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	<title>I&#039;ve Tried That &#187; Known Scams</title>
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	<description>We lose money so you don&#039;t have to!</description>
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		<title>Do NOT Order Premium White or Dazzel White.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/16/do-not-order-premium-white-or-dazzel-white/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/16/do-not-order-premium-white-or-dazzel-white/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 16 Nov 2009 14:00:15 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4228</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Brush your teeth instead!]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>If you sign up for the free trial offered by Premium White or Dazzel White Pro, <strong>you will be charged <em>at least</em> $80 for a monthly subscription</strong> you probably didn&#8217;t agree to nor do you want.  </p>
<h2>The Premium White/Dazzel White Pro Scam</h2>
<p>The scam itself is not with the product your ordered, but rather the monthly memberships you are automatically enrolled in after giving away your credit card and private information. If you go through the site and sign up for the $2.95 free trial, you will be billed monthly for $112.44. That&#8217;s right, each month they will deduct over one hundred dollars from your bank account until you call and demand that they stop.</p>
<h2>Customer Testimonials</h2>
<p>Don&#8217;t just take it from me. Here are horror stories from those who have fallen victim to this scam.</p>
<blockquote><p>These people are scam artists and have so mant telephone numbers and highly automated, efficient and crooked to the core and will charge your account and you can not cancel. They sucker you in by a free trial offer and then subcribe you to all kinds of crap and charge your account. The confirming email was for the correct amount of $1.95 but they charged my account $48.92 and will charge again around $80 and try as I might, I could not cancel all these extra garbage. These free calling numbers are worthless and you can talk to these people who are nice and polite but they have no authority. The system is purposely set up to take your money only. The &#8220;Terms and Conditions&#8221; Are burried way at the bottom of the page in fine prints and if you go to that link they will tell you some of the bad news and imply you can cancel any time. They said they will have to ship all the products and that I had to return it paying for Insured, track-able return to a different address than the one that came from. If I had not received the phone call from my credit card fraud division, I would have not known to at least cancel all additiona shipment. They enroll you automatically into these expensive automatic subscription. They said they sent me emails for returns and I never got them. I gave alternate email and I still did not get any emails. PLEASE do not giove them your credit card number or do any business with them. THey should be put out of business.</p>
<p>Ali</p></blockquote>
<p>Another:</p>
<blockquote><p>I feel very silly to have even fallen for this but, the ads were very convincing. I followed a link to a Consumer Weekly ad about a mom who had experienced a very inexpensive way to get whiter teeth. The blurb made it sound like you only paid shipping and handling for free trials for Dazzle Smile and Smile Brite and so I followed the link and signed up for my free trials with the understanding that I only needed to cancel before the trial period was up to avoid the monthly fees of $87 and $92 US.</p>
<p>Wrong! Had I read the terms and conditions closely nearer to the bottom of the page, it states that the trial is the first monthly supply so if you don&#8217;t cancel before 14 days (Dazzle Smile) or 10 days (Smile Brite) then you will be charged the monthly amount. However, it starts from when your credit card is charged for shipping not from when you receive the product. It took nearly 10 days to get the product!</p>
<p>The real catch is that someone from Smile Brite called me and I said that I changed my mind and didn&#8217;t want any of it thinking that was enough, however, I didn&#8217;t cancel it on the website and so 10 days later, my credit card was charged $92. No one answers at the phone number that was listed with the charge.</p>
<p>When I received the Dazzle Smile trial I immediately tried to cancel it but, also couldn&#8217;t get a hold of a customer representative. The number was either busy or I was immediately on hold for extended periods of time so I tried the chat. They will only confirm a return address so I sent the trial back Express Post so I could track it. Interestingly enough, not even a week later, the company name on the return address changed from Farend Services Ltd. to Premium White although the address is the same.</p>
<p>No one on the chat will confirm they received my trial return but, keep telling me to phone a customer service rep with whom I cannot reach. In short, I ended up canceling my credit card to avoid any further charges after doing more research and hearing people say that more charges were incurred on their credit cards for other products that they knew nothing about.</p>
<p>I strongly advise that you stay away from this scam!</p></blockquote>
<p>And there are literally hundreds more just like this. I don&#8217;t understand how these guys are getting away with absolute thievery. </p>
<h2>How to Get Your Money Back</h2>
<p>To be honest, I don&#8217;t know. I have been trying to find a verified method of getting your money returned, but there are dozens of different email address, websites, and phone numbers. They make it damn near impossible to get in contact with them.</p>
