Warnings

Despite tons of warnings in the past, I still get emails asking if this “payment processing” job is real. I’ve even had people write to me saying they’ve read my warnings in the past, but are considering working for a similar scam.

Listen, I know how tempting it could be to join. They target you because they know you’re in need of money and pretty much make an offer you can’t refuse. But the truth is, there is no such thing as a payment or check processing job. They are ALL SCAMS and working for one of these criminals will leave you thousands of dollars in debt.

The FCP Group Scam

Here are the current fake job postings and emails circulating Craigslist…

Company Name ; FCP Group Ltd

Detailed Job Description – Office Assistant

The primary goal of the Office Assistant is to provide local customer
support to our clients within North America. This includes providing
convenient payment options and informing them of shipping and the
terms of sale.

You will be assisting our clients within North America, the assistance
to be provided will include: payment collections and customer service
via email.

Your duties will include:
– Collecting Local Payments
When a buyer in the US decides to purchase an item through an online
auction from our sellers he has the following payment options: pay
pal, international wire transfer, international check, local certified
check or local wire transfer. The quickest option of these is local
wire transferring. Local wire transfers and certified checks are the
options that the sales support representative will provide to the
clients.

– Managing Data
Along with the payments received from buyers you will be receiving
details for these sales. These details will include items sold, price,
and buyer’s information. You are to file and maintain these purchasing
records and transactions.

– Forwarding of the Payments
Once you receive each payment you will be keeping 5% as commission
and forwarding the rest to the seller or representative, whose
information will be provided prior each transaction. It is crucial to
complete forwarding of the payments in a time efficient manner.

– Correspondence
You will be submitting brief reports, weekly reports, and monthly
reports. Weekly and monthly reports are to be done in Excel format and
are to summarize all transactions completed within the week, or month.

Here is an example of a brief report:

Date: August 2, ’09
Buyer: John R. Smith
Item: Jowissa Men’s Watch
Price: $ 1,921.27
Commission 5%: $96.1
Fees: $ 50
Total Forwarded: $1775.9
Forwarded to: Godwin Newton, Whitefield ,United Kingdom
Reference Numbers: 23497839

– Fees, and Transferring Procedures
All fees are covered by the company. The fees for transferring are
simply deducted from the payments received. No client will contact you
during initial stage of the trial period. After three weeks of the
trial period you will begin to have contact with the buyers via email
in regards to collection of the payments. For the first three weeks
you will simply receive all of the transferring details, and payments,
along with step by step guidance from your supervisor. You will be
forwarding the received payments through wire service.

-Salary
During the trial period, you will be paid 1,800USD per month while
working on average 3hours per day, Monday-Friday, plus 5% commission
from every payment received and forwarded. After the trial period your
base pay salary will go up to 2,400USD per month, plus 5% commission.

-Taxes
You will receive a monthly invoice stating your total income. All
applicable taxes are covered by the company.

– To Apply
Kindly fill out your personal information below for immediate
consideration of this position so you can get started as soon as
possible

Personal Information
Full Name :
Full Address:
City:
State:
Zip/Postal code:
Home phone :
Cell phone:
Recent occupation:
Gender:
Personal Email Address:

The employee,acknowledged the Trial and Detailed Job Description
and signed _______________
(First Name and Last Name of Employee)

I replied and received this email:

Congratulations!!

Your Information was reviewed and You’ve qualified for our Payment Personnel Position.i want you to acknowledge that you are working for FCP GROUP LTD as a representative that will be in charge of all payment coming in your area,,Please we will like to know how honest you are and how can we trust you with our funds. Also we will like to know how often you get on the Internet because our job requires much checking of your email.

Please answer these Questions below……………………

* Can we trust you with the money?
* Will you deposit the check the same day you get it?

An instruction on how to cash any check that would be sent to you by any of our customer would be sent to you in our next email.After you have answered the questions above.

Please get back to us as soon as possible.
Thank you,
Management.
FCP GROUP LTD.

The easiest way to tell this is a scam is that they’re asking you if you’re trustworthy with money and if you’ll deposit and move the money the same day you receive it. News flash: no one sends thousands of dollars to strangers just to have it “processed.” What’s stopping you from just running away with the money? Look how easily one simple question debunks this entire job posting.

Do Not Work for the FCP Group

The work they want you to perform is nothing more than another payment processing or fake check scam. They ask you to “process paychecks” by depositing fake, or even stolen, checks into your bank account. They then ask you to quickly send a portion of that money overseas and to keep a portion of it for the work you performed. Even thought the check isn’t real, you can still deposit it into your bank account and have access to the funds immediately, allowing you to withdrawal the money to send away. The check will eventually bounce. It ALWAYS bounces. At this point, you just sent thousands of dollars overseas and are now responsible for recovering the missing funds.

