Be Net Aware

You too can get a Government grant worth £12000 all you need do is send away for a £3.95 kit, neglecting to mention that you then have to pay $79.96 per month! Yes you’ve guessed it, its a variation of the Google Ads Scam.

Now it has to be said that Governments often do have a lot of Grant Schemes that it may be possible for you to take advantage of. However, I also think you will be able to get better and cheaper advice elsewhere.

In terms of this “scheme” it is set up like the Google Ads one where the advert takes the form of a fake Blog, which in my case was called Erin’s Grant Blog. The advert has the normal rubbish about how the program changed their life, is tailored to your geographical location and has the standard fake complimentary comments.

The Link in the Advert took me to SuccessGrants.com though the Terms and Conditions of the advert referenced Grantsmoney.com indicating that they are part of the same scheme. I found the following part of the SuccessGrants.com front page particularly amusing given what they are doing.

As normal the true cost of the scheme is hidden in the Terms And Conditions which have a nasty surprise for anyone taken in by this scheme as it costs alot more than whatever the nominal charge is on a monthly basis.

Billing

To activate your trial membership to Government Funded Grants you will be charged a $2.95 refundable processing fee and then you can immediately take advantage of the exciting information Government Funded Grants has to offer! After your 1-day trial period it’s just $79.86 per month for Government Funded Grants. Remember, you can chat with live operator by calling 866-437-1621 within 1 day to cancel, and you will not be charged. To ensure continuous service, at the end of your trial period your membership will be automatically charged each month at the then-current membership fee on or about that same date to the credit card you provide today. If for any reason you are dissatisfied, chat with a live operator, and you’ll no longer be charged. All offers come with a monthly newsletter.

From this it can be seen that things are getting even worse as the trial period in this case is only 1 day, yes you have only 1 day to cancel your package before you are charged the small total of $79.86 a month

As normal the best thing you can do is ignore the advert and remember the golden rule that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is, especially regarding receiving lots of money for little effort.

For anyone who read my post on Acai Berry Tablet Weight Loss, this is a very similar set up and works on the same principle.

The first step is the advert on the independent website like the one shown below.

This then directs you to a marketing website that has been set up like an independent blog which in this case was called Lisa’s Teeth At-Home Teeth Whitening Story. This has quotes from a couple of news stories, that as far as I am aware don’t refer to the products being plugged but rather teeth whitening in general. As usual in this type of scheme there are a lot of glowing comments in a comments board that has been closed due to “spam”.

On a side note I found the privacy policy and about pages slightly amusing as the Privacy Policy States

Privacy policy will be here soon. We dont not collect any information from you

This is of course a double negative as it states we do not not collect any information from you which could be a typo or could mean that they do. The About Page further indicates the blog is a marketing ploy since at the time of writing it refers to Sarah’s Sleep Story and not Lisa’s Tooth Blog.

Disclaimer: Sarah’s Sleep Story is not intended for any medical advice, and is only an opinion. Sarah’s Sleep Story is not responsible for what visitors do when they leave Sarah’s Sleep Story. If you do not agree to these terms, leave Sarah’s Sleep Story immediately.

If you do decide to follow up on the free trial offers, you then come to the standard free trial = sign up for a subscription (or multiple subscription) sites were you pay a small amount (typically around $5) for a sample of the product get a limited time to cancel  (typically 2 weeks from ordering) before you getting charged over 10x what the shipping cost.

It should also be noted that often on these sites the free trial sample isnt even free after the trial period as you have to pay full/reduced price for it.

In my case the sites were Dazzlesmilepro.com where the Terms and Conditions referring to pricing state

When you place your order today with DazzleSmile, you will automatically become a part of our elite customer club. Your active credit card will only be billed $4.95 for the shipping of your 14-day day trial. If you choose to keep your trial, your active credit card will be billed the low member price of only $79.95 for your trial, and each additional month you continue to use DazzleSmile. (Shipped as a fresh, 3 month supply every 90 days.) And remember, there’s no obligation – you can cancel your membership at any time by calling 888…. Additionally, for your fourteen-day and twenty-eight day trials to World Club Fitness and Weight Loss Resources you will be charged $6.95 and $8.95 a month thereafter (shows as “VH ACCESS” and “HEALTHMEMBER”) should you choose not to cancel. Charges for bonuses are non-refundable, but subscription can be canceled and future charges stopped at any time by calling toll-free 866-407-3685 for World Club Fitness and 866-417-6059 for Weight Loss Resources. Orders outside of US pay an additional $9.95 for shipping. No obligation, CANCEL ANYTIME!