<p>The most common number I&#8217;ve seen for the teeth whitening programs is: <strong>1-866-528-6214</strong>.  You need to make it very clear that you want to cancel every single monthly charge and that you want a refund on the money that they have taken out of your bank account. </p>
<p>If they refuse to refund you, <strong>demand to speak with a supervisor</strong>. Let them know you will be filing a chargeback through your credit card or banking company and you will be reporting everything to the FTC. Usually these threats are enough to get your money back. </p>
<p>You now need to do three things:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>File a fraudulent charge claim with your credit card or bank if they refuse to give you a refund.</strong> Explain to them your situation and the refused refund and let them know this company is notorious for taking money. Insist they perform a chargeback. They have the tools and information available to fight for your money.</li>
<li><strong>File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.</strong> It is their job to monitor and go after these types of scams. Visit: <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm">http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm</a></li>
<li><strong>File a complaint with your state Attorney General.</strong> Contact details here: <a href="http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php">http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php</a></li>
</ol>
<p>If all else fails, <strong>you will need to cancel your credit/debit card and get a new one issued.</strong> This is the only 100% guaranteed method of stopping these guys from stealing your money.</p>
<p>If you have fallen victim to this scam, PLEASE do everyone else a favor and file a complaint with the FTC. Hopefully if enough complaints are received, we can shut these guys down for good. </p>
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		<title>Do Not Buy the Online Cash Success Kit.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/12/do-not-buy-the-online-cash-success-kit/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/12/do-not-buy-the-online-cash-success-kit/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:06:58 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4218</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Always read the terms and conditions! The fine print will help you make a decision on whether or not you want to give away your credit card information.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We have yet another new &#8220;Google&#8221; scam making the rounds on the Internet today; however, this time the main targets appear to be Facebook users. If you&#8217;ve landed on this page through a search engine, you&#8217;re probably wondering if this program is legitimate. <strong>It isn&#8217;t and the &#8220;free&#8221; trial could cost you hundreds of dollars.</strong> If you&#8217;re trying to get your money back from these guys, keep reading.</p>
<h2>The Online Cash Success Kit Scam</h2>
<p>The scam isn&#8217;t with the product itself, but rather the various monthly memberships you are immediately signed up for upon joining under a free trial. The fine print on the website claims that if you do not cancel your free trial within 7 days, you will be charged a monthly membership fee for various programs. Despite the 7-day warning, we&#8217;ve read numerous reports from victims stating that their trial money was taken, and then <em>the following day</em> around $80 in unauthorized charges was pulled from their bank accounts.</p>
<p>You do not want these people to have access to your personal and banking information.</p>
<h2>Actual Customer Testimonials</h2>
<blockquote><p>I paid the $3.00 to find out what the earnings were all about. They use Googgles name as a lure to sucker you in. It has nothing to do with Google. In 1 day my credit card was charged $79.86. I called today, Monday, and the girl said she would cancel my membership. I insisted on receiving a refund, but, that is not their policy. I told her to send me the merchandise then because I wasn&#8217;t going to just let them have the money. I was transferred to a supervisor where I made a much bigger stink telling him I would file fraud charges with the bank and anyone else I could. He then told me he would see that I got my refund. We&#8217;ll see! Too bad our Gov can&#8217;t stop these scam artists.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>We signed up for what we thought was a legitimate Google company. We still don&#8217;t know for sure who is running this company. The terms and conditions said we wouldn&#8217;t be charged for 7 days. This is what printed out after we signed up. We were charged $79.00 in 2 days. The terms said $47.50 on the 15th day after we signed up. Their customer service claimed this wasn&#8217;t their terms and conditions. How could they make that claim when the name was exactly the same and printed out on the screens we signed up on? Either someone didn&#8217;t proofread their terms or they are cheating the public using Google&#8217;s name to do so.</p></blockquote>
<h2>How to Get Your Money Back</h2>
<p>Call this number: 1-888-591-2190. You may have a long wait, but it&#8217;s one of the few numbers out there that work. You need to make it very clear that you want to cancel every single monthly charge and that you want a refund on the money that they have taken out of your bank account. </p>
<p>I&#8217;ve read multiple reports that they have flat out refused to give refunds. If they refuse, <strong>demand to speak with a supervisor</strong>. Let them know you will be filing a chargeback through your credit card or banking company and you will be reporting everything to the FTC. Usually this is enough to get your money back. </p>
