How I got Scammed Into Internet Marketing
How I got Scammed Into Internet Marketing
http://www.eSmartJob.com
After a miserable day at work, driving hundreds of miles, listening to, and trying to solve problems for everyone that I had no part in creating, I came home, fired up Google and typed in "Work At Home". BAM! Information overload! I signed up for a few lists that I had no idea what they were about and then in a few minutes my phone was ringing.
"Yeah, I asked to receive more information about a work at home opportunity but who are you?" I asked the nice young man on the phone. Turns out he was from a company specializing in helping people start a home business, and he had a great opportunity for me.
For a one-time fee of $300.0 he would set up not one but three websites for me!
"Yes tell me more!" Well he went on to tell me that people with them were making a killing advertising these special websites. It seems they had set up an exclusive, special arrangement with eBay, Amazon and an online casino. All I had to do was advertise my websites, get people to them and when people clicked through to the merchant to buy something I would make a commission!
"Well if it's that easy then what do you need me for?" I asked. It turned out that they couldn't possibly advertise enough on their own and needed people like me to comb all the nooks and crannies of cyberspace to get the word out. They would in turn make a small commission on my efforts as well. The up-front fee was just a gesture on my part to show I was genuinely interested, and of course to pay for getting my special websites ready. Oh, and a small hosting fee of $20 a month for the websites, I mean after all they have servers to maintain and techs to pay.
"Well I don't know much about advertising on the Internet or even where to begin, how would I do it?" This was the best part they would train me! They would put me in touch with my own personal coach, who would teach me all I needed to know! Plus they had even negotiated special advertising rates with online marketing companies, and I could buy page impressions for pennies a day!
I gave him my credit card.
A few days later I got my training package in the mail. The single three-ring binder contained the affiliate agreements from the three merchant accounts. These were obliviously printed straight off the merchant's websites, including the advertising, and navigation links on the crookedly copied pages. The remainder of my training package was five more pages of advertising training. Two of these pages were printed off a classified ads site showing how to place an ad on that particular site. The remaining three pages were lists of free classified ad sites printed straight off a Google search for "free classified ads".
Stuffed inside the front of my training binder were a few pages of information containing my website URL's, and login information to check my commission earnings in the merchants accounts. They actually setup a Hotmail account for me and used that email address to sign me up for these merchant accounts. An email account that I had no access to by they way.
I typed in the URL's to my new websites, and there it was a page with a picture of a jammed parking lot, and the text read, "Don’t fight the crowds shop at home". And in the middle of the page was a little red 'x' where the "Click Here" graphic should have been. It did take a while for me figure out how to get beyond this page since the all important "Click Here" part was missing.
It turns out these special websites were no more than a single page on someone else's domain with my affiliate links attached to it. I had no access to them, I couldn't change them, and I owned nothing but a three-ring binder for $300.00 and $20.00 a month. I called and asked for a refund.
"Sorry no refunds until you give it try for six months after that period of time if you have placed at least one ad a month we will refund you the difference of what you make and what you paid, but the hosting is non refundable". Said the woman of the phone in what I think was English, because I somewhat understood her but just barely. She then asked if I had spoken to my coach about advertising yet. I told here that based on the training manual I got, "that looked like a project from my daughters second grade art glass gone bad", I didn't think coaching was going to improve my situation much. She assured me someone would call me back the next day.
The next day I got a call from an "advertising coach". For $4000.00 I can get 500,000 page impressions in the form of a pop-under. Wow it keeps on getting better and better. "What about the pennies a day I was told about?" It turns out there are marketing venues available that could cost pennies a day but not through them. I then told him how frustrated, disappointed and upset I was over the whole deal. So this nice man told me since there was such a misunderstanding he would, this one time only, only charge me half price for the only advertising package they had available at that time. "Wow only 2 grand huh? I don't think so". I then asked if all I have to do is give you money to advertise these sites and sit aback and make money why don't you just do it yourself? He then told me how money is made by using other peoples money, like an investment, I thought I was talking with Donald Trump there for a minute.
After the lecture in investment and high finance I asked about getting coached in advertising on my own and on the cheap. He informed me that he was part of the "paid advertising" department and that I would need to call the other department for that type of coaching. I called back and made an appointment but to this day have never received that coaching phone call.
I did manage to get through to the manager once on the phone and that amounted to no more than shouting match. This company wasn't making going to make any money on my commissions from eBay, Amazon or the online casino. They can't, those affiliate programs are free to join, as are thousands of others available and they only pay one person per account. They were just scam artists, taking the setup fees and trying to get more for advertising.
I managed to get all charges reversed on my credit card, filed a report with the Better Business Bureau and learned a great lesson. I do own the scumbags one thing though, without this ordeal I would have never learning about Internet marketing like I did by investigating what was happening to me at the time. So be careful out there, and remember the old adage if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Houdyschell provides the best work at home business opportunities
and ideas helping you work at home, visit:
http://www.eSmartJob.com
http://www.eSmartJob.com
After a miserable day at work, driving hundreds of miles, listening to, and trying to solve problems for everyone that I had no part in creating, I came home, fired up Google and typed in "Work At Home". BAM! Information overload! I signed up for a few lists that I had no idea what they were about and then in a few minutes my phone was ringing.