and extreme-white.co.uk where as well as the standard subscription, you also have to pay £6.99 to cancel your “free” trial and the returned pack must have at least 3 unused syringes present (can only have used 1)

Free Trial: When you order the Extreme White Free Trial, your credit card will be billed only for postage and packing in the amount of just £3.99.  Posting and packing charges are non refundable.  Beginning on the date your product is shipped from our warehouse (typically within 2 business days of your order), your 10 day trial period will commence.  If you are happy with your Extreme White Deluxe At-Home teeth whitening kit, do nothing.  Your credit card will be billed after your free trial period ends in the amount of £59.99 and you will be automatically enrolled into our Extreme White Maintenance Program free of charge.  Because teeth whitening is an ongoing process, we want to make sure you are able to maintain your beautiful smile.  As a member of our Extreme White Maintenance Club, 26 days after your Free Trial order and every 26 days thereafter until you cancel your membership, we send you our Extreme White  Maintenance Kit and bill your credit card at the highly discounted rate of only £49.99 plus £3.99 postage and packing.  Remember, you may cancel your membership at any time without any hassle or inconvenience.  Risk Free Trial is available to first time customers only.

All Risk Free Trial Orders must be cancelled within the 10 day trial period. Your 10 day trial begins the date the order was shipped from our warehouse. In order to ensure your not billed for the trial, you must obtain a Return of Merchandise Authorization (RMA) Number by going to http://cancel.extreme-white.co.uk. Once you have received your RMA Number, you must return your Free Trial Kit to the address below and must address your package using the format below. All returns must be sent via Royal Mail Recorded Delivery and you must keep record of your tracking number.  To prevent your credit or debit card from being charged, we must receive your Free Trial Kit in our warehouse within 7 calendar days from the date you were given your RMA Number with a minimum of 3 unused teeth whitening syringes (i.e. you must not have used more than one syringe).
Return Address:
Extreme-White
Returns Department
Order #: (include your order number here) **
Horizon West Canal View Rd,
Newbury, Berkshire, RG14 5XF
United Kingdom
** Be sure to input your order number on this line. Without your order number, we will be unable to identify the order as yours
and therefore unable to process your refund.
*** Be sure to have RMA# clearly visible on OUTSIDE of package.
Returned trial kits will be subject to a Return Processing Fee of £6.99
If you return your trial kit or maintenance kit without an RMA number, you will be assessed a further £10.00 fee for incorrectly returned package.

Now it may well be that these kits work really well, and admittedly teeth whitening kits can be expensive. However, I would never buy anything from sites that you reached through random adverts especially if they only sell 1 or 2 products and promise amazing results, at least without checking other sites/shops first for equivalent products.

As always I advise checking the terms and conditions of any “Free” Trial before signing up for it as it may end up costing you more than you expect.

It is quite likely that if you have been visiting sites that showed the Google Profit Adverts, you are now starting to get adverts like the one on the left claiming that you can get amazing weight loss results. I suspect that the vast majority of people will skip these adverts entirely, but to satisfy my curiosity I decided to click the ad to see what the angle was.

When I did click on the advert I came to a “blog post” proclaiming the wonders of “Acai Berry Elite” Tablets and  “Youth Colon Cleanse”. What Immediately got me suspicious was that the blog posts “author” (Helen Miller’s Weight Loss Diary) claimed to be from the same town I am, ever suspicious of a generated script using IP address data.

To check if this was the case I then activated HotSpot Shield which gave me a different IP address based in the US rather than the UK and clicked the ad again. To my immense “surprise”, Helen Millers location then changed to one in the US as can be seen in the images obtained from the blog below (note I have blacked out my location but left the county). For a larger picture click on the image.

So this confirms (as if I needed it) that this is a fake ad blog trying to make you buy those products, since if it were a genuine blog post about something there would be no need to tailor the location to match yours. For reference this is done as they are trying to generate empathy between you and the author.