These types of jobs are ALWAYS SCAMS. Even worse, they’re illegal. Not only will you lose thousands of dollars, but you could also land a criminal record for receiving fraudulent or stolen funds. Never ever agree to a job where your primary duty is to process payments. If you receive a fake check, tear it up immediately and cease communication with the scammer. Do not cash it!

The latest scam to hit craigslist and inboxes across America could cost you your identity. The scammer operates under the name Kyle Waitley and he promises you a list of very cheap foreclosed homes for a mere $2 and a credit check.

First Contact

Below is a sample email Kyle Waitley sends out to unsuspecting victims. It’s possible you may have received a different, yet similar email, but the overall gist is the same. The main point of the email is to get you interested in fixing your credit and finding a new home for cheap.

Subject: who wants to go Rent 2 Own home shopping with me this weekend?

Hello,

Friday is here and I want to know what kind of home you’re interested in…
– ranch
– 2 story
– condo/townhome
– big yard
– etc…

We’ll the National Forclosure list has all of the above PLUS some!

All you need to do is pay $2 bucks (THATS IT!) to access the list and
start shopping for your new home below…

-URL REMOVED-

It’s only $2!!!

Look if you’re not willing to invest $2 bucks into your future then
I can’t help you… seriously

What I do is real… I give you the option of picking out your very
own home and having us buy it and RE-SELL it to you on a Rent to Own

And the only way to pick out these homes is from the National Forclosure
list (we CANNOT buy full priced properties… doesn’t make any sense
and the private lenders we use won’t allow it)

The listing service I personally use (and recommend) is below…

-URL REMOVED-

They have the…
– largest selection
– most pictures and information on each deal
– constantly updated
– and only cost $2 bucks to get full access!

-URL REMOVED-

After you pick out a few properties that you want more information about
email me the direct links of the homes AND your phone number.

Make sure the subject line reads… “Kyle here are my homes”

Now start this weekend off right and get on over to…

-URL REMOVED-

Email me back,
Kyle Waitley

ps – I have 3 early showings today so I may not be able to get back to you
until a little later

Clicking through on one of the many URLs ultimately leads you to a site that wants to run a credit check on you to make sure you qualify to use the list of homes Kyle offers. The credit check is supposedly free, but they need to charge your credit card $1 for verification purposes.

Handing over your credit card and private information to these people is a bad idea. Aside from potential identity theft, there are a lot of consumers warning that multiple unauthorized charges are appearing on their credit card statements ranging from $2 to $35. The victims claim that having these charges reversed is proving to be quite difficult.

Experiences with Kyle Waitley and Credit Report America

The following statements are from others who have personally dealt with Kyle Waitley and Credit Report America.

Here is my experience with Kyle Waitley (an alias) and Credit Report America…

Credit Report America’s site states, “Your credit card WILL NOT be charged during the FREE trial period. However, a refundable ONE DOLLAR activation fee will be made because valid credit card information is required…”.

They did attempt to get me to sign up for other services such as credit card monitoring but I declined all of them.

Once I accepted the “free” offer, I checked my bank account and I was NOT charged $1… but there were TWO successive charges to my bank account, one for $2.95 and one for $29.95. I placed the order for my FREE credit report Sunday evening… there shouldn’t have been ANY charges on my credit card except for ONE $1 ping on my account. I should not have $32.90 on hold due to these people.

I called the company at (800) 712-7224 and the girl who answers the phone is trying to tell me that my card has not been charged and that the two charges are only pending. Right… funny they don’t tell you THAT in their disclosures, do they? I told her what she was failing to understand is $32.90 is a hell of a lot more than the $1 that they’re hawking on their site. I canceled my account and called back and spoke with ‘supervisor on staff’ Steve who stated he was shocked and that he would find out why that happened. I’m still waiting to see if these charges clear or if they come through on my account.

I’m one of those Americans who is trying to clean up my credit and own a home… you know, the American Dream. Too bad that people like these have to turn it into the American nightmare. When I saw the charges on my account, I shot off an email to good old Kyle… guess what? I haven’t heard ANYTHING from him. Nope. Quiet as a church mouse! Yet prior to me ordering this credit report? I was getting 2-3 emails PER DAY from him.

An attempt to get in contact with Kyle:

I checked out an ad in CList for “rent to own your own home”, and automatically got sent to Kyle Waitley’s website. He outlined a 4-step method to become a home owner while “repairing bad credit” in the process. With each step’s email, he also sent an auto link to a credit score site, where you get a “free trial” for “only” a dollar, supposedly refundable. I emailed this guy FIVE times, saying I already know my credit score, i don’t need to join this club to obtain my credit score. He never answered any of my mail. This sent up a red flag to me, because to obtain a credit score, you have to use your ssn. The way he writes is unprofessional. No business-oriented person would speak this way. But I did NOT proceed with his pitch. Chalk it up to woman’s intuition.

