Online credit card fraud is on the rise thanks to a number of unscrupulous advertising schemes. While get rich quick internet marketing schemes have always been popular on the web, our current economic crisis is drawing even more people to check out advertisers who claim to have a way to generate cash quick.
The current wave of schemes includes two campaigns that seem to appear everywhere; the Google link scheme and the government grants plan. In the case of the Google campaign, the advertiser promises to show how you can earn $5000 per month posting links to the search giant. What does it cost to get this valuable information? Amazingly the advertiser will give it to you free and wants only a $1.98 shipping and handling fee. The government grants campaign is the same story. Learn how you can get free money from the government for just $1.98.
People who jump on these offers almost never read the terms and conditions. What they will discover is by ordering the free information they have opted in on several monthly subscriptions that can total up to $60 per month. These subscriptions will be charged to the credit card that was used to pay the $1.98 shipping and handling charge.
Besides enrolling you in worthless monthly subscriptions, your phone number, email address and home address are sold to direct marketers. Shortly after you make your order your phone will start ringing off the hook with calls from telemarketers selling other work at home scams. Spam will have a new meaning as your inbox receives nearly 100 junk emails a day.
The first time a buyer is even aware that they are being charged for monthly subscriptions is when they see the charge on their credit card statement. Typically, one or two of them will have an 800 number that you can call. The others will only have a company name and you will have to track them down by searching Google
Remember how these ads sounded similar? Both asked for just $1.98. Heres a huge time saving piece of information. If you find a toll free number for one of the sites, you have found the customer service number for all of the sites. Even if you see two or more different numbers they all go to the same call center in Las Vegas
Make sure that when you call to cancel that you start with the site that the 800 number was associated with. The agent at the other end will tell you that you chose to be in those subscriptions and then will try to resell you. When that doesnt work they will say that they will take you out of the program and no further charges will be made. Dont settle for that. Insist on a refund for the charges already made on your card.
Now that they have agreed to refund you on the original site, demand that the same thing be done on the other sites as well. It may be that one or more of the additional sites may not be using the call center anymore and they will not be able to issue a refund. If that’s the case call your credit card and explain the unauthorized charge and that the site does not have any contact information. Typically the card company will “freeze” the transaction and resolve the issue themselves. This may take some time.
Buyer beware, a sucker is born every minute and a whole litany of like phrases apply to these kinds of scams. It’s unfortunate that predatory advertisers have no qualms taking a consumer’s money for these worthless schemes.
If you are making a first time purchase from a vendor, always read the terms and conditions. If it’s available, use PayPal to process the transaction. By using PayPal, the vendor never sees your credit card information. If that’s not an option, be sure the site is displaying the VeriSign bage that tell you they are using a secure server. Lastly, always check your credit card statements carefully and take action on any unauthorized items.
Related posts:
