BangAnalyze.com

General Thoughts and Random Musings

January 4th, 2009

The Google Money Tree Scam

Internet ads really are the bane of my existence.  Offers of everything from Viagra to Volvos simply drive me insane.  The ones on Facebook are probably the worst of all, but thankfully they tend to be off on the right side of the page, making them unobtrusive.  I generally ignore them, but today I happened across one that really did make me laugh.  Here’s the hook:

imageWow, $92 per hour part-time?  Working only 20 hours a week for 40 weeks would yield just under $74,000 a year.  If you decided to put in a full 40 hours a week for 49 weeks, that’s over $180,000.  There’s not too many people who would turn down $180,000 a year for sitting on their backsides, right?  Of course I know this is a scam, but come on – there has to be some amusement value in here somewhere … so let’s have a little fun.

Now – if you’re reading this, be advised that I have my computer system extremely secured – anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall and yes – I have User Account Control turned on for additional safety.  So if you’re planning to have a little fun investigating various internet scams, please ensure that you’re practicing Safe Surfing!

OK … click on the link and of course, we’re redirected to another site - (the People Making Money site).  We’ve seen the hook already, now here’s the line:

“My name is Robert McCabe. I’m your average white collar, office worker, but I found a great part-time opportunity on my computer working from home. I was working about 8 hours extra a week and was bringing in, on average, an extra $800.00 a week. I love what I do now; in fact, I love it so much, I quit my day job and do this full time from home. The best part about it is, anyone can do it. Read below to see exactly how.”

Oh yes, this looks familiar.  You see this kind of pitch on virtually every money-making scheme infomercial on late-night television.  So … let’s read on and see where this rabbit hole goes …

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Oh look … a check from Google.  The check itself is actually a real one … except for one little thing:

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The date on the check has clearly been altered – and not very well.  Someone clearly needs to take a couple of Photoshop classes!  Now – anytime you start seeing altered checks like this, it’s time to run away … as fast as humanly possible!  Add to that the fact that the recipient name is obscured – if you really were making this kind of money, wouldn’t you want to at least show off your name on the check?  Anyway … moving right along, here’s our intrepid “average white collar” worker’s reasons for loving the Google Money Tree:

Here’s why I love Google Money Tree :

  • It’s one of the easiest things I have ever done. I get PAID to surf the web.
  • I can do this job whenever I want and wherever I want.
  • I can be my own boss.
  • I can work 8 hours a week and make $850.00. (or work full time and make $2500.00/week)
  • ANYBODY can do this, it’s so easy.
  • The kit is totally FREE, I just paid $3.88 to ship (sort of an odd number I guess)
  • Google Money Tree has allowed me to do the things my wife and I have always wanted to do.

So, there’s a couple more warning signs here:

  1. Very few people get paid just to surf the Internet.  The people that do usually have to produce something at the end – research papers, statistics, competitive analysis etc.  Simply surfing the web isn’t going to make you $92 an hour
  2. Nothing is totally FREE.  If I’m sending you a kit that’s going to show you how to make $100,000 a year, why would I simply GIVE it to you.  There’s a catch here somewhere …
  3. $3.88 for shipping?  What kind of cockamamie number is that?  My father owns / runs a Parcel Plus store and I can tell you that you aren’t going to ship many packages anywhere for a $3.88 flat rate unless you’re a major retailer, such as Amazon.com.

OK, but there is a link to the mythical Google Money Tree … so let’s see how much deeper we can go …

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Wow - $107,389 in six months filling out forms and doing searches on Google and Yahoo.  That works out to … almost $18,000 a month.  So using the $92 per hour that is advertised that becomes … 194 hours of labor per month.  Which is basically a full-time job.  OK, so I filled out the the form – which didn’t ask me for a credit card … of course, the next screen did.  Still no mention of the catch … no membership fees, no follow up costs, nothing.  $3.88 free and clear and I’m on the way to my Internet millions, right?

Of course not … read the Terms and Conditions at the bottom.  By the way, the link to the Terms and Conditions takes you to a website with the alluring name of DeliciousDownloads.com.  Again … time to run away as fast as you can!  So we’ve seen the hook, we’ve read the line … and now we’ve found the sinker – tucked away in the Terms and Conditions, is the section on Shipping and Other Fees:

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Ah-hah!  So the real cost is $72.21 per month!  There’s so many things wrong with this scam it almost defies belief:

  1. If you don’t cancel within 7 days, you get billed for $72.21 – but of course this fee is not visibly listed anywhere on the main site
  2. You can only cancel by calling their customer service line – and the only place I was able to find a number was buried in the Terms and Conditions
  3. Should the credit card get declined, they’ll just keep trying it over and over in the hopes that the charge will go through and you of course are quite willing to let them do that
  4. Here’s the real kicker – you may not got your kit in the mail before your 7-day trial expires.  But – whether or not you get the kit that you paid your $3.88 Shipping charge for – you’re still liable for the $72.21.

Now, I wasn’t about to complete this transaction – I don’t have the time to waste dealing with their customer service, but I was curious about the experiences others had … you can read the results for yourself:

That’s it … have fun, and be careful out there in Cyberspace!

December 28th, 2008

Just .. miserable

I’m sitting here watching the Dallas Cowboys getting spanked by the Philadelphia Eagles.  Actually – they aren’t really getting spanked – they’re too busy screwing up to make the Eagles actually win the game.  Tony Romo is having about as horrible a game as a QB can have – but he’s over on the sideline laughing.  Pac-Man Jones and Terence Newman can’t seem to cover anyone, Roy Williams looks like he’s still playing for the Lions, and Wade Phillips looks confused on the sidelines.

The Cowboys were the consensus pre-season favorites to dominate the NFC.  A year removed from a 13-3 record (and another immediate playoff exit) they had all the pieces in place to take the next step.  Instead, they have stumbled through the season, playing uninspired and lazy football – with the exception of DeMarcus Ware and a couple of other D-Linemen.  Don’t use the midseason injury to Romo, or the loss of Felix Jones as an excuse.  Attitude reflects leadership.  Wade Phillips was handed the keys to a Porsche – and has managed to turn the Cowboys into the Pinto of the NFL. 

It’s time for Wade to go, and Dallas to bring in a coach who simply will not tolerate apathy.  By the way – Jerry Jones has to shoulder plenty of blame here – he’s made some AWFUL decisions as a GM –trading for Roy Williams, signing Pac-Man Jones, not addressing the gaping holes in the defensive backfield – just to name this year’s moves.  But in the end, Jerry has the money, so Wade Phillips and the gang will have to be sacrificed … now Dallas needs a real coach!

Coach Cowher … are you listening?  Jimmy Johnson – do you want to prove just how good you really are?

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