Google Kit Scams

KevinsMoneyTree.org Reviews – Kevin Hoeffer Legit or Scam?

October 13th, 2009  |  Published in Google Kit Scams, Internet Scams

Kevin Hoeffer is a name synonymous with internet spam; his site KevinsMoneyTree.org has been advertised on almost every popular outlet on the net.  His “make money from Google” ad has plagued Facebook, MySpace, News sites, and countless others leading him to internet infamy.

I first heard about Kevin Hoeffer and his “blog” almost a year ago and assumed that by now he’d faded away, but it appears that he’s back in full force.  When fake blogs first started being used, there were thousands of them; they were exactly the same down to the fake Google checks and bogus story.

Originally these blogs were used to market the Google Money Tree home business kit. This lasted up until several months ago when the FTC filed suit for a number of infractions.  Undeterred, other companies quickly stepped in to fill the place of Google Money Tree and this marketing juggernaut only grew bigger.

The problem is that these sites are too effective at convincing people to sign up for scams so marketers didn’t want to stop using them.  This led to a phenomenon known as “Flogs,” fake blogs that are used to sell bad products.

KevinsMoneyTree.org is a fine example of this marketing tool.  There’s nothing real about the site, from the fabricated persona of Kevin Hoeffer to the checks, the comments, the misrepresented corporate logos, and all the pictures.

However, what really makes this a scam and what’s led to the FTC crackdown is the actual kit that the owners of KevinsMoneyTree.org are selling.

Why the Google Cash Kits are the Biggest Scams of 2009

After reading the hype on Kevin Hoeffer’s site you’re directed to a one page site that looks something like this,

Kevin Hoeffer

It’s difficult to nail down a name and company for each of these because due to the FTC involvement they’ve turned to fly-by-night marketing.  This means they’re always changing URLS and names for the kits and by the time one is exposed they’ve already moved on.  So while a site like KevinsMoneyTree.org may stick around the current kit that they’re marketing is always changing its appearance.

The main problem is that the entire opportunity is misrepresented.  Google is not hiring anyone and there’s no position where you get paid a wage for posting links on Google.  What they’re referring to is using Google’s search engine advertising platform to market affiliate offers.

This is a legal and recognized way of making money, however you’re still not getting paid for posting links.  The only way you make money is if someone clicks your ad and purchases the product you’re an affiliate for, earning you a small commission.

Nowhere does Kevin Hoeffer say that you’ll need an advertising budget and that you’ll be working on a commission basis; the only thing you hear about is making 5k a month posting links.

Here’s Where It Gets Worse…

What made these Google Kits such notorious scams is not just the substandard info they market but their horribly deceptive billing policies.  On Kevin Hoeffer’s site he says you can get started for $1.95 in shipping and handling fees.

However, what you aren’t being told is that after a short trial period you’ll be charged an outrageously high monthly fee.  This info is hidden in their terms and conditions…

Following your risk-free 3-day trial to MyMoneyPlan, you’ll be charged the monthly subscription fee of $59.84. You’ll have 3 days from your initial sign-up date to access and use the system. You’ll also receive 10 days free access to Search Profit System. After the initial 10 free days, you will be billed $29.71 should you choose not to cancel. After your initial risk-free trials, your subscription will automatically renew approximately every 30 days from the date you signed up. You can cancel any time after the risk-free trial period, in which case you won’t be refunded that month’s subscription charge, but you will have member access through the end of the month, and you will not be billed again. For questions or to cancel you may call 1-888-673-3212 Mon-Sat, 7am-7pm, PST.

As you can see not only do they charge you for the kit but they also sign you up for additional bogus programs that you never even requested.  This is precisely what’s landed these companies on FTC watch lists and has forced them to constantly change their image.

So is Kevin Hoeffer and KevinsMoneyTree.org a Scam…?

The answer is a resounding yes; his site alone has been responsible for taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from innocent people.  Many folks never think to check the Terms and Conditions and only find out about the hidden charges after they get their credit card bill or are hit with overdraft fees.

The point is that the websites are misleading and the information is not worth the high monthly fee.  Additionally, many people complain about trouble getting support, difficulties reaching someone to get their refund or to cancel, and even getting charged without ever receiving the kit.

It’s pretty clear that if you want to avoid a massive headache and unauthorized charges you need to stay away from Kevin Hoeffer and any site that looks similar to his.  In case you missed it, here’s the number to cancel 1-888-673-3212.

If you're at Reviewopedia.com because you're looking for a way to make money online then check out our article "7 Ways to Make Money Online" - methods that anyone can use to earn an income from home.

