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.
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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.
I, too, got sucked into this and didn’t even realize that the $72.21 was coming out of my bank account until yesterday when my account was overdrawn and I went to investigate. That is when I found that they had been debiting $72.21 from my account for several months. I am an older person worried about retirement and medical expenses. Yes, I should have read all the terms and conditions, but they were long and tedious–lesson learned. I’ve stopped the debit with my bank, filed a dispute claim with my bank, filed a consumer complaint with the FTC, and e-mailed Google Money Tree to stop debiting my account. Will probably never recover the lost money, but at least I’ve done something to try to stop them from taking someone else to the cleaners. Yes, we all should have known better, but we are all worried about our financial futures–that is what scam artists hope for and prey on. Lesson learned? Yes, no more internet deals for me!
I have also found that you can set up a Google account and post items to sell on Google for free. If they are trying to sell that information, then they are simply selling information about Google’s free service called Google Base that you can obtain for free with just a little bit of browsing/time on your own. This is based on a Google free service that people use to set up home businesses. For example, you set up a Google Base account and find yourself some dropshippers and post the items for sale on Google Base. Very simple really. Definately not a get-rich-quick thing though because not many people know about Google Base. Therefore not many people choose to shop at it over Ebay.
I guess I am lucky. I was actually charged a fee of $1.98, saying I would recive the program in About 10 days. Then I read futher and saw that they were going to e-mail me all that stuff. WHAT!!!! you are charging me almost $2.00 to e-mail me this info. Then I went futher down the page and saw that they wanted me to pay another $200.00 for even more info they were going to yet agian E-MAIL me. I called the # right away and had the charges stoped and have my membership cancled.
i would say only join this site if you are into to being a con man.
Lynn, keep an eye on your account to make sure the charge was actually stopped.
Just called all the toll free numbers to cancel after 5 days…they were accomodating, but we’ll see. Beware that Google Profit Tree also signs you up for free trials of “Fraud Protection” and “Identity Security” that you must also call and cancel or be charged 6.95 and 9.95 per month respectively.
All numbers to cancel all services are at the bottome of this web page: http://www.googleprofittree.com/index.php?
Good luck…and if you read this before ordering, don’t bother.
Has anybody that has cancelled had payments come out again? It went through on my moms credit card and i want to make sure that she doesnt lose even more money! please reply to this with any number or any info you can give me! thanks
“One other thing, since so many people paid and never recieved any product from them, why can’t someone organize a class-action lawsuit against them? That’s essentially them committing fraud if they don’t deliver the advertised product to those who purchase from them.”
I agree, Joe. I guess we are ignorant on what it takes to make a class action suit.
Who knows how? Anyone please provide the info so those that were defrauded by these scam artists can start this class action litigation.
It’s the classic proverb: knowledge is power. The inverse is true also: If you don’t know how, you’re powerless.
I think as soon as we know how to file a class action lawsuit, that will stop Google Money Tree. And all future stories of Google Money Tree abuses.
Let’s do this!
I’m a different Joe than the 8:51am Joe. Just wanted to clarify that.
One other thing, since so many people paid and never recieved any product from them, why can’t someone organize a class-action lawsuit against them? That’s essentially them committing fraud if they don’t deliver the advertised product to those who purchase from them. Seventy dollars or at least three dollars from alot people would end up being a HUGE amount. I would imagine a lawyer who specializes in fraud would be very interested to sink their teeth into a company who has committed fraud on that high of a level. A simple website with an information gathering feature could get the ball rolling. Sadly, from what I have read, the only thing people could recover would be the shipping charges. The extra fees are for website access? If I understand that correctly. So they have “somewhat” done their “legal” homework it appears. But still, three dollars from a large number of people would be a worthy lawsuit and just might send them under. At the very least, that many incidents of fraud and neglect would cause a court of law to shut the company down.
I was only looking for a way to get into a broad marketplace like Google, or something similar. I put info into the first page then when it came to the credit card info page I stopped. At that point I did read the fine print and saw the extra “hidden” charges. I never EVER put credit card info on any site without knowing full-well what I am getting into and thank goodness I didn’t send it to them.