<p>You now need to do three things:</p>
<ol>
<li><strong>File a fraudulent charge claim with your credit card or bank if they refuse to give you a refund.</strong> Explain to them your situation and the refused refund and let them know this company is notorious for taking money. Insist they perform a chargeback. They have the tools and information available to fight for your money.</li>
<li><strong>File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission.</strong> It is their job to monitor and go after these types of scams. Visit: <a href="http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm">http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/contact.shtm</a></li>
<li><strong>File a complaint with your state Attorney General.</strong> Contact details here: <a href="http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php">http://www.naag.org/attorneys_general.php</a></li>
</ol>
<h2>JustThink Media Contact Information</h2>
<p>These guys are operating more scams than we could count. They range from teeth whitening, to Acai Berry, to Google money scams. </p>
<p>Just Think Media<br />
Corporate Head Office<br />
Suite 204, 85 Cranford Way<br />
Sherwood Park, Alberta, CANADA T8H 0H9<br />
Phone: 780.416.0211<br />
Fax: 780.416.0218<br />
Careers@justthinkmedia.com<br />
Corporate@justthinkmedia.com<br />
Legal@justthinkmedia.com<br />
Customer Service<br />
1-888-591-2190<br />
customerservice@justthinkmedia.com<br />
Owner: Jesse Willams </p>
<p>If you&#8217;re fighting for a refund, I wish you luck. Be sure to outline any details in the comments below. It would be great to have verified methods of getting your money back from these guys.</p>
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		<title>Beware of the CarolPady.com Reshipping Scam.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/10/beware-of-the-carolpady-com-reshipping-scam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/10/beware-of-the-carolpady-com-reshipping-scam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:51:08 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4173</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Once again, major corporations don't hire people to work from home and handle their finances and shipping.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last week we covered a rather popular <a href="http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/06/do-not-do-work-for-g-and-m-stacey-inc/">purchasing agent/money laundering scam being conducted by G and M Stacey, Inc.</a> This week, we have a scam along the same lines running under the name CarolPady and it is targeting frequent users of job boards such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.</p>
<h2>The Job Application Email</h2>
<blockquote><p>My name is Christopher Lewis and I&#8217;m the representative of HR<br />
department of Electronics Shopping Store known as CarolPady (Carolpady.com). As our 10&#8242;000 associates can attest,<br />
working for CarolPady is the chance to be a part of a company unlike<br />
any other in the world. It’s more than a job; it’s a place to develop<br />
your skills and build a career with competitive pay and health<br />
benefits for you and your family. To work for CarolPady is to be welcomed into a diverse family, where the individual contributions of every associate are respected and valued. Above all, it’s an opportunity to join a team 10 thousand strong who is helping the world live better every day.</p>
<p>We do this by saving our customers money on the things they need for their families, their homes and their businesses. We do it by reaching out and giving back to the communities where our customers and our associates live. And we do it by working together to solve some of the biggest challenges facing our world today, like the environment, energy and health care.</p>
<p>We require 16 dispatchers. We need persons of maturity age, graduators of a high-school, basic users of PC with Internet connection. All expenses are held by our company and you DON&#8217;T need to PAY ANYTHING.</p>
<p>DISPATCHER Monthly Salary $1900 (+$100 &#8211; Gas Compensation)<br />
- Handling customer complaints and concerns (through email) in a professional manner.<br />
- Communicating with customers when necessary to advise shipments delay and/or information necessary to process orders (online chat and email support)<br />
- Developing delivery schedules and route plans to facilitate rapid and efficient deliveries to customers.<br />
- Initiate orders for replacements parts and/or for correcting errors (shortages, wrong item shipped, etc.).<br />
- Stay at home (or have someone at home) to receive packages and mail during working hours (9a.m. &#8211; 4p.m.) and report on each received package or envelope through the dispatcher control panel or email.<br />
- Receive packages with goods (usually electronics, jewelry) and envelopes with documents.<br />
- Repack following the instructions (will be sent to you via email once the shipping label is available for download).<br />
- Log into dispacther&#8217;s control panel and download prepaid shipping label and print it (we do not provide with the printer and do not compensate the ink).<br />
- Attach the shipping label to the parcel and ship the parcel same day you received it.<br />
- Update dispatcher&#8217;s control panel with tracking number from the printed shipping label once you ship the package.<br />
- Other duties may be assigned to meet business needs.</p>
<p>During your training period you will work only with international<br />
orders and customer complaints. After one month of training you will<br />
be able to start working in one of our offices or continue working<br />
