An Inside Look at Nigerian Scams, Part 2

Written By:
Published On:

Joe: This is part 2 in our series, “An Inside Look at Nigerian Scams,” written by Nigerian guest poster, Chekwube Okeke. Read Part 1 of this series here.

Who Wants to Make a High School Boy a Millionaire?

I once worked for a man who owned a dry-cleaning outfit. He was a car freak and owned a good number of flashy ones. “He can’t be making that much money from his dry-cleaning business to buy such a large number of cars,” I told myself. A colleague was later to tell me the man had one other business he was into. “The laptop our boss brings with him to work is used to correspond with the westerners he intends to scam,” he told me.

And trying to convince friends to leave such things is out of the question. Especially when you consider the fact that some of them grew up in poverty (the economic hardship having taken its toll on them). Since they have no other legitimate means of feeding themselves and their families, you don’t know how or where to begin to make them see reason.

Some of the reasons these Nigerians give for indulging in scams range from the palatable to the outright absurd. They may tell you that “the white man came to Africa, enslaved us and stole our resources to develop their own place, so we are only taking back what the white man took from us.” Or “Hey, we just want a few thousand bucks from these westerners. After all, their economy is better than ours so it won’t hurt them.”

What Is It Like to Scam in Nigeria?

For me, the sooner I get a PC with an Internet connection, the better. Surfing from a café is a risk in itself. It makes me a sitting duck for the cops who, once in a while, raid cafés and arrest scammers, including, if you are unlucky, people who came to do honest work.

I was once nearly a victim of one such raid. They raided one café after another. They stormed into the café where I was. They bent close to your monitor and if what they saw on the screen didn’t seem right to them, they moved you out into a police van waiting just outside the café to join other scam suspects who were rounded up from other cafés. They ordered me to get up and I was frisked (didn’t know what the hell they were looking for). Luckily for me I was not yet sitting behind a monitor as I was waiting for a free space, because who knows? The Nigerian police are an unpredictable lot and had I been sitting behind a monitor I might have been taken away with the others.

One customer quickly hid the flash drive he had with him (must have contained some scam material). Unfortunately for him, one cop thought he saw him hide the flash drive, but didn’t know exactly where and immediately a hunt for the flash drive started. The cops looked behind monitors, under the café tables, behind CPUs, under the chairs. All the while, the cop was angry at his junior partner (who was closer to the customer when he hid the flash drive) for not being fast enough to “catch these boys,” and at the same time exchanging words with the customer himself, who kept insisting he wasn’t even holding a flash drive to begin with. He kept saying he was in the youth corps and only came to check his mails.

Alas! After some minutes the cop found the flash drive. He was right after all! He did see the scammer hide a flash drive! And in the joy of triumph the cop lands the scammer a very hard slap on the cheek, telling him: “Youth corps, huh? I’ll show you I’ve dealt with your likes before!” The scammer is dragged away and into the police van outside. (The youth corps is a one year mandatory service to the country performed by graduates right after they leave the university.)

Can’t The Authorities Do Something?

Justice was served? Not really. Fortunately for these scammers and unfortunately for the rest of society, the police are also not insulated from the economic hardship and grinding poverty in the country. So they carry out such raids mostly when they are in dire need of money themselves, to feed themselves and their families as they are not being sufficiently paid by the Nigerian government. These scammers are taken to the station where, for as little as 30 dollars or more, they buy back their freedom and our scammers are back at the café doing what they know how to do best!

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), a federal government agency charged with apprehending and prosecuting corrupt government officials and scammers, as soon as it was established, read out a riot act to the cafes that aid and abet scams. So when approaching a café in Nigeria, it is not uncommon to see notices like the ones below pasted at the entrance or on the walls within the café itself:

“IF YOU ARE CAUGHT SENDING 419 MAILS, WE WILL PERSONALLY EMBARRASS YOU.
THEN WE WILL HAND YOU OVER TO THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES.”
[Joe editorial note: I love that! “Personally embarrass you.” Oh, the humanity!]

“THE SENDING OF SCAM MAILS IS NOT ALLOWED IN THIS CAFÉ “
“THE USE OF E-MAIL EXTRACTORS IS NOT ALLOWED IN THIS CAFÉ”

These notices have become so common that even scammers no longer take notice of them. And café owners, some of whom are scammers themselves, turn a blind eye to what goes on in their cafes either because they have become used to the raids and no longer give a damn because they know the authorities are not serious about dealing with scammers and they have to stay in business, or because they make good money from these customers.

