defrog: (benjamins)
defrog ([personal profile] defrog) wrote2009-03-02 02:44 pm

THE ART OF THE STEAL

If 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


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