Known Contact Information

• Aliases: Kyle Waitley, Tim Roberts, Jeremy T. Blunt
• Business Names: Credit Report America, CoastWest Holdings Ltd., CreditReport America, YouRentYouLoseHomes, RentToOwnHomeSearch
• URLs: http://www.renttoownhomesearch.com/ http://www.yourentyoulosehomes.com/ http://www.Homeownershipmadesimple.com/ http://www.realestatefreedominc.com/
• Possible Email Addresses: renttoownhomesearch_com@realestatefreedominc.com, rentoownwithkyle@hotmail.com
• Possible Contact Number: 1-800-712-7224

Remember, that there is no quick-fix for credit repair. It takes time to fix a poor credit history. Don’t let someone lead you to believe that it can be fixed overnight.

Have you had any experience with Kyle Waitley or Credit Report America? If so, leave a comment below.

Today’s post is by I’ve Tried That reviewer extraordinaire, Miyako. She is the Web master at http://www.gokugirl.com, an Anime fan site. Check it out. Another reviewer, Barney, had a less favorable take on Postcardprofits.com. I’ll post his remarks on Wednesday.

When I started this review I thought, “There is no way someone could make $52,923 in five days by mailing postcards. That’s almost $10,600 per day! Who is this Luke Jaten guy? Does ‘Direct Marketing Group Inc.’ even exist?”

The most interesting thing I’ve discovered about this program is that it actually seems legit. The postal address on the terms and conditions page is real and DMG Inc. is actually located there (according to Google Maps). There are video testimonials. Jaten’s eBay seller account has been ID verified and his listings qualify for 100% PayPal buyer protection. His positive feedback is 100%. He has sold ten copies of his multidisc course on eBay for the same price that it’s being offered for on postcardprofits.com, but he supposedly threw in something called a project license for free. From what I understand, the license gives the purchaser permission to use one of Jaten’s “projects” that he has already developed and tested. It’s worth at least $1500, but the purchasers of the “Buy It Now” auction were so special that he wanted to give it away to them. The eBay auction information is essentially a transcription of his sales pitch from the video on the Postcard Profits website.

After signing up with your name and precious credit card information and paying $4 for shipping, you enter into a 30 day trial period. If you return the course within that time frame you pay nothing. If not, you are billed $59.99 in five (weekly? monthly? yearly?) installments. On top of this, if you try your best and don’t make at least $10,000 in 90 days, he will not only refund the money you spent on the course, but will also FedEx you a check for $500 just to say “thanks for trying it out.”

What Luke Jaten is selling is not a program where you profit simply from the act of mailing out postcards. It’s a course on how to use postcards to convince people to buy your products. And he never promises anything else. It’s true that the name of the site is as misleading as the terminology he uses to refer to postcard marketing (“postcard project”), but if you pay close attention to the video (or to the transcript) then you won’t be taken by surprise. The eBay listing isn’t clear on whether a product comes with the free license.

This DOES NOT mean that he is squeaky clean. Some of his business practices are on the shady side. He claims in the eBay auction information that you don’t need an actual product or an idea for one to get started. The last time I checked, it was illegal to sell merchandise that you didn’t have. [Note by Joe: I suppose you could use his tactics to sell products as an affiliate. That means you don’t technically “own” the product, but you still have the right to sell it.]

After Googling information from his site, I found three more websites dedicated to the Postcard Profits course. The sites are 1) postcardprofits.com, 2) postcardprofits247.com, 3) makingmoneywithpostcards.com, 4) profitswithpostcards.com, 5) simplepostcardprofits.com. Only #1 and #3 are in the Go Daddy WHOIS database as being the property of DMG Inc. #4 contains information in the footer that points to Relevant Marketing Group as the owner, but the organization doesn’t exist. Even without Googling them, it’s easy to be skeptical as there is absolutely no contact information listed on the website besides an e-mail address. Googling the organization with double quotes turns up three sites, one of which is supposedly the home page (relevantmarketinggroup.com). The entire site consists of a single page with a single link labeled “Postcard Profits” that points to website #4 above. Website #2 references two different phone numbers that connect to the same prerecorded sales pitch, four written testimonials from people who are different from the ones on site #1, and the sales pitch transcript. It is also the only site to mention a mailing list. I signed up for it.

DMG Inc.’s official Postcard Profits Web sites have secrets. If you use Google’s advanced options to search within each domain exclusively, you find longer video interviews of the people in the video on postcardprofits.com and a privacy policy that none of the pages link to. The policy was copied almost verbatim from a site called doubleyourdating.com. The two e-mail links in the policy still point to doubleyourdating.com e-mail addresses in the HTML. Site #3 keeps you on the main page unless you use Google because the page’s only link links to the page that it’s on.

There seem to be two phone numbers that will connect you to an actual person. One number was found on the Better Business Bureau website (and, yes, there have been complaints filed against them) while the other was found on the terms and conditions page of postcardprofits.com. I received the same voice mail message after dialing each number that said everyone was currently out of the office. I wonder if it’s worth trying again.