And what do the numbers 419 mean? It’s a reference to section 419 of the Nigerian constitution that deals with advance fee fraud. So when you hear a Nigerian say “I was 419ed”, he means he got scammed. Or you hear him say “that guy is a 419” or “he’s a 419er”, it means the person is a scammer. The numbers have since become a synonym for lies, cheating, deceit, fraud etc.

These people also do clean up after themselves. After they are done with the computer, they restart it before leaving the café. I asked a friend why he does this and he said restarting the computer destroys any evidence of scam, making his work untraceable. Simply put, by restarting the computers the scammers are covering their tracks.

Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

Please don’t get the impression that’s it’s been a holiday for all scammers. I know people who have been into scam for years, sunk all they had into it and are yet to make it. There are scammers that have been tried and are in the can.

And like every other industry, the Nigerian scam industry has spawned its own terminology. When you hear a scammer use the word ‘MAGA’ (pronounced mahgah) or the word MUGU (pronounced moogoo) he is referring to the westerner he is about to scam or has already scammed. The word ‘HAMMER’ has come to mean to “make it big” among scammers.

Part 3 will discuss specific examples of Nigerian scams Mr. Okeke has witnessed.

An Insider’s View of Nigerian Scams, Part 1

Written By:
Last Updated:

[Preface by Joe: We are pleased to offer this series about Nigerian scams from an honest-to-goodness Nigerian, Mr. Chekwube Okeke. He has a degree in business administration and notes that his first name means “Put your trust in God.” He has generously offered us this information free of charge, and I know you’ll be interested in what he reveals. I have lightly edited the text for correctness and organization.]

Who Wants to Make a High School Boy a Millionaire?

Here I am doing this piece in an Internet café. The guy occupying the space right next to me is preparing a scam e-mail. It contains the picture of a famous bank CEO and the logo of the bank itself. He is posing as the bank CEO. Whoever is unfortunate enough to receive the mail (most probably, a westerner) will get the false impression that he is corresponding with a bank CEO in Nigeria.

What I am describing is nothing uncommon among scammers in Nigeria. All over the café there are people preparing scam mails, posing as bank CEOs, central bank governors, ambassadors, businessmen, accountants, senate presidents, pastors, priests, etc. Among these scammers are students in their school uniforms. I am not exaggerating and this is also nothing new.

Just a few yards from the café is a police post. “It should deter these scammers from coming to the café, you would say. It doesn’t. “Why not?” you ask. Please keep reading this piece and you will find out.

The View from My World

Surfing from a café in Nigeria, you get to witness a lot of drama. I have seen a scammer smash his handset in ecstasy on confirming the cash he had long been waiting for had arrived. I have seen scammers faking their accents and intonation pretending to be white men on the phone with their intended victims. I have seen scammers pretending to be white ladies visiting Africa for the first time when they meet a male westerner online. I have seen scammers pretending to be females looking for a date online, or pretending to be white males, depending on the gender of the person they meet online. (More on these later.)

The Nigerian scam has turned out to be very lucrative for its perpetrators. Yes, it was once the third largest industry in Nigeria. A Nigerian paper once reported that America loses about 100,000 dollars to these scammers daily.

The westerners who receive and fall for this scam mails ought to know that the tens of thousands of bucks they lose to these scammers might very well translate to millions in my country’s currency. In other words, they are making millionaires out of these scammers, some of whom have become bread winners of their family.

Scamming has become a phenomenon being celebrated by some Nigerians. Oh yes! A well known former U.S. government official unwittingly danced to a popular Nigerian scam song on stage along with the performers at a function held in the U.K. recently.

Again, in another part of Europe, another Nigerian artist performed another popular Nigerian scam song on stage while the Nigerians among the crowd danced and sang along with the artist. After he was done performing, he was asked by the host of the ceremony what the lyrics of the song meant. There were giggles, chuckles, and sniggers coming from the Nigerian crowd as the artist, knowing the embarrassment the truth would cause every one at the ceremony, had to lie to the host about the meaning of the lyrics.

I Know Scammers

This might sound awful to the westerners reading this piece. The truth is, in Nigeria, if you are not a scammer, you must know somebody who is (some Nigerians who may come across this piece may disagree and even argue with me on this one). Just months ago, a friend of mine hit it big, making over 40,000 dollars. Now he is living big and has since moved his family to a better apartment.

“A friend?” Oh yes. A childhood friend for that matter. Everyone knows someone. The person might be your next door neighbor, or that tithe giver who is a church member of yours, or your course mate in the university, or your classmate in high school or your colleague at work, or your boss who may only be using his company as a front to hide the true source of his wealth, or your brother, or your uncle, or your aunt, or your cousin, or your nephew, or even your mom and/or your dad who have been supporting the family with the extra income.

