who were not nice at all and i composed myself very will because they had the upper hand, all of the 3 people took my name, e-mail address, and last four digits of my card that i put it on and my zip code. They all gave me the same confirmation number. A little funny to me so I kept calling and calling back 3 or 4 times until i got them disgusted. For the first few days i would get funny e-mails like we need your info again and i would keep calling back and keep getting the same confirmation number. Then i finally got a confirmation that i would get my refund in 5 to 7 days and i waited 6 and checked my account and my refund went through. I also recieved a confirmation e-mail from her that i was refunded.

From Patricia:

Today i called 1-866-885-8126 or 1-800-875-8042 and pressed “0″ as soon as I heard the Angela Penbrook greeting and in seconds I got a live person. His name was David Peterson. I told him I wanted a complete refund of my $197 and he asked me my E-mail address and name and what zip code I was from. He then told me that i was going to get a complete refund and gave me a autorization code number for it. Then I called back 2 minutes later and spoke to a woman named Rachel who did the same thing and also gave me the same authorization refund code as the previous Mr. David Peterson. I asked for their address and he told me that he couldn’t give me that information but he was in Urban California. I tried calling the Better Business Bureau and they dont do much but throw you on hold forever. I called my credit card company and I was told that the charge is pending and sometimes they know that you caught on to them and the charge gets dropped off as if you didn’t even make the transaction.

From David:

I called the 866 # just like Patricia did.I don’t remember the girl’s name I spoke with,but she was foreign and spoke english,albeit not clearly.She asked for my name,ph#,and zipcode.I complied and she said that the refund should show up in 4-7 business days on my CC.Unlike Patricia,I wasn’t issued a confirmation #,nor did they ask for the last 4 digits of my CC.I have already spoken with my CC company and forewarned them that I will be asking for a dispute or backcharge on this if they fail to issue my refund as promised.If you dial 800-785-8042,it takes you to the same place as the 866# that Patricia gave out.I’ll be checking my CC online starting this evening.

From Joyce:

Hi again to all, Joyce here again with a big smile because after jumping through many hoops, my credit card company notified me today they are giving me what they call a “conditional refund” of my money. Let me fill you in if it will help others. I sent all the info from the purchase of Angela Penbrook’s program to my credit card co. along with filling out an online dispute of the $197 charge. They emailed me about two weeks later, and asked for a complete and detailed letter about the situation, and also any proof from emails, correspondence, etc. and I was to forward all that to another address, different then the one on their website.
So I typed out a two page letter, along with copies of the email, a copy of the portion of her webpage which shows the 90 day guarantee, explained what the work was supposed to be in detail, etc. I never said “scam”. Kept everything very business like and explained that I could not do this work due to other obligations to my family, and since I have a 90 day guarantee, I should be entitled to my funds back. Mailed it off about 10 days ago, and today got the letter from my credit card company, with another page consisting of 3 questions to answer. 1. Exact date of cancellation of the order. 2. Why was order cancelled? 3. What was the merchant’s response when you attempted to resolve your dispute? (easy one, huh) Must sign and return within 10 days and they are “continuing to investigate this matter on my behalf”. So,to all out there please stick to your guns with the credit card companies, do whatever they want you to do,and whatever info you send, make sure you sign it, your own handwritten signature makes it legal. I checked my account on line just before coming here and I can tell you that the minus in front of the – 197.00 looks pretty good!!!!! Hopefully nothing will change. Must get the paper in the mail tomorrow with the info that the credit card company wants.
Hope everyone that has written to this webpage gets their reimbursement too. Thanks so much for all the honest hearted people who are out their pulling for everyone else.!!!

Getting a refund through eSellerate

Several scammers are running their operations through eSellerate. Including, Cindy Dalton at rebateprocessorjobs.com and Angel Stevens at processathome.com. I’ve heard that they can be difficult in refunding money, but be persistent! The rebate processing scam we bought into was through eSellerate and we still haven’t received our refund yet. But don’t lose hope and try the following advice:

I fell into the same trap and have been writing twice a day to the support site trying to get a refund. So today I thought i’d write an email to their payment gateway provider esellerate. They process the crdit card payments. I just described what had happened and within 3 hours I received an email stating that a refund had been made. Their details are:
http://www.esellerate.net
Phone: (402) 323-6600
e-mail: support@esellerate.net

Update: I was able to successfully receive my money back from eSellerate after following the above advice!

Data Entry Refunds

DataEntryBusiness.com Refunds

From Claudette:

I have finally gotten a refund of my $49.95. from Dataentrybusiness. Actually it took some doing: I found this website called eesellerate.net which is what was printed on my c/card account as having been creditted to from my accout and i checked it out online and found that all i had to do was punch in my emailaddress that i used to register with dataentrybusness and Essellerate would email me the account no. and the item no, of the registration transaction that i paid for. I immediately used that info i got from Essellerate and emailed dataentry business requesting my refund, and they immediately refunded my 49.95.