from home with a salary of $2200 (+$200 &#8211; Gas Compensation).</p>
<p>Your payment is sent to you by check or can be direct deposited to your bank account once a month.</p>
<p>If you are ready to start please fill in the attached application form and email it back to me to receive the contract and we will start.</p>
<p>We&#8217;d be pleased to work with you.</p>
<p>If you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.</p>
<p>Cristopher Lewis<br />
CarolPady<br />
1800 Middle River Drive<br />
Fort Lauderdale, FL<br />
Http://www.Carolpady.com</p></blockquote>
<h2>The Scam</h2>
<p>Simply put, you will be receiving good purchased with stolen credit cards and then you will ship them overseas to the scammer. This is not a job, but rather a serious offense that can cost you thousands of dollars. The USPS has issued a warning against these types of scams.</p>
<blockquote><p><strong>Reshipping Fraud</strong></p>
<p>Reshipping, or postal forwarding, scam victims are typically offered an at-home job that involves repackaging stolen goods &#8212; frequently consumer electronics &#8212; and forwarding them. Scammers ask victims to shell out their own shipping charges, and pay reimbursement and compensation with a fake check.</p>
<p>In addition to seeing their own pay checks bounce, those who fall for reshipping scams may be liable for shipping charges and even the cost of goods purchased online with stolen credit cards. They could also be liable for handling stolen goods.</p></blockquote>
<p>Avoid any job that has you deal with receiving and shipping packages. They are almost always scams and working for a scammer could land you in a lot of legal and financial trouble. <strong>Always</strong> do your due diligence before accepting a work at home position.</p>
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		<title>Do not do work for G and M Stacey, Inc.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/06/do-not-do-work-for-g-and-m-stacey-inc/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/06/do-not-do-work-for-g-and-m-stacey-inc/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4159</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Doing so could potentially land you in a lot of trouble.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Sometimes work at home scams could cost you more than just a few dollars. If you&#8217;re not careful, you could find yourself the victim of identity theft or even criminally charged. These types of cases are not uncommon and entirely devastating. This particular case deals with G and M Stacey, Inc. and doing business with them is just a bad, bad idea.</p>
<h2>The Email</h2>
<p>The unsolicited email comes from Fredrick Brugh at fredrickbrugh949@hotmail.com.</p>
<blockquote><p>Hello,</p>
<p>I am Edward Sutton, a job officer of G and M Stacey, Inc. Currently we are hiring additional personnel. If you are looking for a primary income or for an extra income it should be a great opportunity for you.</p>
<p>First, let me tell you more about our company. G and M Stacey, Inc. were established in 1964 by George and Mary Stacey in a Denmark as a family business. They were a second generation of jewelers and we still have a hand on approach with our business. Any jewelry needs at all when you want to give a remembrance gift that comes from your heart.</p>
<p>Currently we are expanding to North America. As most of businesses we are working on Buy and Sell principle. It means that we can buy something from a manufacturer and sell to customer without any production teams. Our experts examined the USA domestic market and it is obvious that a great taxation system creates a best price for such kind of jewelry like a diamonds, and factory-made gold items.</p>
<p>It means that the same thing for example a 2.5 ct. Round diamond VG/I/VS1 w/GIA certification costs ~USD16,300 in US and ~13,000 Euro (~USD19,200) in the Denmark. So all we need to do is just to buy a diamond or gold it the States and sell it in the Europe. Yes, we are a middleman.</p>
<p>But most of U.S. wholesale jewelry companies (such big as Szul), doesn&#8217;t offer an international shipping. We need someone to buy the merchandise and to ship it abroad.</p>
<p>To prevent the further questions – you will not cash any bogus checks or fraud transactions. Also you will not spend your own money for the merchandise. You will receive Company&#8217;s funds directly to your account and buy the merchandise only when the funds will be available.</p>
<p>Do not hesitate to contact me though email employment@gandmstacey.com for any further information.</p>
<p>Edward Sutton, G and M Stacey, Inc.</p></blockquote>
<h2>The Scam</h2>
<p>There are two lines from above that should immediately set this one off as bad news.</p>
<ol>
<li>But most of U.S. wholesale jewelry companies, doesn&#8217;t offer an international shipping. We need someone to buy the merchandise and to ship it abroad.</li>
<li>You will receive Company&#8217;s funds directly to your account and buy the merchandise only when the funds will be available.</li>
</ol>
<p>If you were to agree to work for these guys, they would deposit money into a bank account of yours and have you purchase some big ticket items and ship them overseas. The only problem is the money is either non-existent or acquired through some illegal means and now you&#8217;re spending tens of thousands of dollars of it and sending your purchases abroad. There&#8217;s no way this can end well.</p>
<p>There are two possible scenarios for you now. Either the money that was sent to you bounces or disappears and now you&#8217;re tens of thousands of dollars in the hole with no possible way of recovering it or the authorities come knocking and hold you liable for accepting large sums of money and sending goods overseas to potential criminals.</p>