As almost a side note, Luke Jaten and Matt Trainer from TheMarketingMoron.com seem to be friends. The video on postcardprofits.com is copyrighted to Matt Trainer and Trainer conducted a 38 minute web cam interview with Jaten that was supposed to be about Postcard Profits but instead focused almost entirely on Pay-Per-Click advertising and Google Ad Sense. The video is supposed to have a second part, but I doubt there will be one as the first part was posted to Trainer’s blog in April. There was also some sort of seminar on Postcard Profits in Phoenix, AZ in May with both Jaten and Trainer. I have yet to find commentary about it.

If you have done very much searching online for medical transcription jobs, you have probably heard of Transam Associates. Maybe you have even heard from them, like our reader, Teresa.

Like many of you, she posted her resume online and has started to hear back from scum sucking bottom feeders cesspool worms people claiming to be recruiters.

Here, for your education and edification, I include the email they sent her along with my editorial commentary [in brackets and bold]:

Subject: Medical Transcription – Will Train – No Experience!
[“No Experience!” Here is the first red flag. In a tight economy, employers are more concerned than ever about getting the most bang for their buck when it comes to employees. Legitimate employers who are indeed willing to hire with no experience aren’t going to shout about it. It will come up in the interview if you impress the hell out of the interviewer.]

via Beyond Job Alert

Hello, Teresa
Thank you for your sharing your Beyond resume for this work at home Job Alert! We are a medical transcription company.

After reviewing your resume we are interested.
[Uh-oh, second red flag. Not that Teresa doesn’t have a killer resume—I’m sure she does. But this just doesn’t sound like the language of a real employer to me. While jobs in which employers chase the employee are certainly real, I believe based on years of experience that they are rare. You chase the employer. That’s the way it works in the large majority of cases.]
Transam Associates provides precise medical transcription of voice files that doctors dictate for hospitals, clinics and doctor offices.
[Maybe. But its Web site is so cheesy that if I were a clinic looking for a transcription service, I would not give it a second glance. This leads me to believe that Transam is not really interested in doing transcription.]

Transam Associates also conducts its own training program that prepares individuals for the medical transcription profession. This training is done online in the comfort of your own home. A personal trainer is provided to guide individuals in the training program through a Live Chat environment.

As a recruiter for this national transcription service, I am seeking full-and part-time, home-based medical transcriptionists. We are committed to providing a work environment where medical transcriptionists can grow and be respected for the professionals they are.
[But can you provide jobs? Not according to some of the complaint sites I’ve been reading.]

This is for entry level individuals and if you are not yet qualified, we’ll provide tuition FREE training and a personal trainer that you’ll need to become qualified. Once you meet our criteria, which will be defined for you before you begin, you will be certified by us as an accomplished medical transcriptionist and can begin to work for Transam Associates, Inc. Our special books and software are required.

[Remaining paragraphs deleted because we’re not going to do their advertising for them.]

After transcribing this sample we will answer all your questions.

You are asked to transcribe a simple audio file and submit it to Transam for consideration. I can’t prove it, but my hunch is they would accept just about anything as a transcription of the audio file.

Why? Because Transam Associates is not looking for transcriptionists. It’s looking for people to sell its software to.

After you submit your sample transcription, you will receive another email that says it was true and accurate and worthy of moving forward (their words, not mine), and inviting you to request an application agreement.

The agreement is too long and boring to reproduce here, but it boils down to this the following. Transam claims to be able to train you in medical transcription and then to set you up with paying jobs.

First, however, you must by the proprietary Transam software, which apparently runs about $500. Here is one user’s experience:

They will do no more than rip you off money by making you buy their MT software and never putting peole into real work situations. The only thing they care for is for your MONEY from your purchase of their equipment(total of $490). This is obviously a SCAM. They want the money upfront and they offer NO refunds for any circumstances.

Transam Associates has a BBB rating of C-, for what it’s worth. I don’t put much stock in BBB reports, personally, but if you want to read it, it’s here:

The BBB has received complaints concerning the business’s selling practices and product quality of the software it sells. Specifically, consumers filing complaints with the BBB have stated that the business misrepresents its program. Consumers stated that they are required to purchase medical transcription training software in order to work for the business. Once the software is purchased, the business then requires that they complete practice tests prior to being given paid work by the business. Consumers are not provided work by the business until the business feels they have successfully completed the program. Additionally, consumers have stated that the software the business requires does not work properly.

So, back away from the computer and go for a walk. You are not on the verge of making $4k per month using your typing skills. (Oh, and here is a free bonus tip: MEDICAL TRANSCRIPTION INVOLVES MUCH, MUCH MORE THAN GOOD TYPING SKILLS.) You are about to purchase non-refundable software and a lot of headache.