And if you do find out the person is a scammer, it is not talked about in his presence. You maintain the relationship you had with him before you made your discovery. No mention is made of it. Not unless you are a scammer friend of his too or a very close pal. It is just like what you see in mafia movies: here’s this guy who is well known in the neighborhood. He’s the nice guy who is like a friend to all, who tries to help his neighborhood every now and then. But he’s a gangster and thing is, while you are with him you have to act like you don’t know he’s a gangster. You don’t bring up any discussion that’s anywhere near that fact. Not unless you are a fellow gangster or a very close friend.

[Joe: In Part 2 of this series, you’ll hear about Mr. Okeke’s experiences in a Nigerian Internet cafe.]

The Cash Leveraging System and the Cash Gifting Scam

Written By:
Published On:

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.

Six Figure Yearly Review

Written By:
Published On:

“I Made $76,875.71 in 26 Days!”

Okay, I’ll admit it. That’s a pretty good way to catch a reader’s attention. Unfortunately, if you do the math, that works out to a little less than a million dollars per year. Do you honestly think this program will turn you into a millionaire with only a $60 investment? Maybe you need to keep reading.

Also, what’s with the name Six Figure Yearly? Could they really not afford the s?

The Claims

Six Figure Yearly makes the following claims:

  • Step-by-step instructions to turn your computer into a money making machine.
  • You can make $3,500 per day working only two hours.
  • You will automate your online income so money pours into your bank account.
  • There is no selling, surveys, or envelope stuffing.
  • DEAR GOD HURRY THERE ARE ONLY 4 COPIES LEFT

They are entirely vague at answering what you will be doing to make a million dollars per year. Imagine walking into an interview with a potential employer. You sit down and he tells you he will make you a million dollars this year. You ask, “Okay, what will I be doing?” His response, “You’ll be making money of course!” You, “How?” Him, “IT DOESN’T MATTER DOES IT? IT’S A MILLION FREAKING DOLLARS.” You, “Uhh. I just remember I have somewhere to be.” Him, “GET BACK HERE AND GIVE ME $60 NOW SO I CAN GIVE YOU $1,000,000 LATER.”

I can’t imagine that would ever actually occur, but that is what is happening when you read Six Figure Yearly’s website. The owner mentions over and over how much money he/she/it is making, but never spends any time discussing how that money is earned! In fact, there are only a few sentences that begin to describe what’s going on. Here they are: “Here’s what I do every day. I sit down at our computer. I check our emails. I return our emails. I check our income accounts online. I do two to four simple transactions. I turn off our computer. I have a nice day. This takes me about two hours a day or less!”

I read emails and check my bank account every day too! How come I’m not making a million dollars yet!?

The Truth

Six Figure Yearly works along the same lines as a rebate processor or data entry scam and we all know how reliable data entry and rebate processing jobs are. The scam here isn’t so much that the system doesn’t work. The scam is that they are blatantly lying to you in order to make a sale.

If you read through the presell page, they make the claim that all they do is fill in boxes and process transactions and money is literally thrown at their feet. If it is that simple, why isn’t every single person in the world doing this? We wouldn’t have any problems with our economy and foreclosures would be a thing of the past. Now, we all know that’s an impossible scenario.

Instead, you’ll be given instructions on how to promote Clickbank products via Google Adwords. Yes, that Clickbank and that Google Adwords. What they don’t tell you on the presell page is that this is going to cost you a lot of money. Way more than just the initial $69.97 price, even though the website says this exact phrase: “YOU WILL NOT SPEND ONE DIME OF ADDITIONAL INITIAL OUT OF POCKET EXPENSE to get started if you buy the platinum program.” (Tangent: Why the hell couldn’t they just charge $70?)

Essentially, you’ll be buying ad space on Google’s search engine results. For instance, do a search with Google. Search for anything at all. On the search results page, you’ll see sponsored ads along the top and the right hand side of the page. You will be buying ad space there in order to place affiliate links to products. Every time someone clicks on an ad there, the advertiser (you) gets charged, regardless of whether or not that user makes a purchase. Let me make this clear, you’ll be paying anywhere from $0.50 to $5.00 every time someone clicks on your ad. These clicks will happen often, and you will have to pay for each one.

The only way you’ll make money is if someone clicks the ad then makes a purchase through your affiliate link. At one point in time, this was a rather good way to make extra money. However, now the market is over saturated and you probably won’t make back your investment and you’ll fall deeper into debt. So, that leaves you with this question. Will you make over $1,000,000 per year? Absolutely not. No way. Never will you make that much money.

Save your money. Invest it in ING and actually make a decent return. Either way, don’t give it to the guys behind Six Figure Yearly.