<p>In addition to having you launder money/goods, these guys now have your personal and banking information leaving your identity ripe for the picking. These are not the types of people you want to have access to your private information.</p>
<p>Bottom line: avoid any type of &#8220;job&#8221; that has to do with you accepting money or dealing with a company&#8217;s finances. Major corporations don&#8217;t hire people from home to handle their money. It just doesn&#8217;t happen.</p>
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		<title>Beware of the Surefire Money Maker System.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/04/beware-of-the-surefire-money-maker-system/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/04/beware-of-the-surefire-money-maker-system/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:55:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4138</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[It has 'surefire' right in the name! You know it works! Quick, give me $40 before I run out of eBook copies.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I love coming across a system with a bit of confidence. There&#8217;s just something about the certainty in the name that is attractive. <strong>Surefire</strong>. Strong, bold, guaranteed to work. It&#8217;s almost as good as the name I have picked out for my upcoming work from home program, &#8220;Steve&#8217;s 100% Guaranteed Method to Teach you How to Rock Off the Faces of Others Whilst Becoming a Billionaire.&#8221;</p>
<h2>What is the Surefire Money Maker System?</h2>
<p>The Surefire Money Maker System lures you in with promises of free information. The majority of this information consists of vague references to earnings and how you can start making $200 a day by giving stuff away for free. Of course, to find out how to actually make money doing this you need to spend $37 first.</p>
<p>SPOILER ALERT!! The method on how to make money? The eBook teaches you to give away the intro to the Surefire Money Maker System for free and to sell the eBook on how to sell the eBook. Hooray recursion! </p>
<p>There are a few stock images and fake names selling this product including Rosie Peterson and Alex Cadens. They are selling from twaeresources.com, fastwebcash.com, realmoneyonlinenow.com, and 100plusaday.com. All the sales pages are exact carbon copies of each other which confirms the recursion method from above.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s only one thing surefire about making money online and that is there is nothing surefire about making money online. </p>
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		<title>Sisyphus Is Me</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/03/sisyphus-is-me/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/03/sisyphus-is-me/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4149</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[That Greek dude whose punishment was to roll a boulder uphill and then watch it roll down, for all eternity? That's me. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We get a fair number of email messages each week asking about this or that program by name. Have you checked out this or that offer? Is it a scam? </p>
<p>Quite often, people even search through our archives first. They do their due diligence and then write a message like this one, from alert reader Joanna:</p>
<blockquote><p>Hello. Great site.</p>
<p>I came across this web site homebizlast.com/ and could not find anything about it in your archives.</p>
<p>A person whom I only know on facebook (young daughter of real life friend) claims to have made 150 dollars  in one day.</p>
<p>I will ask her about it, but she is very young &#8211; around 17. Have you come across this site before?
</p></blockquote>
<p>Here&#8217;s the problem, and there&#8217;s no way Joanna and the other diligent readers would know this. (By the way, Joanna, I love your accent!)</p>
<p>We HAVE covered homebizlast.com, just not in that particular disguise. Not with that exact name. The same scams go by different names and just recycle the same sales pages and tactics over and over. </p>
<p>Truth be told, I think there are like five scams on the Internet. But they wear hundreds, nay, <em>thousands</em> of different masks. </p>
<p>Homebizlast.com is one of them. What is it? It&#8217;s Easy Google Profit dressed up to look like a legitimate news site. It tries to sound like a news story. It runs a script that makes the newspaper title and location local to you. (Mine is called the &#8220;Utah Online Edition&#8221; and the person making $5k per month lives in Salt Lake City. Where are these details located when you visit homebizlast.com? Speak up in the comments to play Where In The World Is This Scam Today?! It will be fun!)</p>
<p>We wrote about this <a href="http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/05/13/sales-pages-fake-blogs-and-now-fake-news/">fake news tactic here</a>. That was back in May and it was selling Easy Google Profit even then. </p>
<p>So, thanks for the question, Jo. It turns out we have written extensively about the so-called Google scams. They&#8217;re all the same. Here&#8217;s a good place to start&#8212;the <a href="http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/07/06/the-master-list-of-google-scams/">Master List of Google Scams</a>.  </p>
