THE ART OF THE STEAL
Mar. 2nd, 2009 02:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogIf you’ve ever seen one of these ads on Facebook and other web sites ...
... You probably already figured it was a scam of some kind. For those of you (like me) who are nevertheless interested in details on WHY it’s a scam and how it works, FactCheck has kindly done yr homework for you.
The first part is relatively straightforward – all you get for yr money is a CD-ROM with a list of govt agencies that give grants and how to apply – all of which you could actually find on yr own with Google for nothing.
The real scam, however, is this: you have to give them yr credit card details to cover the costs of the shipping and handling – and then, if you don’t call to cancel within seven (7) days, they bill you a monthly membership fee of $95 using the credit card details you just gave them.
All of this is covered in the T&C fine print. But we all know about the fine print. Right?
Anyway, I’m fascinated by stuff like this. I wonder how many people they’ve ripped off with this. I also like that they secretly run a web site helpfully warning you of “scam” web sites – then recommending safe, dependable web sites that are in reality far more likely to rip you off. Cheeky monkeys.
Thieves and liars,
This is dF
... You probably already figured it was a scam of some kind. For those of you (like me) who are nevertheless interested in details on WHY it’s a scam and how it works, FactCheck has kindly done yr homework for you.
The first part is relatively straightforward – all you get for yr money is a CD-ROM with a list of govt agencies that give grants and how to apply – all of which you could actually find on yr own with Google for nothing.
The real scam, however, is this: you have to give them yr credit card details to cover the costs of the shipping and handling – and then, if you don’t call to cancel within seven (7) days, they bill you a monthly membership fee of $95 using the credit card details you just gave them.
All of this is covered in the T&C fine print. But we all know about the fine print. Right?
Anyway, I’m fascinated by stuff like this. I wonder how many people they’ve ripped off with this. I also like that they secretly run a web site helpfully warning you of “scam” web sites – then recommending safe, dependable web sites that are in reality far more likely to rip you off. Cheeky monkeys.
Thieves and liars,
This is dF