It’s “the center of the online universe,” proclaims its Web page at nowijango.com

That’s a pretty big claim, even for your Googles, your Yahoos! and your Ivetriedthats.

But coming from a company that hasn’t even officially launched yet, it’s, well, laughable. Kind of like the chihuahua with an attitude that screeches and yaps at the big dogs on the other side of the fence. “Yip! Yip! Yip! Come on over here and see if I don’t tear your ugly heads off your mangy shoulders! Arf! Arf! Arf!”

(True tangent: My in-laws used to have a hihuahua-Pomeranian mix. Mitzi. One day during dinner we heard her start to squeal in the back yard. We rushed out, sure that she was being dismembered by the little brat who lived next door. But there was Mitzi, screaming bloody murder, pinned to the ground by (I kid you not)…a rabbit.)

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against marketing slogans or tag lines. “We lose money so you don’t have to” ring any bells? But your marketing slogan should have some footing in the reality-based world.

Is IJango.com a Scam?

It’s too early to tell. And honestly, I don’t think so. But here’s what we now know that it is: A network marketing company (yes, an MLM) that claims that you can earn money just by doing what you always do online and recruiting other people to do the same.

When you become an “Independent Representative,” you are set up with an iJango “portal,” which is kind of like a home page for all your online activity. Your shopping, searches, social networking, and everything else is done within the iJango portal.

iJango gets paid a commission for all your purchases and traffic and then pays you and your downline (ah, how I hate that term) a percentage.

That’s it in a nutshell. I won’t go into the compensation plan, which I have read twice and still don’t understand. I do understand this, though: To get started with your magical portal to Nirvana, you will have to pay a refundable $50 “application fee.” But if you really want to get serious about your ijango business, you’ll have to pay $149 to become a “Director,” and $19.95 per month thereafter for your “back office maintenance fee.”

The intro video uses all the MLM industry buzzwords, including these perennial favorites:

• “Work for yourself but not by yourself!”
• “Our success depends on your success!”
• “Building wealth depends on being in the right place, at the right time, with the right opportunity!”
• [An interchangeable schlocky quote, dubiously attributed to Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, or other rich dude.]

I’m Not Impressed Yet

Nothing here looks new. We’ve seen the model where you supposedly get paid for doing what you were going to do anyway (Amway, My Power Mall). And we’ve seen the promotional videos of people who are “so excited to get started” and who say “it’s a no brainer.”

But nothing in the promo materials tells me that it will work. Here’s why, and all MLMs I’ve ever seen have the same weakness:

People that you recruit to be in your downline will be all jazzed and will say things like “no brainer” and “I’m so excited” to perfectly nice friends and family. They will change their habits for a time.

But people who are not in the MLM won’t change their habits just so you can become rich.

From what I understand, you have to recruit 20 customers who are not Independent Representatives. That means you have to convince 20 people to use your iJango portal as the gateway for everything they do online. But why would they? What’s in it for them other than a customizable home page, which they can get many other ways? They might tell you they’ll do it, but they won’t.

Maybe your mother will do it to help you out, but don’t count on it. Not if your mother is as technically inept as mine.

Bottom line, I don’t think Cameron Sharp or Steve Smith (from Excel Communications) are trying to rip you off. But I do think they’ll make plenty of money from people who sign up, even if those who sign up never make a dime.

Want to Make Money from iJango?

Then, here. I’ll give you a free business idea. Pay a licensing fee to Cameron Sharp so that you can print up t-shirts and coffee mugs with clever slogans on them and sell them at iJango conventions to iJango reps with permasmiles are so excited. I’ll give you some for free to get you started:
Do you jango?
Who needs coffee? Ijango.
You can’t handle the jango!
I jangoed all night with a hot chick in Belize
If you can’t stand the heat, stay out of the jango.
iJango. It’s like Amway but with clicks.
iJango. Not a single vampire.

Yes, I’ll admit it. I was duped into ordering a magazine subscription by a door-to-door salesman yesterday. Man, I hate rereading that sentence, but it’s true. Here’s what happened.

The Oh-So-Friendly Knock

I was getting ready to go meet some friends for dinner last night when I heard a knock on the door. I assumed one of my friends decided to meet at my place first and I opened the door to an unfamiliar face. Before I could even get a word out Mr. Salesman had already begun his pitch.

Immediately, he started explaining his life story to me and how he wanted to go back to school to become a sports announcer and magazine sales were helping him achieve his dream. I told him that I wished him luck, but I wasn’t interested in any magazine subscriptions. Frustration swept over his face and he went off on how he was a top-seller and was only a few hundred points from winning a trip to the Bahamas. I again told him good luck and no thanks, but that wasn’t about to deter him.

He asked if he could write down my name and address so his boss knew that he was out trying to get subscriptions. I was in a hurry to get him out of here and started telling him my name when he cut me short. He needed something to write on. I turned around to grab a notebook off of my kitchen counter. I grabbed it and turned around to see him sitting on my couch. He said he could just use the table here to write as it would be much easier.