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		<title>Read the fine print.</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/02/read-the-fine-print/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/11/02/read-the-fine-print/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 02 Nov 2009 19:54:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Annoucements]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4130</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[By reading this sentence, you agree to pay Steve hundreds of millions of dollars.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>How often have you checked that little box next to the statement &#8216;I agree to the Terms and Conditions&#8217; without ever reading over the terms you were agreeing to? I know I&#8217;m guilty. But, you can save yourself a ton of trouble by simply spending a few minutes reading over the fine print of a sales page. I know the countdown timer says there is only 14 seconds left before the offer runs out FOREVER, but ignore it for now.</p>
<h2>Is AcaiForceMax a scam?</h2>
<p>I don&#8217;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.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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?</p>
<p>However, I&#8217;m going to keep reading after I reach the bottom of the sales pitch. I&#8217;m going to go where few have gone before and I&#8217;m actually going to read the fine print. It starts off with&#8230;</p>
<blockquote><p>* 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.</p></blockquote>
<p>Hmm, that&#8217;s kind of disappointing. But just because the FDA hasn&#8217;t evaluated their claims doesn&#8217;t mean it won&#8217;t work, right?</p>
<blockquote><p>1 Results not typical for any and all claims.</p></blockquote>
<p>Crap. So all that stuff you said above probably won&#8217;t happen? But the testimonials looked so promising! </p>
<blockquote><p>** All celebrity images were found on and obtained from public websites and are believed to be in public domain.<br />
***Picture does not contain the likeness of the customer that submitted the testimonial.</p></blockquote>
<p>Not even the testimonials were real! Well at least I can trust Fitness magazine, CBS, ABC, and Wall Street Journal for looking into AcaiForceMax.</p>
<blockquote><p>+ Fitness Magazine, CBS News, ABC, and Wall Street Journal are registered trademarks of their respective owners.<br />
2 Media elements deployed are those of paid actors.</p></blockquote>
<p>IS ANYTHING YOU SAY REAL? You say as seen on ABC, but only because you paid ABC to advertise! I&#8217;m skeptical as hell at this point, but hey, it&#8217;s a free trial. What could go wrong about free?</p>
<blockquote><p>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) (&#8221;Monthly Fee&#8221;)</p></blockquote>
<p>I. Give. Up.</p>
<p>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&#8217;t work, the testimonials do not feature real people, and the free trial will cost me $87.62 every 30 days.</p>
<p>And that&#8217;s why I now take the time to read the terms and conditions to which I am agreeing to. You should too.</p>
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		<title>Oh, for the Love of&#8230;A Swine Flu Scam??</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/26/oh-for-the-love-of-a-swine-flu-scam/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/26/oh-for-the-love-of-a-swine-flu-scam/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 26 Oct 2009 15:18:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Joe</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4060</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[What do you have when you mix an epidemic, fear, and the Internet? A market!]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>My family is in week three of a nasty battle with H1N1, or Swine flu. The docs don&#8217;t know for sure without testing which bug it is, but they&#8217;re saying that most of the patients with these symptoms have swine flu, not the usual seasonal flu. </p>
<p>All of my kids except one have had it, but so far, Her Hotness and I have stayed clean. We&#8217;re hoping it stays that way. It&#8217;s draining our schools and churches here, with health officials surprised that it is hitting so hard, so early in the season. That means you have a lot of people sick, worried about getting sick, and ready to pay to avoid it. </p>
<p>And of course, that only means one thing: it&#8217;s a scammer&#8217;s market ready for the reaping!</p>
<p>Are we appalled? Yes. Are we surprised? We are not. <a href="http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13618969">Check out the story</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>Federal officials have warned promoters of more than 140 products sold over the Internet about fraudulent claims that they can prevent, treat or diagnose swine flu.<br />
Bogus products include devices and sprays that claim to sterilize the air or surfaces, and dietary supplements claiming to boost the immune system. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says it even has found fake Tamiflu being sold online without a prescription.</p></blockquote>
<p>Want to have a look at some of the scammy products? Just Google &#8220;swine flu&#8221; and look at the sponsored search results. Chances are good that you&#8217;ll spot the products making false claims. Check out Microsan, for instance, at stop-h1n1.com. See the fear-stoking headlines at the top? They&#8217;re designed to prod you into a quick purchase before your critical thinking skills kick in.  </p>
<p>The problem is bad enough that the FDA created a Swine Flu consumer fraud detection team, which spotted about 10 new product a day being promoted. All of them were making untested, unproven claims, and some of the products were downright dangerous. Check out the useful warnings at the <a href="http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm153347.htm">FDA</a>: </p>