Coming Up: Mailing from Home

Written By:
Last Updated:

Can you make money from home simply by mailing out postcards? How about by mailing envelopes? We’re looking at a couple of programs to sign up for, including moneyformailing.com. We’ll give you the inside story.

I’m skeptical, though. The site is full of red flags. For example, the main page is long on hype, short on detail. If you read it you’ll discover that you can be your own boss, earn as much as you want, get checks every week, say goodbye to money problems, and maybe even get your own pony! (Ok, I might have made up that last one.)

But what will you be doing to make all of your dreams come true? Mailing postcards and brochures from home. When someone you send mail to returns a postcard to the company to sign up for an offer, you get 50% of the sale. That seems straightforward, Joe, so what’s the problem? The problem is the questions they don’t answer:

  • Where will I get the addresses to mail things to? Joe’s theory: you’ll have to buy mailing lists.
  • What are the postcards and brochures promoting? The main page doesn’t tell you, but you can find it if you dig for it. They promote work-at-home programs, including…waaaiiit for it…mailing from home!
  • How many postcards are typically sent to make a sale? I don’t expect they would ever tell you this. But let’s compare it to Internet marketing. In that world, 3% conversion is an okay result. That means that for every 100 people that see an offer, three will make a purchase. So let’s say you’re going to send out 100 pieces to make a sale. 100x.35 (first class postage) = 35.00 in postage alone. That’s not including the value of your time to prepare the mailings and send them out. You’ll have to make a $35 commission per 100 mailings just to break even, and I doubt that’s possible.

But those unanswered questions are not the biggest red flag for me. It’s this:

Q: Why don’t you just mail the postcards?

A: We do! We mail as many postcards as we can every day! We’ve been making six figure incomes for years mailing these same postcards. But the demand for these offers is so big that we cannot reach this ever-growing market by ourselves. We have a small office with under 15 employees and more than 500,000 postcards to mail out at any given time. We need your help to get them out!

I call B.S. People who are making six figures through direct mail use mail processing equipment. 500,000 pieces is nothing for the right machinery. Also, when a business has too much work, it hires enough employees to get the work done so it can make more profit. It doesn’t issue an open-ended invitation for everybody who can operate a mouse to come join the industry. Unless, of course, it’s trying to sell something to everyone who can operate a mouse.

Also, it’s not that “demand for these offers is so big” that they can’t do it themselves. It’s that they have to flood the country a foot deep with junk mail in order to find the few who will read the card and then sign up for an offer. And the more people who send out cards, the less expense for them and the more money they make. It’s a win-win! Or at least it would be if it works.

All this is speculation, mind you. Maybe I’m wrong and it really is as easy as they say it is. We’ll let you know.

I’ve Tried That Investigates: West At Home

Written By:
Published On:

Much of my day is spent browsing the web in search of new information. I usually dedicate an hour or so to trying to catch up on the latest scams in order to better educate myself to pass the knowledge on to you, my lovely readers. Usually when you come across a blog post or forum thread giving astounding praise to a program, they’re almost always promoting a scam. Even though it’s deceitful, it’s just smart business.

I came across my first ‘West at Home’ discussion in a forum a few days ago and I didn’t think much of it. The original poster had asked if it was a scam, and the follow-up response denied that claim. There wasn’t any substance there so I carried on about my business. A few days later, I discovered an entire subsection of WAHM.com dedicated to West at Home and that’s when I realized that maybe this is something we should be looking at.

The Program

West at Home hires people as customer service representatives to take inbound calls from home. Those working for West at Home are considered independent contractors and are thus not technically employed by the company, but rather you pick up outsourced work. Essentially, you will be running a customer support call center from your home. There are no start-up fees associated with West at Home other than the required equipment. West at Home requires either a VoIP or landline phone and a broadband internet connection in order to work for them. You probably already have both of these items.

West at Home employs people to do a variety of tasks from their home. These tasks range from customer care, live chat and email, and incoming sales calls. You’ll be assisting a number of companies by handling their customer support. An average day could include assisting an individual with resolving a billing inquiry, helping another customer purchase an accessory for their new wireless phone, or providing assistance/troubleshooting on a non-working product. West at Home offers paid training and claims that if you are qualified, you could be assisting your first customer within days of applying.

If you choose to work with West at Home here are some companies you may be dealing with. Technically, you aren’t supposed to talk about West at Home clients, but this is IveTriedThat.com not FollowTheRules.com.