I did begin recieving alot of calls the following day. I eventually answered the call and a Google Money Tree representative with an India accent started telling me a ton of information that was barely understandable. If you are not careful, you would think they actually work with Google. I asked him if the company was actually a part of Google and all he could tell me was that the products that “I” would be able to post for sale would show up on Google. I told him I was not interested (at least three times) and he began questioning why, so he could “ease my concerns”. He said he “knew I needed to make extra money and just wanted to help”.
I told him I already own my own business and didn’t need their scheme. I told him they were calling my store excessively and if he continued to ring my phone that I would sue them for monetary losses stemming from loss of productivity due to their harrassment. I then said, Is a lawsuit worth three dollars to your company? Then I said – Remove my number immediately. Not Interested. Hung up the phone. No more calls.
Kbush, that’s what worries me. These Goggle Money Tree people advertise aggresively in legit websites using the main name of a huge internet corporation we all know. I’m surprised, even shocked, that Goggle hasn’t come down on these scam artists! What’s the deal here? Is there a narrow loophole somewhere that allows these scammers to use the “Google” name?
How can we legally hurt or legally deeply affect these scammers? Doesn’t seem Goggle is doing anything.
I really like that quote. Should be the standard quote we should all use when we see a too-good-to-be-true offer. Always wise to do your research, people. Scan to see how others have experienced the offer.
Ryck, you can learn how to report copyright infringements to Google by reading this post. Maybe if enough of us report them, Google will shut them down.
WOW!!!!!! Is all I can really say. I almost fell for this one. I went online to financialstability.org, because I wanted to see new options offered by the government, today, on fanniemae mortgages andthe only way to advance through the website was to get past the “google money tree” SOLICITATION. I could not get around the page and thus decided to look at it since I could use additional income in these trying times. WOW, it said Google money tree (must be legit). WOW, it was linked to a federal sponsored information website (must be legit). I thank God for the voice that said research money tree when I came to the first page that said I would be charged $3.88. I must end by quoting a proverb:
If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit.
If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.
I was caught as well. I did contact them through the “support@googlemoneytree.com” address with no response. I called the 1-888-634-8266 number to cancel but I was directed to 1-888-657-8585 and spoke to Jason! I reported the fact that I did not receive the software disc and wanted to cancel. I was told I could have either 6 months free access to the Money Tree site, or a 50% refund. I cancelled and was told I would see a deposit back to my credit card within 3 business days. I was also given a “cancellation reference number”. If you are reeled in, record everything, dates, times, people etc and immediately contact your credit card company to dispute the charges.
Good luck, stay alert, I was caoght because I recently lost my job and in this economy, I was trying for anything to help replace my lost income.
Rob.
After nearly getting scamed by a so called mortgage company, I now research everything before giving out any information. I learned that if it sounds to good to be true, it probley is’nt for real. Where are the athorities and why are’nt these people being stopped is my question. All these scams are out of hand.
HeHe,i ordered the kit and right afterwards the credit card got cancelled.So,i got the disc in the mail and there’s nothing they can do about their 72 bucks or whatever.so,if you do make money on this deal then i will make it and wont have to pay anything.If you don’t make money,well,then i just scammed the scammers’ plan either way
Considering how many scams that my email account gets hit with, I’m left feeling a little silly that I signed up to this scam. I signed up on Saturday and plan to cancel first thing on Monday. The biggest thing that sucked me in was the use of Google. It wasn’t until I had signed up that I managed to read that I realised that I had been sucked in to, I guess, a branding marketing technique:
“GOOGLE is a registered trademark of Google, Inc. Earn Cash With Google is not a partner, affiliate, or licensee of Google Inc., nor is it in any other way formally associated with Google Inc.”
I was scammed!!! I’m so mad at myself for not reading the fine print, I’m usually not this stupid. Google money tree got me for 2 payments of $98.00!!! I cant believe how sly they can be.