<blockquote><p>On May 1, 2009, FDA and the FTC warned that consumers who purchase products which claim to protect against or treat the 2009 H1N1 virus, but are not approved by FDA for the treatment or prevention of influenza, are risking their health and the health of their families.</p>
<p>These fraudulent products come in all varieties and could include dietary supplements, medical foods, or products that claim to prevent or cure the 2009 H1N1 influenza.</p>
<p>FDA announced that it has initiated an aggressive strategy to identify, investigate, and take regulatory or criminal action against individuals and businesses that wrongfully promote purported 2009 H1N1 influenza products in an attempt to take advantage of the current flu public health emergency.</p></blockquote>
<p>Full disclosure: we won&#8217;t be testing any of these products. Maybe we could get Steve to inject or ingest an unknown substance purchased online, but it won&#8217;t be me. The flu sucks, but so do the potential hazards of swallowing something made in Albania with misspelled English words on the label.</p>
<p>For real information on Swine Flu, look to the <a href="http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/">Centers for Disease Control.</a> Wash your hands often and don&#8217;t make out with strangers on the bus or subway without a surgical mask. </p>
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		<title>Beware of Netbooks2020.com</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/23/beware-of-netbooks2020-com/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/23/beware-of-netbooks2020-com/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:31:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4062</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Can you make a career out of selling netbooks from home? No, probably not. ]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Netbooks2020.com has been advertising a lot lately online and in print seeking individuals to work for them. They say they need manufacturer representatives to sell netbooks in the US and are willing to set you up with a home-based business selling netbooks in person and on the web. Well, for a hefty fee, of course. And thus we begin another review of &#8220;why the hell do I have to pay to start a job?&#8221;</p>
<h2>My Observations on Netbooks2020.com</h2>
<p>Here are just a few things I&#8217;ve noted while reading through the sales page.</p>
<ul>
<li><strong>They claim, &#8220;clear at least $150 in NET PROFITS, per NETBOOK SALE.&#8221;</strong> How are you going to make $150 per sale on a $300 product? This is something tangible that has to be produced, boxed, shipped, etc. There&#8217;s no way these things are marked up that high. </li>
<li><strong>They also claim, &#8220;The Asian manufacturers that make these NETBOOKS are very displeased that WAL-MART, BESTBUY, and others have come to dominate PC sales in the US.&#8221;</strong> What the hell does that even mean? Why would they care who sold it as long as it&#8217;s being sold? Why is there no evidence to backup this statement?</li>
<li><strong>More claims, &#8220;Asian Netbook Manufacturers are very actively and aggressively seeking U.S. based Netbooks Sales Reps.&#8221;</strong>  Why the hell would major corporations look to setup thousands of partnerships with home-based businesses to sell a dozen or so laptops when they can turn to major retailers and sell millions? My brain hurts from trying to follow the logic on this sales page and I&#8217;m getting angry.</li>
<li><strong>The sales page looks like it&#8217;s from 1998.</strong> Do you remember the web back in 1998? It was a scary, ugly place. There was little focus on design and Netbooks2020 appears to want to hold on to the past. For a company that brags about technological innovation and huge revenue streams, you&#8217;d think they&#8217;d go the extra mile and hire a graphic designer and not let their kid neighbor design their company website because, you know, &#8220;he&#8217;s good with computers.&#8221;</li>
<li><strong>The sales text and images are god-awful.</strong> I&#8217;m not done with their sales page yet. They could have hired a proofreader or an editor to go over their sales copy. And how many images of netbooks do we need? We have netbooks piled on top of each other, in clouds, in space, with arms coming out of them. Perhaps they should lay off the stock images.</li>
</ul>
<p>Alright, so the sales page is weak, but what is it that they are actually selling? There&#8217;s no real mention of what they want from you other than to call this phone number and speak with a Netbooks2020 representative. Doing so will grant you the lovely experience of hearing a sales pitch that will ultimately end up with them asking you for $395 to get started with selling netbooks. You&#8217;ll get a website, sales materials, and all kinds of good stuff.</p>
<p>It doesn&#8217;t end there however. After paying $395, you&#8217;ll be informed that you have to spend an ADDITIONAL $170 to get your new website up to manufacturers specifications. Why didn&#8217;t they build it to their specifications in the first place? Why do you you have to shell out $565 for a website? Have you seen the Netbooks2020 website? And they have the audacity to charge over $500 for a website! I give up.</p>
<p>So, does it work? I don&#8217;t know, and I&#8217;m not about to spend over $500 to find out. There are a number of things here that just aren&#8217;t adding up and I personally wouldn&#8217;t feel safe sending these guys my money. </p>
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		<title>Beware of GamingJobsOnline.com</title>
		<link>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/19/beware-of-gamingjobsonline-com/</link>