"Yeah, I asked to receive more information about a work at home opportunity but who are you?" I asked the nice young man on the phone. Turns out he was from a company specializing in helping people start a home business, and he had a great opportunity for me.
For a one-time fee of $300.0 he would set up not one but three websites for me!
"Yes tell me more!" Well he went on to tell me that people with them were making a killing advertising these special websites. It seems they had set up an exclusive, special arrangement with eBay, Amazon and an online casino. All I had to do was advertise my websites, get people to them and when people clicked through to the merchant to buy something I would make a commission!
"Well if it's that easy then what do you need me for?" I asked. It turned out that they couldn't possibly advertise enough on their own and needed people like me to comb all the nooks and crannies of cyberspace to get the word out. They would in turn make a small commission on my efforts as well. The up-front fee was just a gesture on my part to show I was genuinely interested, and of course to pay for getting my special websites ready. Oh, and a small hosting fee of $20 a month for the websites, I mean after all they have servers to maintain and techs to pay.
"Well I don't know much about advertising on the Internet or even where to begin, how would I do it?" This was the best part they would train me! They would put me in touch with my own personal coach, who would teach me all I needed to know! Plus they had even negotiated special advertising rates with online marketing companies, and I could buy page impressions for pennies a day!
I gave him my credit card.
A few days later I got my training package in the mail. The single three-ring binder contained the affiliate agreements from the three merchant accounts. These were obliviously printed straight off the merchant's websites, including the advertising, and navigation links on the crookedly copied pages. The remainder of my training package was five more pages of advertising training. Two of these pages were printed off a classified ads site showing how to place an ad on that particular site. The remaining three pages were lists of free classified ad sites printed straight off a Google search for "free classified ads".
Stuffed inside the front of my training binder were a few pages of information containing my website URL's, and login information to check my commission earnings in the merchants accounts. They actually setup a Hotmail account for me and used that email address to sign me up for these merchant accounts. An email account that I had no access to by they way.
I typed in the URL's to my new websites, and there it was a page with a picture of a jammed parking lot, and the text read, "Don’t fight the crowds shop at home". And in the middle of the page was a little red 'x' where the "Click Here" graphic should have been. It did take a while for me figure out how to get beyond this page since the all important "Click Here" part was missing.
It turns out these special websites were no more than a single page on someone else's domain with my affiliate links attached to it. I had no access to them, I couldn't change them, and I owned nothing but a three-ring binder for $300.00 and $20.00 a month. I called and asked for a refund.
"Sorry no refunds until you give it try for six months after that period of time if you have placed at least one ad a month we will refund you the difference of what you make and what you paid, but the hosting is non refundable". Said the woman of the phone in what I think was English, because I somewhat understood her but just barely. She then asked if I had spoken to my coach about advertising yet. I told here that based on the training manual I got, "that looked like a project from my daughters second grade art glass gone bad", I didn't think coaching was going to improve my situation much. She assured me someone would call me back the next day.
The next day I got a call from an "advertising coach". For $4000.00 I can get 500,000 page impressions in the form of a pop-under. Wow it keeps on getting better and better. "What about the pennies a day I was told about?" It turns out there are marketing venues available that could cost pennies a day but not through them. I then told him how frustrated, disappointed and upset I was over the whole deal. So this nice man told me since there was such a misunderstanding he would, this one time only, only charge me half price for the only advertising package they had available at that time. "Wow only 2 grand huh? I don't think so". I then asked if all I have to do is give you money to advertise these sites and sit aback and make money why don't you just do it yourself? He then told me how money is made by using other peoples money, like an investment, I thought I was talking with Donald Trump there for a minute.
After the lecture in investment and high finance I asked about getting coached in advertising on my own and on the cheap. He informed me that he was part of the "paid advertising" department and that I would need to call the other department for that type of coaching. I called back and made an appointment but to this day have never received that coaching phone call.
I did manage to get through to the manager once on the phone and that amounted to no more than shouting match. This company wasn't making going to make any money on my commissions from eBay, Amazon or the online casino. They can't, those affiliate programs are free to join, as are thousands of others available and they only pay one person per account. They were just scam artists, taking the setup fees and trying to get more for advertising.
I managed to get all charges reversed on my credit card, filed a report with the Better Business Bureau and learned a great lesson. I do own the scumbags one thing though, without this ordeal I would have never learning about Internet marketing like I did by investigating what was happening to me at the time. So be careful out there, and remember the old adage if it sounds too good to be true it probably is.
About the Author:
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Jeff Houdyschell provides the best work at home business opportunities
and ideas helping you work at home, visit:
http://www.eSmartJob.com
posted by Jeff Houdyschell at
11:32 PM
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