 

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TheInternetProfitHouse.com Reviews – Legit or Scam?

October 9th, 2009  |  Published in Fake News Sites, Google Kit Scams

It looks like the owners of TheInternetProfitHouse.com haven’t been paying to attention to the new FTC regulations. A quick look at their website reveals many violations of new and old guidelines put forth by the Federal Trade Commission, not mention a whole host of other shady practices.

These one page Google Kit type websites have been plaguing the Internet for close to a year now. They’ve made use of the latest tools in online deception, including billing fraud, and despite prevalent legal threats are showing no signs of slowing down.

I found out about The Internet Profit House by visiting a site called internet-news-daily.com, which featured an article on Mary Steadman and her success working from home with Google. The article described how all Mary does is post links on Google which earn her $25 per link.

The article closes with a link to TheInternetProfitHouse.com claiming that you can get started for just one buck in shipping and handling fees. This feel good story has been responsible for convincing hundreds of thousands of people into signing up for one of these kits; sadly the entire thing is one big fraud.

If you scroll past the comments on the article, which are all completely fabricated, you’ll get to the disclaimers for internet-news-daily.com. Curiously, this section is longer than the entire article itself and reveals some very interesting things about Mary Steadman and internet news daily.

The reasons for the massive legal protection:

  1. This is not a real newspaper.
  2. They are completely misrepresenting the opportunity.
  3. The testimonial is bogus and is not a real representation of earnings.
  4. They are using companies’ trademarks without their knowledge or consent.

This is just what’s wrong with the site linking to TheInternetProfitHouse.com; when you get to the actual sign-up page you’re greeted with even more red flags. Let’s take a look.

The Internet Profit House

Here’s a list of infractions found on The Internet Profit House:

  1. Another misrepresentation of popular trademarks which have no association with the product.
  2. Exaggerated and unsubstantiated income claims; they think that if they can prove that one person made that much money they can get away with having those outrageous figures in their sales pitch by covering it with a “results not typical” disclaimer. According to the FTC that is no longer allowed.
  3. Bogus timer; no matter how long you take to sign up for this thing they’ll always take your money.
  4. Unlawfully using the trust marks; if they were a legitimate site those icons would link to a profile for TheInternetProfitHouse.com signifying that the website has been approved. As is they’re just using the images with no sort of merit attached.

Again, this is just what’s wrong based on a quick once over. When you get down to the terms and conditions you’ll find out exactly why you shouldn’t do business with this company.  They say that all you need to do is pay the $0.99 for S&H to get started, however the full story is revealed in the fine print:

When you order the Risk Free Trial of My Online Cash Secrets you will be charged only $1.97 (non-refundable) for access to the The My Online Cash Secrets training program. You will have a full 7 day risk free trial period from your original purchase date to decide if the My Online Cash Secrets program is right for you. At the end of your 7 day trial period you will be charged $68.53 for access to the The My Online Cash Secrets program.

Refund Policy: Please note that no refunds are given after the expiration of the 7 day trial period. The mailed business kit is yours to keep and since there are no additional physical products with My Online Cash Secrets, no returns of any sort are accepted. You can cancel your membership at any time by simply contacting customer service via telephone or email.

Their Contact info is as Follows:
Toll Free Customer Service: Phone: 877-340-4694 – Customer Service representatives are available during regular business hours. E-mail: support@myonlinecashsecrets.com
My Online Cash Secrets
Athinodorou 3,
Dasoupoli, Strovolos,
P.C. 2025 Nicosia, Cyprus

So what we have here is a site that doesn’t disclose the full price of its course and is counting on the fact that you don’t read the fine print in time to cancel. The best part is that they’re located offshore, which means that all legal disputes have to take place in Nicosia, Cyprus. Good luck canceling…

By this point it should be pretty obvious that you need to stay far away from TheInternetProfitHouse.com/My Online Cash Secrets or whatever they’re going to be calling themselves next month.

If you're at Reviewopedia.com because you're looking for a way to make money online then check out our article "7 Ways to Make Money Online" - methods that anyone can use to earn an income from home.

 

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Click Money with Google Reviews – Legit or Scam?

October 7th, 2009  |  Published in Google Kit Scams

Click Money with GoogleClick Money with Google is the latest entry in the long line of Google biz kit work at home products.  These notorious kits have been around for about a year now and show no signs of slowing down, even with the government and law enforcement on their backs.