I called them and they werent much help, I did cancel right away. I never even got the CD I was supposed to get.
My bank in Ontario Canada gave their phone # of 1-888-705-1275, so watch out all you canadians, dont sign up to google money tree, dont agree to anything and if you did, call the above number and cancel now!!!!!!
Sherry
Kat – write it all down. Be nice and try to get as much info as you can. Dates & times of calls, name of caller and originating phone number. Note it all including that you tell them every time not to call back and what their response is. Then report it to the FTC, your local phone company and state’s atty general office. You might even have a harrassment suit. They are downright breaking the law.
I have been called everyday 4 to 6 times by these people at google tree. I have called the number and put my name and number on a no call list and they still call. I answered this call today and told them to stop calling. The creepy guy on the phone laughed and tried to speak over me. I said stop calling he said ” Yes okay Kat hehhehe we wont call anymore hehehe” WTF I am not sure who to call next but God help them if I ever get the right number.
I hope someone stops these fools!
~Kat~
I too talked to Jason on the supposedly 8th day of my free trial, funny I never got the kit or any e-mail about the kit, so how the hell was I too know to cancel it before the 8th day. the 72.21 has not shown up on my credit card statement yet, but the 3.88 did. I will be calling my bank soon to dispute both charges!! I agree these people need to be shut down somehow!!
I too was scammed by this company. I looked on my credit card statement and saw $72.21 was charged. I called the customer service line and talked to Bobby and then Jason, (people who I know karma is just waiting to poop on)and neither one would transfer me to a manager. I was crying my out telling them they were taking money from my children’s daycare fund but they didn’t care at all and they wouldn’t transfer me to a manager no matter how many times I asked. That in itself is so wrong. I can’t believe this is how some people make there money. The bottom line is that these people are thieves and should be shut down.
Thank you for this invaluable info. Like many others, I too was curious about the Google Money Tree, but my “It’s too good to be true Spidie senses” kicked in and told me to Google the Google Money Tree. Just as I suspected, it was a scam. I admit I had all my info, other than credit card info, plugged in but as soon as I was asked for the $3.88 I got a bit skeptical. Thank you for the research you’ve done prehand that will save alot of people.
hiding the facts is underhanded
report em to google trademark infringment here
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/request.py?contact_type=g_trademark&ctx=contactpolicy
Gina – for the fastest cash on the internet check out project payday. I have a referral link if you decide to do it – plus somes advice
amppublishing@hotmail.com
I gave them three dollars before doing my indebt research but no more because i will shut my card down access denied Im a victim of domestic violence a single parent of six kids ive been out of work for two weeks trying to go to school on line plus looking for one and a half jobs so if anyone is able to help me would you we all have to learn from our mistakes pick your head up and try again but thanks a bunch for lots of insight
If nothing else, look at the sites that offer the “money tree” program. They all have the same sob story (including the credit card debt and rent amounts TO THE DOLLAR!!) and the same scanned Citibank check with the identical check number on it.
Not only are they scam artists, but completely lazy ones at that!
Sorry to hear about all you folks that lost money. I almost thought it looked legit until I read the fine print in the Terms and Conditions.
Remember this, the Russians have an old saying that President Reagan used to quote that translates to “trust, but VERIFY”!!
Hi, I found the link to the Google Money Tree sign-up page after following a link from a Craigslist job posting. I filled out the first page with my personal info (what a disastrous mistake that was) and then found the page with the $3.88 shipping. I did waste my time reading the Terms and Conditions, nor did I enter my credit card info as I quickly realized it was to good to be true. Now three days later, and I am being stalked by a sales rep. who insists on calling me from dawn to dusk everyday, even though I politely explained that I AM NOT INTERESTED. I thought I’d post the phone # if anyone may need it : (201) 917-7303 the caller id shows up as Red Rock Community. I wished I had found this page before I gave them my phone number =(.
look it up and get involved with a credited organization that helps with mentorship. Learnable, Teachable, Duplicatable
kevine73 and everyone else out there. the best internet promoting business I have ran accross and am currently making work is Amway Global/Quixtar (North America). Legitimate reward requires legitimate effort.