		<comments>http://www.ivetriedthat.com/2009/10/19/beware-of-gamingjobsonline-com/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:08:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Steve</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Known Scams]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ivetriedthat.com/?p=4006</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[They say you can make a living playing video games. I say my prayers have finally been answered.]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wouldn&#8217;t it be great if you could just sit at home play video games and make thousands of dollars? It sounds completely insane, right? Well, GamingJobsOnline.com swears that it&#8217;s possible, but I can already tell you, they&#8217;re pulling your leg while reaching for your wallet.</p>
<h2>GamingJobsOnline.com Claims&#8230;</h2>
<p>The biggest claim they make is that you can work from home, at your leisure, and make upwards of $30/hr playing video games. Laughable, right? Well, GamingJobsOnline.com says it is possible, but it will cost you $37 to learn how to do so. (Sidenote: Your membership also includes information on how to make thousands of dollars taking online surveys and how to watch satellite TV for free. Uhh.. what?)</p>
<p>This should leave you with two questions:</p>
<ul>
<li>Why does it cost money to find out how to get a job?</li>
<li>Why would anyone work a real job when they could sit at home, play video games, and make money doing so?</li>
</ul>
<h2>Game Testing From Wikipedia</h2>
<p>So, is there a career in game testing? Well, yes, yes there is. Take it away Wikipedia!</p>
<blockquote>
<h3>Compensation</h3>
<p>Despite the job&#8217;s difficulty, game testing doesn&#8217;t pay a great deal and is usually paid hourly (around USD$10 – $12 an hour). Testing management is usually more lucrative, but this type of job usually requires years of experience and some type of college degree. For this reason, as mentioned earlier, <strong>most game testing jobs are taken as &#8220;foot in the door&#8221; positions, used as a stepping stone for more lucrative lines of work in game development</strong>. </p>
<h3>As a career</h3>
<p>Within the game industry, testing usually falls under a title such as quality assurance (QA). However, game QA is far less technical than general software QA. Many game testers have only a high school diploma and no technical expertise. <strong>Game testing is normally a full-time job with expectation of regular overtime, but many employees are usually hired as temps and the length of employment varies.</strong> In some cases, if the tester is working for a publisher, the tester may be sent off to work at the developer&#8217;s site rather than in his employer&#8217;s own offices. The most aggressive recruiting season is late summer/early autumn, as this is the start of the crunch period for games to be finished and shipped in time for the holiday season.</p>
<p>A common misconception is that professional game testing is akin to a public beta test or stress test, where players are expected to enjoy the game and report any bugs they happen to find. In reality, game testing is highly focused on finding bugs, often using tedious methodologies. Even if one could play the game freely, there is no guarantee that the game is stable or fun enough to be enjoyable. A tester may be required to play the same portion of a game repeatedly for hours at a time. Understandably, burn-out is common in this field.</p>
<p>Despite the demanding and risky nature of the job, <strong>game testing doesn&#8217;t pay a great deal and is usually paid hourly</strong>, with wages ranging from USD$8 to $15 per hour in the United States. As temps, testers typically receive no benefits or holidays and simply take unpaid vacation days when desired. Some testers use the job as a stepping stone in the game industry, but the success of this strategy is unproven, and depends on which part of the game industry the tester desires to work in. QA résumés, which display non-technical skill sets, tend towards management, then to marketing or production. Those wishing to land a job in programming, art, or design usually need to demonstrate their skills in these areas, either by taking jobs outside the industry and/or working on mods.</p></blockquote>
<p>Did that confuse you? It probably should have. The truth is that there are video game testing positions, but they&#8217;re not as lucrative as GamingJobsOnline.com makes them out to be. Do they exist? Absolutely, but they&#8217;re mainly entry level jobs into video game companies.</p>
<h2>GamingJobsOnline Refund and Contact Info</h2>
<p>I did a fair amount of digging and couldn&#8217;t find <em>anything.</em> The whois information is falsified and I couldn&#8217;t find a phone number to call or the name of the owner or anything really. I managed to find out that the site operates out of the Philippines with servers in Quebec, Canada, but that&#8217;s as deep as I was able to go. A possible email address is louie.pixelwise@gmail.com but I have no way of confirming this.</p>
<p>Clickbank does handle all of the payment processing for GamingJobsOnline.com. If you&#8217;re looking to get a refund visit this page: <a href="http://www.clickbank.com/orderDetail.htm?clear=true">http://www.clickbank.com/orderDetail.htm?clear=true</a> and fill out the form to process your refund.</p>
<h2>The Bottom Line</h2>
<p>If you&#8217;re absolutely interested in becoming a video game tester, check the job boards of big name video game developers. After searching for just a few minutes, I was able to find 6 different video game testing positions. The pay averaged around $10/hour but <strong>every job required you to be on-site.</strong> This is far from the $40k/year at-home salary GamingJobsOnline.com promises. </p>
<p>Bottom line: Stay away from GamingJobsOnline.com</p>
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