From Mitch:

If you havent already set up a paypal account – do so. That is how I paid for the DEB scammers membership (as Paypal is secure and you are insured)- but it doesnt matter how you paid.

You send a REQUEST FOR PAYMENT to : paypal@esellerate.net (as that was DEB paypal email account) the amount you want refunded and what I did was put in the ‘note’ box – THIRD AND FINAL WARNING. Failure to refund amount immediately will result a formal complaint to Consumer Affairs and Paypal.

Obviously Paypal knows these scammers – because I couldnt believe how fast my refund came through (I lodged it late last night and had it in my paypal account this morning) To those who dont have Paypal – you then transfer the money from your paypal account to your bank account.

HOPE THIS HELPS!
Mich (Australia)

Clickbank and ClickandBuy Refunds

I haven’t found any specific scams operating through Clickbank or ClickandBuy, but use the following forms in order to request a refund from either website.

Clickbank: Customer Service Form
ClickandBuy: Complaint Department Information

Community Project

The list is small as of now, but I plan to update it as frequently as new refund stories come in. If you have a story to contribute, please leave a comment below. We’re always looking for new stories.

This article assumes that you have found a real job (as opposed to something you do online that might earn you money if you hold your head just right) and now want to take the next step toward landing it. Let me be very clear: I’m talking about a real person with a name, a single individual who reads your email and makes the decision on whether to hire you. In most cases, this means you’re performing work that you found online; you’re not actually doing online work, such as “data entry” or “filling out forms.” I’m talking about telecommuting jobs: work that used to be performed at a job site but that you can now do at home because of Internet technology.

The key to landing such jobs is simple: treat them as if they were not telecommuting jobs. You wouldn’t go to a face-to-face interview with bedhead and wearing the t-shirt you slept in. You wouldn’t walk in and say, “Hey, I think I’d like to do that job you talked about.”

You know what I’ve heard employers say? They don’t like to advertise on Craigslist or other online sites for telecommuter jobs because they get bizarre applicants. (They do it anyway because they’re willing to sort through them to find the one Rock Star who will get the job.) Those applicants fail to realize that the employer sees no difference between a telecommuter and an employee working in the office. If anything, the telecommuter needs to be even sharper because she is at home or another location under her own supervision.

Everything rides on your initial email; you can’t charm your way through an interview, call in favors from your network, or impress the employer with your Armani suit. You have only your words. Look at the huge difference between these two initial emails:

Dear [company name],
I am intrigued by your Craigslist ad and am writing to offer my services. I have four years of experience as an executive assistant and a Bachelor’s degree in marketing and sales, so my skills are just what you’re looking for. I have extensive experience with all standard office applications and learn new software quickly and efficiently; your proprietary coding system will give me no trouble, I’m sure. Perhaps most important, I have been working in telecommuting jobs for over six months and have four satisfied clients; some of them are listed as references in the attached resume.

Thank you for the opportunity and for looking at these materials. I look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Joe Staples

Hello, I saw your Craigslist ad and would like more information. I’m looking for a job I can do from home and you’re the lucky winner. I can do the things your ad said, like typing and follow-up calls. I can send you a resume if needed. Let me know what you think.

thanks

Joe

You’re an employer and you have these two to choose from. Hmm…which one should I pick? Lest you think the lower one is a silly, unrealistic example, let me reassure you that it’s not. I’ve seen responses like this. I’ve sent responses like this! Employers are deadly serious about their telecommuting employees. (Update: In the comments, Sarah, who’s hired telecommuters, says, “I hadn’t realized just how bad most responses from Craigslist are until I started looking for blog designers that way. Most of the responses were horrendous (much, much worse than your example).”) You need to break out of the free-wheeling internet and email mindset and take it as seriously as they do. Here are some tips to help you do that:

• Send a great-looking resume. Even if if there isn’t much on it, it needs to look good and be reader friendly.
• Read the job ad carefully. Many of them give detailed information about what you’ll be doing and what information they need from you when you apply. Follow their instructions to the letter.
• Be formal. Even if it violates your personality (it certainly does mine), you have to show that you’re looking for a job, not an online gig. You can probably loosen up afterwards, but for now, assume your employer is an uptight CPA-type who loves to wear his tie every day. Employers are very conservative when it comes to hiring.
• Politely follow up, if possible, in 3-5 business days if you have not heard back from them.
• If you do hear back, follow up immediately. In other words, say you get a quick “thanks for applying” note. Respond to it immediately, even if it’s just to say, “Thanks for the acknowledgment. I look forward to hearing what you think about my materials.”

I’m not an expert, but these are things that have worked for me. I’ve had about 5 clients that I found online and have made a comfortable part-time income from them using these strategies to land the job. What has worked for you? (Yes, I’m fishing for comments.)