  • HSN
  • H&R Block
  • Office Depot
  • ProFlowers
  • Sears Home Repair
  • ShopNBC
  • Toys “R” Us
  • Virgin Mobile
  • Walgreens
  • Whirlpool
  • And more…

Getting Paid

In terms of payment, there doesn’t appear to be a set $/hour number anywhere. I’m assuming you’ll be paid more on the quality and quantity of work that you do. After browsing around for a little I’ve seen some people saying they were receiving anywhere between $0.12 and $0.30 per minute. That sounds incredibly low in terms of cents per minute, but that works out to be anywhere between $7.20 and $18.00 an hour. Again, these are just ballpark figures.

There you have it. West at Home is another legitimate way to make money at home in your spare time. Now I know some of you reading this are currently West at Home contractors. I want to hear your comments below. Let us know, first-hand, what it’s like working for West at Home.

http://www.westathome.com/

I’ve Tried That Investigates: Crazy Fox

Written By:
Published On:

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.

Can You Make Money Processing Refunds for HUD?

Written By:
Last Updated:

[Note from Joe 7/17/08: If you read the discussion in the comments section below, you’ll see that Darlene was at one time offering her book for free. She is no longer doing so. Visit her at http://www.scmiprefunds.com/shop/ to purchase it.]

How I Learned about Mortgage Refund Processing
I first heard about mortgage refund processing by reading a job ad on Craigslist. Can you really make money as a refund tracer? By getting refunds for people who paid too much for their mortgage insurance? Hey, I’m a helping kinda gal, and if I could make some money by helping, well that would be just as cool as helping people without getting paid. Maybe cooler!

I wrote to the email address listed and received a reply with more information. The reply said that I could become a third party tracer and would have to pay for software, lists, and a manual, and to visit eaglesoftwareservices.com to learn more. Uh-oh. Of course, that’s not a “job” at all because real jobs don’t charge you to work. I felt a little deceived, but was intrigued enough to click the link.

It led me to a presell page that told me a little bit more, but was really just trying to sell me the software, which costs $39.95. The web site left out some important details, though, that were in the email:

  • It doesn’t say that I would need to buy lists of names and refunds for at least $20 per state.
  • It doesn’t say that I would need to buy a manual of instructions to learn exactly how to get people their refunds and get paid.

How is Mortgage Refund Processing Supposed to Work?
I had no idea what mortgage refund processing was until starting on this path. So for those of you who are also wondering, here’s a quick introduction. If you take out a mortgage without a down payment, you are required to buy mortgage insurance so the lender still makes its money back in case of default. The insurance premiums are tacked on to your monthly mortgage payment. When the home is sold or refinanced, you may be eligible for a refund of some of your premiums if your loan was through HUD or FHA.

The problem is that people move and HUD/FHA loses track of them, so they don’t know they have a refund coming. That’s where tracers come in. Tracers (which is what I would be) find those people, let them know they have money coming, help them collect it, and keep part of the money as a fee.

My Experience
So I contacted the guys at I’ve Tried That and became a Secret Agent. They bought the software, I downloaded it, and am here to report the full results to you.

    It’s not “software.” The product you get for $39.95 is actually something like an e-book designed to be user friendly, with buttons to click through. It’s like a help file. Here’s the definition of software: “The programs, programming languages, and data that direct the operations of a computer system.” Word processing programs and Internet browsers are examples of software. This e-book is not.

    What’s in it? The ebook is basically about 4-6 pages long repeating everything that is already stated on the website with a few more procedures, a contract template, and a HUD application template. That’s it!
    Here’s what the “software” tells you to do:

    1. buy hud lists (at a minimum of $20 per state)
    2. make contact with claimant (no instructions on how to do this, no letter samples)
    3. agree with claimant that you will be his or her tracer, sign contract (template of contract provided)
    4. process applications for contract (one template provided)
    5. get paid/collect your money (no instructions on how to do this)

    The e-book does not mention how you can contact your client, but when you get to the end of the e-book, you get an offer to purchase the manual for only $24.99 in which all these instructions will be given to you. Hello! What was the $39.99 for? Junk. The manual is not even sold through eaglesoftwareservices. You must contact another company or send Eagle a money order so they can place the order for you. (Yeah, right. I’m all over that). The manual is available all over the ‘Net for free. If you want to see it, let me know in the comments and I’ll send you a link.

    Not Just Eagle Software Services
    Upon further research, I found that several other websites are offering the manual up front, such as americanrefundservices.com. They sell the manual for $49.95 and their “startup kit” for $16.95. Which I think is what eagle sold us—a start up kit. Other companies are selling the entire kit for $79.99.