Okay, now I’m a bit creeped out. This stranger is in my apartment and isn’t very good at accepting no.

He wrote down my name and address and started his pitch again. This time he handed me a list of magazines that were available and told me to look through it. I again told him that I didn’t need a magazine but instead of acknowledging what I had said he asked me what type of music I listened to. I was a bit thrown off and regrettably replied “Rock.” And thus the final attempt at his pitch began.

“The Rolling Stone would be perfect for you,” he told me as he started rattling off prices. Initially he wanted me to sign up for 4-years for $125, but since “he liked me” he offered me the two year price at $52.00, which is still a ridiculously inflated rate.

It was about this time that I had found the cancellation instructions on the back of one of the papers he had handed me. Armed with these, I decided to play his game to just get him the hell out of my apartment. He was ecstatic to hear me agree and informed me that “you’ll be saving over $50 on the cover price when you order through us!”

He then informed me of a $15.00 “processing fee” as he handed me a $67.00 bill. I wrote out a check payable to the company listed on the order form and sent him on his way.

It had been a very uncomfortable fifteen minutes.

Immediately after he left, I started to Google as much information about the company as possible. I stumbled upon hundreds of complaints at Rip-off Report with claims of being charged and never receiving any magazines. The two companies in charge of handling magazine subscriptions are the Pacific Coast Clearing Services Inc. and Unlimited Sale, Inc. (253)851-8414 located at 5775 Soundview Dr., Suite 103C Gig Harbor, WA 98335. I quickly called Unlimited Sale Inc. to let them know that I had changed my mind about the order. They told me to mail away a copy of my receipt and assured me that the check would not be cashed.

A word of advice, if a kid comes to your door trying to sell magazines to win a trip or further his or her education, cut the conversation short and get them on their way as quickly as possible.

So, here I sit anxiously checking my bank account every 15 minutes to make sure that the $67.00 I sent away doesn’t leave my bank account. I don’t have much hope at this point. I’ll let you know of any further updates.

Leave a comment below if you’ve had an experience with these people or if you know how I can definitely get my money back.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, here is yet another warning post about free government grant programs. Maybe it’s the last one, though, as those crappy programs seem to be on their way out.

The Truth About “Free” Grant Programs

We and other watchdog sites have written extensively about this stuff, so I won’t repeat all the nasty details this time. Just a quick summary for those just coming to the game. Skip to the next heading to get to the good news/bad news part of this post. In a nutshell, here is how the government grants garbage programs work:

• You click on an ad or email link that promises easy government money for any purpose under the sun. I even get email messages about this from someone calling himself “President Obama.”
• You see a sales page like the one at usagovernmentgrants.org, full of flags and seals to lend legitimacy.
• You are urged to send for your free kit (or CD, or ebook, or member access, or whatever). Now! HURRY! BEFORE THE MONEY IS GONE!
• You click through and give your name and credit card info to pay the $1.95 shipping and handling charge (for an electronic product…red flag!!)
• You failed to read the terms and conditions which might inform you that once your 7-day trial expires, you will be charged up to $82 per month for your ongoing membership.

There is Good News…and Bad

The Good News	The Bad News
Facebook has stopped publishing ads by these misleading grant programs.	Google has not, as you can tell by the paid search results when you search “free government grants,” and by generated ads, maybe even on this page
Grants.gov is the number-one ranked search result when you Google “free government grants” with or without the quotes.	Usagovernmentgrants.org is number two. It is a sales page, or lead-capturing page, for EZ Grant Pro. Its “free” information will cost you $94.38 per month, which includes two paid memberships you didn’t know you were signing up for.
Grants.gov publishes the facts: We have all seen them, late night infomercials, websites, and reference guides, advertising “millions in free money” Don’t believe the hype! Although there are many grants on Grants.gov, few of them are available to individuals and none of them are available for personal financial assistance. To find an alphabetical listing of federal personal assistance visit USA.gov website’s Government Benefits, Grants, and Financial Aid page.	Usagovernmentgrants.gov implies just the opposite, and that’s what people want to hear: If you are in need, out of work, working part time and income doesn’t cover basic expenses, or are ill, all types of grants, loans and in-kind services are provided by the federal government and by private foundations. These funds are available on an emergency basis or long-term basis.
Maybe we won’t have to publish any more grant warnings.	If we keep hearing about people losing their money and having problems canceling their paid memberships, maybe we will.

Look, nobody blames you. The promise of free money that you don’t have to pay back is a hard thing to ignore. But get over it, people! (I had to.) Nobody is going to bail you out by giving you free government grants.

Yes, under very carefully controlled circumstances. You qualify for financial aid as a college student, for example, or you are a business owner trying to reach out to specific targeted groups.

