How cam'st thou in this pickle? - SHakespeare, The Tempest
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Google was used in a bogus work scheme
DODGY SCAMMERS have been busted by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for unsubstantiated links to Google and hidden fees rackets.
The nefarious ne'er-do-well operators set up dodgy work-at-home schemes, splattering Google's logo and name all over their literature. The racketeers then embedded automatic hidden charges into their work-at-home kits and took the $72.21 from their victims' bank accounts every month. The scam was set up so that the cash would continue to come out until the punters cancelled the automatic charges at the bank. Failure to cancel the charges was taken as a nod by the fraudsters to continue collecting their illicit fees.
Promising $100,000 in six months, the blaggers called their work-at-home kits "Google Money Tree", "Google Treasure Chest" and "Google Pro". The defrauded customers weren't told by the defendants that they would incur any hidden charges for signing up with the services. Punters were lured into signing up by the bad economic climate.
According to the FTC, the defendants will have to surrender $3.5 million in assets for falsely claiming they were linked with Google. The assets include a big Harley motorcycle and a gun collection. They were also done for dodging the Electronic Fund Transfer Act, which is in place to stop third parties from dipping into bank accounts without written permission.
The INQURIER reported in December last year that Google was dragged into another work from home scam. In that case Google sued a company called Pacific Webworks for having allegedly been involved in exactly the same type of scheme. µ
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Scams like these are all too common. I see "programs" promising to help you make thousands selling on eBay too. I help people learn how to avoid scams like these.
http://www.homejobsformom.com
Please read:
http://strangelyperfect.tv/5146/more-on-google-profits-and-pacific-webworks/
And successive posts and commentary from the hordes of disgruntled folk suckered into the scam.
In actually fact, there was a direct causal relationship between the scammers like Eborn, and the business run by Pacific WebWorks that provided:
- the website templates (covered in Google logos etc),
- links to advertising networks providing email spam and fake websites promoting the pyramid of deceit,
- the credit card handling solution for all those unauthorised withdrawals,
- in essence, the means, methodology & motivation for the scheme to balloon into the multi-million scam it was before it finally was caught.
Much of the work was done by a host of unsung websites, collating information and aiding people in their quests to get their stolen money back.
This work formed the backbone of the FTC's case as a solid foundation of a clearly recorded history of cumulative fraud that was used as evidence.
For that, I'm proud.
And the comment by BB is typical of the do-nothing self-obsessed folk that will let any misdemeanour go unpunished under the banner of "freedom", for without people helping others, there is no society and the world would be a very nasty place indeed; one in which BB would probably not survive because everybody needs help at some time in their life, and you get that by being part of a cohesive world.
Soon parted.
I honestly don't feel bad at all for people who get suckered into schemes like these. The only bad part is that for some reason there is a safety net for these kinds of fools.