    In Search of a Cheaper Manual
    On eBay I found two people selling manuals. For one, the bid starts at $2 and the other has a Buy-it-Now price of $14. Then I actually found the text of the manual online, but it is missing one valuable piece of information: how to get paid. I figured out that you have to somehow collect the money yourself, but I went to another website in which they talk about another method of getting paid by having the refund check sent directly to the tracer, but they are selling their info for $49.99. The manual is available for free at geocities.com/freeebooksus/hudbook.html. I downloaded the info and made it into a PDF file.

    The Bottom Line
    Can you make money as a mortgage refund processor? Maybe. It’s legal, but there are big hurdles you should know about:

    • You will be competing with HUD-sponsored tracers who will do what you do for free.
    • You will have to hide the source of the money from your potential client, or he’ll just go directly to HUD himself and get his money without you.
    • Those owed refunds can do it without you—you’re not necessary.
    • It only works if your client doesn’t know who owes him money.
    • You will have to spend some money to get started. Maybe a lot of it.

    As far as Eaglesoftwareservices goes, this is not a good buy, in my opinion. Everything in the e-book is already stated on their website, except that the sales page “forgets” to mention that you must buy the HUD lists and that you need a manual with the more detailed instructions. Plus, Eagle’s “software” is just another marketing strategy because when you get to end of the e-book they make you offers on other products you can purchase. Oh, and the e-book also comes with re-sell rights, which means that you can build your own website and resell this book yourself. I suspect that’s how Eagle came across it. They are just reselling the e-book because they don’t even have the manual themselves.

    Eagle advertises “bonus material” that comes with your purchase. What a waste! It’s just another e-book showing you how to start your own mail order business. When you get to the end of this one, you get an offer to buy another e-book/software to teach you to make your very own software to sell ebooks. And you get more offers, more offers, more offers.

    I believe there is money to be made here, but Eagle’s product is not worth buying. Money Wasted. Stay posted, though, because I am going to dig through the manual and try to make contact with clients and see what happens.

    Signed,
    Da Fanster
    (this post will self-destruct in 15 seconds. No, really: it will!)

How to Get Your Money Back from Angela Penbrook

Written By:
Published On:

Our reviews on Angela Penbrook and on the Rebate Processing Scam are without a doubt two of the most important reviews we’ve ever done here. By offering an in-depth review of what you will be paying for when you buy into the hype, we have saved countless of individuals from throwing away nearly $200. Rebate processing sites are still operational, but there have been reports of dwindling traffic and declining sales. Our review has been spread around the web and we’ve received more thank-you emails than we can count. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to save everyone from buying in. However, all hope is not lost. If you’re looking to get your money back, continue reading. You can have your money back in less than a week.

Help from inside?

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

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

ccm@penbrookproductions.com

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

Very Respectfully,
Joseph Ashford-

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

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

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

And Gina:

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

The beginning of the end

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

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

Recover Money Lost to Scams with a Refund.

Written By:
Last Updated:

So, you accidentally sent a lot of money out for that “job” that was going to make you a millionaire in just a few weeks time only to immediately regret it. The “job” you bought into most likely consisted of a website or book that insists that you spend money to do some form of affiliate marketing. Unfortunately, you were ripped off. There is hope however. Follow this information to find out the best ways to get your money back. Feel free to contribute your story in the comments section. It isn’t limited to just the programs outlined here. If you were able to get your money back from any scam, we want to hear about it and include it in the list.

Rebate Processing Refunds

Angela Penbrook and myrebateprocessor.com Refunds

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

Numbers to Call

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

Success Stories

From April:

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

From Patricia:

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

From David:

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

From Joyce:

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

Getting a refund through eSellerate

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

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

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

Data Entry Refunds

DataEntryBusiness.com Refunds

From Claudette:

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

From Mitch:

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

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

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

HOPE THIS HELPS!
Mich (Australia)

Clickbank and ClickandBuy Refunds

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

Clickbank: Customer Service Form
ClickandBuy: Complaint Department Information

Community Project

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

Coming Soon: Mortgage Refunds Processing

Written By:
Last Updated:

Can you make money by processing FHA and HUD mortgage insurance premium refunds? I’ve Tried That is about to find out. Or rather, one of our Secret Agents is about to find out. (Note to self: It’s hardly “secret” if you’re publishing it on a blog. Response from self: So?)

According to the people who are pitching this opportunity online, there are hundreds of millions of dollars sitting in HUD and FHA accounts waiting for people like you to find the rightful owners. The money comes from mortgage insurance premiums that are due to be refunded to the signer of the mortgage, but he or she can’t be found. If you find the owner and put them in touch with their money, you get a cut of the refund.

