Month: December 2008

The Cash Leveraging System and the Cash Gifting Scam

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Do you believe in karma? That old idea that there is a sense of justice and balance in the universe which ensures that whatever you dish out, good or bad, comes back to you?

If you do, here’s a warning: Joe’s Book of Karma states, “It doesn’t work with cash gifting schemes.”

What is Cash Gifting?

Cash gifting, or leveraging programs, are supposed to work like this: you pay a fee to join the club. You give cash “gifts” to those at the highest levels of the club. You recruit enough people so that you become one of those high level members and then rake in the cash gifts that the low-level flunkies give you.

Can you imagine anything dumber? Think of it on the playground. The bully, Randy, charges every kid his lunch money to join the special Randy Club. As members, they get the privilege of giving Randy not only their lunch money, but their allowance, too.

Cash gifting is an old idea dressed up in new clothes for the Web. Remember those chain letters from back in the snail mail days? Send $1 to the person at the top of this list, then copy the list, remove that person, add your name to the bottom, and send this letter to 10 friends. In six months, you’ll get $10,000 in the mail. Then it moved to e-mail and PayPal. Now it’s Web based.

Cash Gifting Programs Are Illegal

You’ll find lots of Web sites and forum discussions that say they aren’t. But they claim they are legal because the IRS allows gifts. Well, duh! That’s not the issue. They have been deemed illegal pyramids because there is no product for an end user. There is only money flowing upward so the last sop to join has no chance of getting his money back.

Don’t take my word for it. Trust the Federal Trade Commission:

In reality, the clubs are illegal pyramid schemes. New club members give cash “gifts” to the highest-ranking club members, with titles such as “captains.” And they’re promised that if they get additional members to join the club, they, too, will rise to become captains and receive money – far more than they initially paid to join the club — from newer club “friends.”

Or trust the Attorney General for the state of Michigan:

Cash gifting schemes are the quintessential example of a pyramid scheme. Instead of selling products, cash gifting schemes forego the sale of products and just give people cash, but the premise is the same — like other pyramids, cash gifting schemes are based on the amount of people recruited.

Cash Gifting Web Sites to Avoid

epicwealthsystems.com, cashgiftingprograms.org, 6figurewealth.com, wealthsupersystem.com, secretsofgifting.com. In fact, if you Google Epic Wealth Systems, you’ll find hundreds of pages that look pretty much the same except for the name and picture of the owner at the bottom. That should give you pause.

If you were thinking about joining epicwealthsystems or other cash gifting program, I’m sorry to disappoint you. But if it will make you feel better, I will accept your cash gift. That’s right. Out of the goodness of my heart, you may pay the membership fee or your lunch money directly to me via PayPal: steve[at]ivetriedthat[dot]com. No need to thank me.

Beware of Google Money Tree.

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Google Money Tree. God that name sounds awful, doesn’t it? If life has taught me one thing, money doesn’t grow on trees. It most certainly doesn’t grow on the Internet either. I think it’s safe to say that Google simply isn’t handing money out to individuals. Yes, Google is awesome, but not that awesome. So, why does Google Money Tree claim that you can become rich using Google? Let’s find out.

Google Money Tree boasts that yes, you too, can be making $107,389 in just six months by filling out forms and doing searches on Google and Yahoo. I’ve been filling in forms and searching Google and Yahoo for almost ten years now! By their calculations, I should have had over $2,000,000 sitting in my bank account right now!

Of course, the information on how to become a successful millionaire is going to cost you some money upfront first. It’s not too bad this time around, just $3.88 for shipping and handling. Something seems oddly fishy about this website though. There appears to be a lot of information lacking. I think I should check the Terms and Conditions I am agreeing to before I send away my credit card information.

The initial shipping and handling charge of three dollars and eighty eight cents, which includes the Google Money Tree Kit as well as seven days worth of access to the online directories and training. After seven days, if you choose not to cancel you will be billed your first monthly membership fee of seventy two dollars and twenty one cents for the membership fee for the googlemoneytree.com membership.

Google Money Tree’s Hidden Charges

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA. You’re going to bill me $72.21 in seven days if I don’t cancel these charges first? What the hell kind of shady business practices are you guys running? There’s absolutely no mention of these hidden charges on the presell page. You have to dig through the terms and conditions before you find these hidden charges. Other gems on that page include this lovely line: “No refunds of any kind will be issued after 7 days of any transaction date.” If you wait to receive a bank or credit card statement in the mail, you can forget about seeking a refund. You’ll have to dispute the charges with your credit card company and if you paid with a debit card, there’s a lovely phrase that goes something like: You’re shit out of luck.

I don’t have anything to say about the actual work at home kit you receive, but it would be safe to bet that it is probably garbage. Google Money Tree is just looking to scam you out of as much money as possible before you even realize it. Don’t do business with them and most certainly do not give them your private information.

Our good friend Paul over at the Work at Home Truth Blog has warned his readers about the Google Money Tree scam previously and recommends you file a complaint with the FTC at https://www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov/ if you have received any fraudulent charges from Google Money Tree. Hopefully our combined efforts will end scams like these. Thanks Paul.