The US Government does NOT give grants to little people like you and me to live our daily lives. It also does not give money to start a business, in direct contradiction to many of the “government grant” claims out there. (To get free money with no strings attached you have to be a huge investment bank with high-paid lobbyists. But I digress.)

But don’t take my word for it. Here it is from the maw of the beast:

But the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, says that “money for nothing” grant offers usually are scams, whether you see them in your local paper or a national magazine, or hear about them on the phone.

Some Web sites out there will holler at you that government grants are widely available and easy to get. They even often claim that the government gives grants for starting businesses. This is a direct lie, according to the federal Small Business Administration:

Please Note that the U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, though it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. While the SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments.

Grant Every Day? Um…no

Enter the strange case of governmentgrantsearch.com. That’s the site that Kathryn, the reader from my last post on grants, tangled with and lost to the tune of $100+.

Why “strange case?” Because the site has some good information. The problem is the crap product it promotes: the “Grant Every Day” program. It advertises a “free” CD (+ shipping and handling) with all the information you need to start getting government grants. You can get your first check in as little as one week!

What the heck, right? Three bucks for info. I can handle that. But then I read the fine print and decided not to sign up. Holy Add-ons, Batman! Your “free” CD will cost you $90.89 if you are not careful. Every month.

Here is the fine print:

By submitting this form I am ordering the Grant Resource Information and trial membership. After the seven day trial I will be charged sixty eight thirteen a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I also agree to the fourteen day trial to SBA Connection for thirteen forty two and the twenty one day trial to Kind Remind for nine thirty four, should I choose not to cancel. I have read and agree to the PRIVACY POLICY and Terms & Conditions. Cancel any time by calling 1-800-235-1364 or 1-888-276-8105.

See the parts I bolded? Yeah, those are dollar amounts. Have you ever seen prices written out in words? I don’t think I ever have. In my humble opinion, there is only one reason to do it in the fine print: TO HIDE IT. The promoter knows you’ll scan the fine print, but won’t read it carefully. They don’t want to call attention to all the extras by putting $68.13 right there for you to catch.

And not only that, but these add-ons come completely out of the blue. NOWHERE does the page promoting the free CD mention that you are also signing up for a monthly paid membership (what for??) the “SBA Connection” (what the hell is that??), and “Kind Remind.”

This is deceptive, “gotcha” marketing at its worst. FREE CD! Only $2.95 shipping and handling! Then, hidden at the bottom of the page, lots of extra garbage and recurring charges.

But it gets worse. The Terms and Conditions state that the company can sell your information to whomever it wants, and that it can have its telemarketers call you, even if you have opted out of telemarketing:

By submitting personal information at the Website, you agree that such act constitutes an inquiry and/or application for purposes of the Amended Telemarketing Sales Rule (16 CFR §310 et seq.), as amended from time to time (the “Rule”). Notwithstanding that your telephone number may be listed at the Federal Trade Commission’s Do-Not-Call List, you give us the right to contact you via telemarketing in accordance with the Rule.

The Company may disclose, transfer, and sell Individual Information to entities affiliated with us at our discretion.

Click here to read a customer/victim’s complaint about “Grant Every Day.
And Ripoff Report has more.

Rules of the Road for Government Grants

The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) recommends the following guidelines if you’re interested in government grants:

• Don’t give out your bank account information to anyone you don’t know. Scammers pressure people to divulge their bank account information so that they can steal the money in the account. Always keep your bank account information confidential. Don’t share it unless you are familiar with the company and know why the information is necessary.
• Don’t pay any money for a “free” government grant. If you have to pay money to claim a “free” government grant, it isn’t really free. A real government agency won’t ask you to pay a processing fee for a grant that you have already been awarded — or to pay for a list of grant-making institutions. The names of agencies and foundations that award grants are available for free at any public library or on the Internet. The only official access point for all federal grant-making agencies is www.grants.gov.
• Look-alikes aren’t the real thing. Just because the caller says he’s from the “Federal Grants Administration” doesn’t mean that he is. There is no such government agency. Take a moment to check the blue pages in your telephone directory to bear out your hunch — or not.
• Phone numbers can deceive. Some con artists use Internet technology to disguise their area code in caller ID systems. Although it may look like they’re calling from Washington, DC, they could be calling from anywhere in the world.
• Take control of the calls you receive. If you want to reduce the number of telemarketing calls you receive, place your telephone number on the National Do Not Call Registry. To register online, visit www.donotcall.gov. To register by phone, call 1-888-382-1222 (TTY: 1-866-290-4236) from the phone number you wish to register.
• File a complaint with the FTC. If you think you may have been a victim of a government grant scam, file a complaint with the FTC online at www.ftc.gov, or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Sadly, for you and me, there’s no such thing as free money. Don’t fall for the free government grant claims.

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.