At least, that’s how the story goes. A number of sites are ready to sell you software and instructions to help you get started in your own HUD/FHA Mortgage Insurance Refund business—for a price, of course. AmericanRefundServices.com and EagleSoftwareServices.com are among them.

But what do we always say? “No legitimate job will charge you before you can start working.” We still believe that’s true. But we also know there are some companies out there selling legitimate products that will help you do a job or establish a business.

Fany is our new Secret Agent. She writes:

I replied to this one that I found on craigslist and they contacted me back but they are charging a fee for the software. It sounds legit and I did some research on the HUD site and it states, “Other ‘tracer’ companies are legal. But they do not represent HUD, and they will charge you a fee. You do not have to use a tracer to get your refund, if you are owed one.” The program I want to try is http://www.eaglesoftwareservices.com. I found some forums in which it states that some of these programs are legit and some that say this is a rip off selling you old lists from HUD. I could not locate anything on I’ve Tried That.
—Da Fanster, Private Eye

Doing her own research…bought our ebook, but one of the leads she found is charging her…searched I’ve Tried That for info first. Sounds like a winner! We’re going to sign her up, she’ll give the program a full trial, and we’ll post our results here! That’s what we do here at I’ve Tried That.

Update: Read the full review here.

How to Find Real Jobs Online
Until we get the word back on this program from Da Fanster, why not check out our ebook? It gives you the best information we know about how to find real jobs online. They won’t make you rich, but a couple hundred bucks per month can sure reduce the stress levels.

War on Data Entry Jobs

Written By:
Published On:

Way back in June of 2007 , I’ve Tried That declared war on data entry jobs as they’re pitched on the ‘Net. I’m ashamed to say it’s been a rather uneventful war. We looked at a few companies but got tired of it because they were all the same schtick. Meet the new Rambo in the War on Data Entry Jobs: Laz Rojas. He truly puts us to shame with his excellent homework, which shows that they’re indeed much the same—even more so than Steve and I suspected. This post is a compilation of his comments (lightly edited by yours truly) on another data entry jobs thread. Words in italics are mine.

This is a great site, and you do a terrific job of unmasking these scams for what they really are and spelling out what’s really going on in black and white. In just a couple of sentences, you described exactly what these “data entry” programs actually are, while the scammers who sell them write paragraphs and paragraphs describing what they aren’t at all.

Seen One, Seen ’em All
I actually came across your site while checking up on another company. When I first read through its site, I was nearly sucked in. Then I decided to explore some of the other sites that also offered “data entry” work at home. Not because I suspected it was a scam, but because I wanted to see what other options were out there. The red flags went up, though, when nearly every site I went to sounded the same as the one I looked at. The wording on the pages, the claims made, the assurances offered… it all sounded like the same company had put up multiple websites under different names. Even the pop-up windows with the 50% off coupon that expires at 11:59 PM tonight… every site had this. Or the regular $99 price being slashed to $49 for just a short time. So what initially sounded like a great opportunity on the first site I went to, started screaming “SCAM!” when I encountered the exact same thing on other sites. Every site seemed to have been created using the same template and following the same blueprint; every site made the same sales pitch in the same way. More about this below.

Can You Really Find Data Entry Jobs This Way?
Data entry? I don’t think so. What these companies offer has nothing to do with what most people think of when they think of data entry. This is affiliate marketing, plain and simple. And for those people who understand what this is and want to try their luck at it, that’s fine. But telling people who are looking for actual data entry jobs that this is for them is deceptive and just plain cruel. Someone who actually wants to try affiliate marketing might be able to be successful at it, knowing what’s involved and what the risks are. But someone looking for data entry won’t succeed at it, especially since they don’t even know the true nature of what they’re doing and can’t appreciate what’s actually involved.

What Your “Job” Will Really Entail
The bottom line is, the companies that are supposedly providing you with data entry work for which they’ll pay you are doing nothing more than tricking you into doing their advertising for them and tricking you into paying for that advertising. They write their little ads, and then instead of submitting them to Google and paying Google to run them, they get YOU to submit them to Google and pay Google to run them. And all under the guise of “data entry” work! Then they sit back and reap the profits from any products sold without spending a dime on advertising. [Joe’s note: Google Adwords is just one form of “data entry” in this deceptive advertising. You might also fill out affiliate applications and data fields that allow bots to spew spam ads all over the Internet in forums and blogs.]

What really gets me is this: if they were honest and up-front about what they’re actually selling you, and if they were teaching you how to use Google and affiliate ads to advertise and market your OWN products or services to make your OWN business successful, they might actually do something legitimate and helpful. But instead, they are teaching you to make someone ELSE’S business successful and conning you into not realizing that. “We’ll hook you up with thousands of companies ready to employ you and who won’t turn you down” is really “We’ll hand you over to companies ready to use you for their own gain and who won’t turn down the chance to do so.”