Candy you are correct. It seems like this is the first time anyone has connected to the internet.
Steve I do not intend to try it because it is not for me. I read the same ad as everyone else, and it states clearly what they are going to charge and when. Let me be clear. I do not support the ad. I do think however that all the people complaining are the same people that tried to assemble their kids bike at Christmas without the directions. You know what I mean.
If they would READ the ad, get excited, and “READ THE AD AGAIN” they would not have these issues.
I would not be so hasty criticizing anyone for falling prey to this preposterous scam. I see these ads on facebook all the time. In it seems that every other ad is about google cash or free government money. I mark them as offensive, and yet they keep popping up in one guise or another. I cannot blame folks for clicking on the ads, assuming that facebook is trustworthy and vets every advert they sell and put on their web site. They probably go by the adage “caveat emptor”, and I believe that is a load of bull. Alas, what can one expect when the entire society and commerce here is based on “lack of trust” and “no honor” and do whatever you like but don’t get caught attitude. It is the operating system of our government, political system and foreign policy, justice and monetary system. Our military is the exception which has rules, honor and justice and even that is tarnished by its civilian masters. Bottom line, do not believe anything, follow the money for the truth. Cause everything else is a loada bull. Know what I mean ?
Doesn’t anyone research this shit before you just give your credit card information away? You are already on the internet, use it for something useful, liking not getting your ass in a sling…c’mon people we can’t all be this ignorant
Like I said Frank, go for it. Let us know how it works out for you.
I don’t know if it works. I do know that in reading all of the posts it seems that no one even gave it a try. As far as giving cc info etc: did you actually think you wouldn’t have to? If you don’t want to give any personal info maybe you should buy a bucket and soap at the store and start washing cars. All you want to do is click,click, and make a ton of money for free. You got to give some to make some.
i just wanted to say thanks for the heads up about this.. but does anyone know of an online business that is NOT a scam..and if u know pleease let me know HOW u know!!thanks
Well..Since they took a month worht of money I decided to try it. Honestly, there is so much info I can’t even find anything about where to start or what to do with the info. They say you can call anytime for help, but I’ve alreadt gotten ZERO from their cust service. I’m still trying to decide where to start. I shall let u know what happens.
What a mess I have made!
Frank-
They never said what the hell you will be doing. Do you really think you can make thousands of dollars with the program? Don’t you think everyone would be doing this? Hell, we wouldn’t be in a recession if this were the case. I don’t know about you, but I do not trust these people at all. If you want to give them your personal information and credit card numbers, be my guest. Let me know if you want to do a guest post for us after you do so.
I have to ask this question. Has anyone actually tried the program. If it actually works and you make a few thousand dollars is it really necessary to complain about some minimal charges? After all if you want to open any kind of business you usually need thousands and thousands of dollars and there is no guaranty you will make any money at all. The way I see it is everyone wants a free ride. No one wants to invest anything, and no one wants to work to get anything. To complain about pennies is absoultely crazy.
i can’t believe i fall for this scam.. my 72 dollar just gone in a few second.. i admit that i didn’t read the term……
i just give them a call and cancle it.. but i wasn’t sure if they really cancle it…. he just told me that it’s already cancle..
can i beleive them or should i call my bank too?
I was laid off end of August 2008 and have not been able to find a job. Today on craigslist there is a position for an admin. asst. Within the ad is a blog that a man posted that praises this Google Money Tree deal. He has a link from his blog to the google sign up page. I did put in info. on first page but stopped when the second page asked for my credit card number. I did read where they said the monthly membership charge was $72.00. Intuition told me this was not right. That is where I stopped and didn’t give my credit card info nor anything else and went straight to research on the web and found this site. The old saying “if it sounds too good to be true it probably is” does apply to all things in life. Glad I stopped before giving out more info. Sorry to all those who did. These guys are really tricky, you have to read every word and really dig deep to find the “catches”.
Yep – NO Cust Servce. So they dinged me for the $72 and Ive decided to use it for a month. What have I got to lose?