In terms of this ad, they keep going on about how “expensive” the juice form of Acai berry is so that you should go for the offer where you can get it for free:-

Even though the juice is expensive, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m going to tell you how to get the same health benefits for free.

Please note that the juice form is very expensive, and 5 pills of Pure Acai Elite extract equals all the Acai berry in the juice form. This is why I highly recommend you get Pure Acai Elite extracts in pill form with the colon cleansing formula for added benefits. You’ll be amazed how great this diet really is!

So just how expensive is Acai juice, I did a quick search on google and found that if you shop around you can get a 330ml bottle of 20% Acai juice for around £1.50, though for higher concentration juice it can become more expensive costing anything from £5 upwards (often getting very expensive), with tablets costing in the same range.

So lets say you are interested and click on the information page for Acai Elite and Youth Colon Cleanse, you may be wondering whats the angle?. Well very much like the Google Profit Adverts, they are trying to entice you with something cheap. In this case a 30 day sample offer which requires you to pay a small amount for delivery but it also makes you take out a subscription which will cost you:

1. Beginning on the day that You place an order for a product (”Product”) from the Website, Your fifteen (15) day Free Trial period begins (”Free Trial Period”). The Free Trial Period is calculated in calendar days, not business days. At the end of your 15 day trial period you will be charged GBP 69 (a GBP 20.95 savings off the regular retail price of GBP 99.95).

It is also the same for the colon cleanse website, a small amount for shipping but hidden in the terms and conditions is the full amount it will charge you per month if you are not careful. I thoroughly checked the front page and no where on it does it state that you are paying for anything other than shipping for a trial.

So overall “if” I wanted Acai berries, I would go for the £1.50 juice and ignore the tablets as they are too expensive!

My advice as always when buying something off an unknown website, or if a site makes an offer that requires you to pay for handling CHECK THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS FIRST, as it may end up costing you a lot more than you expect.

Nature of Advert

It is typically a pop up that looks like a page from a newspaper, and says words to the effect of Google is hiring in your area and you can make lots of money from posting links along with a few glowing “testimonials” or comments.

Initial Signs Not all is What it Appears to Be

If you look at the bottom of the page you will see the following text

This publication provides the Author’s opinions and neither the Publisher nor the author intends to render legal, accounting, financial, business or other professional advice with this publication. With regards to licensing of a business enterprise, any legal accounting or tax matters. Author and publisher is an Affiliate of the company offering the business opportunity and are remunerated by advertiser. Author and publisher strongly suggest that the reader seek the services of appropriate licensed business, financial and or legal professionals before proceeding with any actions and comply with the local, state and federal licensing and guideline requirements which the reader resides or conducts business.

Google is in no way associated with this website. The Publisher and Author disclaim any personal liability, loss or risk incurred as a consequence of the use and application of the offer, either directly or indirectly, of any advice, information, or methods presented in this publication. Individual comments are unedited and not the opinion of Author or Publisher and not liable for their comments and opinions.

*INCOME CLAIM WARNING: Testimonials do not result typical result. Photographs or images are depiction of individuals and payment methods. These income examples are representative of some of the most successful participants in the program. Some individuals purchasing the program may make little or NO MONEY AT ALL. These claims are not a guarantee of your income, nor are they typical of average participants. Individual results will vary greatly and in accordance to your input, determination, hard work, and ability to follow directions. No person or company can guarantee profits or freedom from loss. Any and all use of this website certifies you are agreeing to our Earnings and Income Disclaimers.

The important paragraphs are the second and third ones which basically state

1. Google has nothing to do with this

2. Testimonials are not representative and you may make no money at all

The Small Print

If you decide to venture further into the ad and look into the terms and conditions you will come across a nasty surprise for unwary people who sign up, which is as follows

1) You initially pay them $1.95 USD for the setup of the Google ATM Home Business Kit

2) You authorise them to advance funds as indicated

3) MONTHLY FEES will commence seven days from the date of this purchase, and will be billed monthly thereafter

4) You will be billed $69.99 per MONTH for the continued access to the Google Money Making System

5) Google ATM (DRI*GoogleATM) will not send notification, postal or electronic, when a billing occurs

6) No Refunds

My Advice

If you see this type of advert ignore it and close it down.