Don’t Encourage These Scammers by Clicking or *gasp!* Buying
Open your eyes, people. The only ones benefiting from these so-called “data entry” jobs at home are: 1) the people selling the programs; and 2) the companies they “hook you up with” who simply take advantage of you while pretending to employ you. The system they’ve created certainly works, for THEM. YOU get caught in between them, and get screwed from both sides.

One Template, Many Sites
On two different sites belonging to two supposedly different companies, the same exact text appeared in the testimonials. WORD FOR WORD. Only the photos, names, and locations of the so-called “satisfied customers” were different. What they said on one site was repeated verbatim on the other. The testimonials were even in the same order on both sites!

As soon as I saw this, that was it. There was no way this couldn’t be a scam. And I couldn’t believe how lazy and unoriginal the scam was. Worse than the 50% coupon shtick. With the coupon, you might convince yourself that a site is simply copying another site’s tactic in order to be competitive. But the exact same testimonials from different people? Don’t they realize that someone looking around the web for a data entry job is going to visit various sites and sooner or later encounter this? Or do they really think that once you visit their site, you’ll swallow their pitch and sign up on the spot and not visit any other sites? They think you’re stupid. Don’t prove them right by signing up.

You’ll see that they both use the very same graphic to show their Clickbank accounts. So, both Laura Kauth and Donna Richards made the exact same amount of money on the exact same dates during the second half of May, 2006. :) Both of these sites also use the very same image of a blue iMac with a dollar sign on its screen, and the text following this image is nearly identical on both sites. Indeed, much of the text on both sites, and the arrangement of topics throughout, is nearly identical.

The Enablers: Sites that Promote These Deceptive Programs
Something else I wanted to talk about are the so-called “review” sites which claim to steer you toward companies that are legit, a bunch of which I explored last night. They come right out and say that most of the work-at-home opportunities are scams, and then they claim they’ve done research and found the scant few that are not. And they’re willing to steer you in the right direction because of the goodness of their hearts.

This is nothing but a very clever and deceptive tactic which is in reality an extension of the original scam. These folks know that some people are wise enough to think, to analyze, to investigate, and that these people will figure it out on their own that the so-called job opportunity is a scam. The scammers can’t afford to let such people figure it out. They can’t afford to let people confirm their doubts on their own, because once the people do, that’s it, they’re gone. So they step in and short circuit this by admitting there are many scams, and confirm the people’s suspicion FOR them. They count on the people thinking, “Aha! I KNEW they were scams! I suspected it, and this guy has confirmed it! He’s fighting for truth, he’s trying to save me from falling for the scams. So if he recommends a site, he must be telling me the truth.” The scammer knows that once he’s got you thinking he’s on your side by confirming what you already suspected and rescuing you, he’ll have your trust. And once he has your trust, he can scam you to his heart’s content. Saving you from falling into the hole in front of you, he can steer you right into the hole next to you.

These review sites are all over the place. One guy proclaimed he could prove he wasn’t a scammer because he wasn’t asking for money. He was steering you to the “legit” opportunities and asking nothing in return. Why would he lie, if there’s nothing in it for him? There’s no reason to lie if there’s no incentive, right? So he must be telling the truth. That makes sense, doesn’t it? WRONG. Asking for money is not the only component of a scam. When I read this guy’s assurance that he was on the level because he wasn’t asking for money, I immediately thought, “Yeah, but how do I know you’re not getting money from scammers you’re steering victims to? You can refrain from asking ME for money because you’re getting money from THEM. And how do I know you’re not the scammer yourself, pretending to be someone else professing to have found a legit site and steering me to your own site?” [These promotional “review” sites are affiliates of the “data entry” programs, and they make a commission every time one of their readers clicks a link and signs up.]

This trick can work because people equate “scam” with someone taking their money. The assumption is: If no taking of money is involved, it must be on the level. You need to realize that no taking of money is involved in this trick because this trick is basically just Part One of the scam. The taking of money happens in Part Two, and the only purpose of Part One is to lead you right into Part Two. It’s like the game of three card monte, which is run by TWO con artists working in concert. One guy plays the game and wins to make you think YOU can win, but he’s in on the scam all along.

Thanks for the terrific points, Laz Rojas. I couldn’t have said it better myself. Let me add, however, that there ARE legitimate data entry jobs to be found online. I know because I had one. Entered subscription information from cards into an Excel spreadsheet. But I didn’t find it by searching for “data entry jobs” through Google. I found it at Craig’s List.