Maybe sometime over the next year I’ll make that $72 back thru ppc ads. I have made sure that I canceled it at then end of the month I paid for tho. ANybody out there tried it?
I wish I had read all these comments before Google Moneytree got me for the $72.21. Their customer service is a joke and refuse to do anything for you. They won’t even e-mail a confirmation that I cancelled the subcription to make sure they don’t keep stealing my money. It cost me $72 to realize I will just delete any e-mails that come to me from anywhere now! Bad things happen to bad people- Karma will find them someday and I hope they suffer.
Today was my first time to come across Google Money Tree.
I read the email and did an immeadete search . It was
wonderful that this informaton was so readly available.
Thank You
Well thanks a lot for letting me know about this scam. First,this google money tree sound good to be true. I’m so glad i found you.
Your friend,
jib
My grandma fell for this, she hasn’t been the same lady since.
I filled out the first page which was just name number and email.
The second page asked for my credit card for the $3.88. That is where I always stop because this is pretty common to slam your card once they have it.
The bad thing is that I submitted my telephone number. I got a call and looked it up on the internet and it was googlemoneytree. So I didn’t answer any of the calls until it got up to 13 calls in one hour. I answered and asked them to quit calling. They then ramped up to continue every hour with ten calls or more. I finally called them and their phone message allows you to cancel their calling.
Gorilla Marketing = Scam
DO NOT HESITATE and cancel it right away. Cancel it before it is too late. via telephone or via internet registration. before 7 days cancellation conditon is over, cancel it from 1-866-870-4257 or support@googlemoneytree.com
Well funny thing i get a call from google money tree asking me about signing me up and giving me the whole sale pitch spiel.. well i’m a professional sales person so i knew how to talk her out of selling me the product.
I asked 3 questions which she was stuttering about trying to find the most appropriate rebuttal but failed.
#1 How does googlemoneytree differ from the other work at home type ad jobs
#2 3$ is not the only fee there has to be another hidden charge
#3 If i wanted to contact you for further disputes or concerns what # am i suppose to reach.
These questions weren’t even answered.. and thus i felt the call was a scam.. now not saying the company is a scam because there are people are might be making money, but it’s a scam because they hide the most important factors of a realiable trustworthy and successful business.
If there is no Customer service there is no business.
that’s just my say in the googlemoneykit
Phew i was about to sign up, and thought you know what I’m going to check on google about *this so called money making job* just to see if its a scam or anything funny about it! phew thank you all for yer observing skills :D!
Saved me from getting scammed!!! Others who have been scammed by the money tree, i can feel yer pain! *Evil bastards how could they*
Ne how Thanks again! and every one have a great year!
Ok so I find this site AFTER I get screwed by googlemoneytree.com. When I called to cancel, Juan the CSR refused a reufund. Wen I insisted he said” we stay in busines by keeping money from people like you.” and “we dont stay in business by giving it free to people like you.” WHAT????
And of course Juan has no supervisor, “doesnt even have the capability of refunding” and this *(866-870-4257) is the ONLY way to contact the company. I have NO Recourse. He couldn’t/wouldn’t even name a company owner or supervisor. This is so way unacceptable I am determined to get my money back just on principle. Customer Service – HAH!!!I’ve already started filing complaints everywhere – BBB (F rating, btw), ripoff report, FTC, Nevada Attorney general. And I will send emails to support@googlemoneytree.com and call that # everyday until I actually DO get some “customer service”!!
unfortunately i too i have fallen for this scam… i just ordered it and then found this website about it being a scam… i just tried to call and cancel at this 1-866-870-4257 and lo and behold the flippin thing has been disconnected. i have tried to email 3 times on the support email address you gave but for some reason it comes up host error… Just went back and found the terms clause… it says you can’t cancel by email it has to be a written statement but they don’t give an address…. help!!! next step is to contact my credit card company.. this is ridiculus… i am single mom tryin to find a way to find a little extra income so that i can give my kids a few extra things that i didnt get as a child….