I won’t go into the whole story but if you take a look at the Terms and Conditions provided by Click Money with Google you’ll start to see a big part of the picture.  These kits are known as “continuity programs” or “negative option marketing schemes.”

What that simply means is they charge you monthly fees after your trial period is over.  Technically nothing wrong with that except that they don’t advertise it as a trial and this information is buried in the small print.

Here’s what’s found on the bottom of the Click Money with Google website:

Terms, Disclosures, and Electronic Signature Information. NetPro Marketing’s authorization to provide and bill its services is obtained by way of your electronic signature. Once submitted, this electronic order constitutes an electronic letter of agency. NetPro Marketing’s reliance on your electronic signature, as obtained above, is done pursuant to the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act and the electronic Signatures in Global and National Transactions Act. Both laws specifically preempt State laws that recognize only paper records or handwritten signatures. By submitting this form, I am ordering the Click Money CD™ and trial membership for $.99 S&H. After the 7 day trial, I will be charged $59.95 a month thereafter if I do not cancel. I also agree to the 14 day and 21 day bonus trials to the Fast Grants Members Site™ and Network Agenda™ for $14.95 a and $9.95 a month thereafter, should I choose not to cancel. I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions. For questions, call 1-888-249-4806, anytime, 24 hours a day.

This is common practice for these kits, not only do they hide the fact that they will be billing you a monthly fee but they also sign you up for additional useless programs that have their own monthly charges.  There’s no mistake about it, websites like Click Money with Google are only after one thing and that’s your money.

The reason they offer their product for dirt cheap is just to get your billing info; once they have that they are banking on the fact that many people don’t bother to read the terms and conditions or forget to cancel in time.  This way they get to bill you for a full month and there’s nothing that you can do about it.

The only way to get past this would be if the product was so fantastic that this kind of deceptive billing would be excusable.  However that’s not the case, as many former customers have pointed out. The information you get is a basic how-to on how to use search engines like Google to advertise affiliate offers.

What makes things worse is that programs like Click Money with Google are advertised in bogus newspaper articles in which the author claims that he’s making a fortune posting links on Google.  This is a complete misdirection as they don’t mention that you have to pay for these links through Google Adwords, otherwise known as Pay Per Click advertising.

So is Click Money with Google a Scam?

I think the answer is pretty clear.  If you’re interested in learning about how to use Google to make money there are plenty of legitimate resources that cost far less than Click Money with Google and offer much more value.

To make matters worse, many times the most common complaint from customers is that they sign up for these kits and never even get the product.  Other people complain that these companies take money out of their accounts before the trial period is up.

What it comes down to is that dealing with this company is more of a hassle than anything else, and when you’re concerned about starting a business or making money online there’s no need to put yourself through this unnecessary nightmare.  If you did buy into this program without knowing of the additional monthly charges, call them to cancel at 1-888-249-4806, and make sure to cancel all 3 programs.

If you're at Reviewopedia.com because you're looking for a way to make money online then check out our article "7 Ways to Make Money Online" - methods that anyone can use to earn an income from home.

 

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Google Fortune Kit Reviews – Legit or Scam?

September 15th, 2009  |  Published in Google Kit Scams, Internet Scams

Google Fortune (www.selfprofitsmadeeasy.com) is the latest addition to the long list of Google Kit scam offers that’ve been terrorizing work at home job seekers for the past year.  I don’t really know how many posts I can write – basically repeating myself – about these types of kits.

These programs have been so devious in their marketing and billing tactics that the FTC has made a point of shutting them down; so far Google Money Tree (FTC Report) is the only one in court.  They stand accused of unauthorized debit and credit card charges, false representation of income potential, and other counts of misleading the customer.  This is because, like Google Fortune, they have hidden the full cost of their program.

When you order the kit they make it seem as if the only charge you will incur is the small shipping and handling fee; however they use that info to begin billing you a high monthly fee for the continual use of their membership.  The only place that this is disclosed is in their terms and conditions, all the way at the bottom of the page. As you can guess, most people are so distracted by the notion that they could be making hundreds of dollars a day working for Google that they fail to notice the real cost.