It’s late at night. You don’t know why you’re up but you can’t sleep. Jay Leno has long since said his goodbye and you’re now in unchartered channel surfing waters. Chuck Norris begins to pitch his ‘All-in-one’ fitness orb as your eyes begin to slowly close. Minutes pass. Maybe hours. You don’t know. You’re stuck in this weird dream-like state when your eyes focus back on the television. It’s a fox. And he’s telling you how you too can make millions from the comfort of your own home.

Surely, you must be dreaming.

You aren’t.

The Claims

The following quotes have been pulled directly from Crazy Fox’s website.

How to Never Need That 9-5 Job Again.

Every day, regular men and women take their first step to saying goodbye to a 9 to 5 job… forever. Right now you have the opportunity to join them.

Sound CRAZY?

DID YOU KNOW that nearly 50% of businesses in the United States are home-based? It’s true! That statistic comes from an eye-opening U.S. census report published in November of 2006!

The fact is, there has never been a better opportunity to work from home, and people everywhere are realizing it. So, what does it take to succeed?

What if there was one company using a proven system to help people build the business of their dreams… for over 25 years?

• With annual revenues of more than $1.8 billion dollars!
• Sales in more than 62 countries, and…
• Tens of thousands of part and full-time income earners.

But, When Is It YOUR Turn?

Right now, you have the opportunity to discover the ground-breaking system that is changing people’s lives.

Be your own boss, work on your own schedule, love what you do, and get every bit of training and support you’ll ever need to succeed.

The key is a product line with explosive demand and a step-by-step system for growing long-term residual income.

Request our Secrets to Success kit while it’s still available!

You’ll see how everyday men and women are taking control of their financial future, while generating significant income starting in month 1!

The truth is, too many people SAY they want to change their life for the better… but they never take a single step to make it happen.

Fill out the form to order our no-obligation success kit, and keep an eye on your mailbox. This may just be the most eye-opening, and life-changing package you ever receive…

You have nothing to lose.

Yawn. This crap presell page almost put me back to sleep. Again we are given the home-based program of our dreams that will set us financially free, allow us to fire our bosses, and let us eat solid gold as we circumnavigate the globe on our privately chartered cruise ships.

The real key is that there are 307 words in the paragraph above and not one describes what you will actually be doing in order to make money from home. There’s a brief mention of an explosive product line, but that’s it. Other than that it’s just buzz words. ‘Eye-opening,’ ‘life-changing,’ ‘vomit inducing’ program you’ll ever see?

No thanks.

The Truth

Herbalife. Again. We saw a similar batch of lies when we conducted a Partner with Paul Review. The last line on the Crazy Fox websites reads ‘You have nothing to lose.’ Since when did an initial $9.95 investment for training materials, thousands of dollars on products that you have to resell that no one wants, and your personal and private information become nothing?

Keep reading for tales from those who have tried Crazy Fox.

The Proof

Crazy Fox is associated with Herbalife (which has been around for YEARS and recently was fined $150 000 by Canadian authorities for Illegal Pyramid-like scheme).

Once you pay the $9.99 fee to Crazyfox – they send you the starter package, which isn’t actually a package of any kind. It’s a booklet telling you how great it would be to become financially free, to never have a boss again and so on…

Then the real fun begins. You start getting calls from Herbalife representatives who are trying to sell all these amazing deals at $200, $500, $1000 and more. They tell you that you have made an amazing choice and you are on your way to wealth…

Since crazyfox sells your personal information to third parties, you will also start getting calls from insurance brokers, credit card companies, telephone companies and many others. They will all tell you: “We have been notified that you are starting a home business, you might be interested in our new Business Telephone Line, Business Credit Card… etc – and it never ends, needless to say that you will not make single dime with these guys.

I had never heard of Herbalife until reaponding to the Crazy Fox ad myself. I was (and still am) looking for a homebased business. It all sounded easy enough but I found out it is not easy at all. I, myself did not have the thousands of dollars to invest in the best package or the best leads and that makes it almost impossible. I don’t mind hard work but impossible is a different thing.

If you go to their website, there is no clear description of what they are and what they do – this is because they do different things; Herbalife, dropshipping… etc.

Okay, so what they really do? After collecting all your personal information (when you order a FREE starter packahe minus shipping fees) they simply sell it to other companies. Yes, all they do is collect leads and resell them.

Now, if you watch the infomercial you will see all these “average” people that claim to make $50 000 per day with crazyfox… but have you ever bothered to read the little text at the buttom of the screen?

Here it comes:
“There are no guarantees of specific income nor are there any representations of actual income.
Amounts stated are for illustrative purposes only and are not typical.
Persons depicted are paid actors.”

So, if you want to lose at least $10 while giving away your private information to hundreds of companies who will continue to contact you from now until the day you die, then by all means, sign up with Crazy Fox. If that doesn’t appeal to you, then I guess Crazy Fox just isn’t the program you had in mind.