If you think I’m making this stuff up here is a snippet of the Terms and Conditions for Google Fortune:

How it Works! By clicking “Rush My Order” I am agreeing to receive Google Fortune for a 7-day bonus period for $1.97 billed to my credit Card(please allow 5 days for the shipping process and 2 days to try the product). If you enjoy Google Fortune, simply do nothing. On the 7th day my credit card will automatically be charged $69.97 and every month, thereafter, unless I cancel by calling 1-877-361-8622 M – F, 8am-7pm PST. No Hassle, Cancel Anytime!Product is fully refundable within 30 days of purchase. Customer’s cancelling within their billing period will be fully refunded upon request. I also agree to the 14 day and 21 day bonus trials to Grant Members Site (1-877-495-1145) and Network Agenda (1-800-418-9320) for $19.95 a month and $9.95 a month thereafter, the trial will begin the day I accept these terms, should I choose not to cancel. For refunds please contact customer support at 1-877-361-8622 M – F, 8am-7pm PST, GoogleFortune only.

Search 4 Profit, LLC.
7614 Arvilla Avenue.
Sun Valley, CA  91352

It’s pretty clear that the only thing the FTC crackdown has done is forced these companies to clean up their offers.  For instance, they no longer say how much money you can make; in previous offers they would state specifics like $200-$900 a day. Now they simply say “you could make a lot of money.”  They have also removed a lot of the legal nonsense in their terms and conditions page which should help people notice all the monthly fees they’ll be facing; notice that this time they also sign you up for additional programs like the Grant Members Site and Network Agenda.

Sadly, that’s about the only thing that has changed in Google Fortune, the most recent version of these dubious kits.  If you’ve purchased this program without any knowledge of the monthly fees, use the numbers listed above to call and cancel. Remember that you have to cancel each program individually otherwise you’ll still be charged.

So is Google Fortune a Scam?

It’s pretty clear that this program and others like it have gone out of their way to deceive their customers. Anyone with a legitimate and high quality product would not have to stoop to these tactics to make sales.  It’s clear that there’s no value in what they’re offering and all they’re doing is finding new ways to trick you into monthly charges.  Stay away from Google Fortune.

If you're at Reviewopedia.com because you're looking for a way to make money online then check out our article "7 Ways to Make Money Online" - methods that anyone can use to earn an income from home.

 

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Internet Wealth Builder Reviews – Legit or Scam?

September 3rd, 2009  |  Published in Google Kit Scams, Scams

The Internet Wealth Builder is a make money at home program that’s being promoted on several websites.  As you can see from the picture, they’re claiming that they can show you how to make $200 – $900 a day; that’s a pretty serious chunk of change if they can deliver on it.

If this is your first time seeing an offer like this then you’re missing out on a lot of back story.  This not the first version of this ad and in fact there is a long history of offers very similar to this one by a handful of companies that’ve been raking in a fortune marketing these work-at-home kits.

This type of offer started out as a “Google Biz Kit;” the page looked almost identical and it sold the same product.  Long story short, these types of kits use a gotcha marketing strategy in which they hide a monthly fee from their customers.

They use shipping and handling fees as an excuse to get customers’ billing information so that after a few days they can proceed to charge a high monthly fee.  As you can imagine, this sparked an outrage from customers and these types of offers became notorious, inciting a slew of reactions from Google Inc, the FTC, and several Attorney Generals.

On this site alone there have been over 1,000 logged complaints against these offers and many allegations of fraudulent activities against these types of offers.  With the release of Internet Wealth Builder it’s clear that the reactions have not been enough to change the way these companies do business.

The only result of the government pressure has been for these guys to get rid of a few trademarks, change names, and be slightly more upfront about the actual costs of the program.  If you read the terms and conditions for these sites you’ll see what I mean.

Here is what’s stated on Internet Wealth Builder:

You will only receive a one-time $1.97 processing and account activation fee to the payment option provided today. The processing fee will be reflected on your account as either, WebMoneyTraining or CSRegister. Only if you decide to continue your valued access after your 7 days of free service, do nothing, & WebMoneyTraining will continue to provide you service at a premier rate of $69.97 per month. Remember, this is a totally risk free offer and for your convenience, you can call WebMoneyTraining toll-free at 800-416-1339 for any questions or cancellation. Get started with WebMoneyTraining today and you can start to generate new streams of income in as little as one week! You will also recieve a free 14-day trial to Alterntative Funding. After the 14-day trial, you will be charged $29.95 a month thereafter, if you choose not to cancel. Cancel any time by calling 800-994-4164.

This statement is buried in their legal statement and as you can guess most customers fail to read it and have no idea that their credit cards are being billed a monthly charge.  In addition, one of their other favorite strategies is to sign you up for additional crap that you have to cancel.  This includes useless extras like identity theft protection or other make money online services.  As you can see here, Internet Wealth Builder takes the liberty of signing you up for Alternative Funding – another program with a monthly fee.

All these tactics are employed for only one purpose and that’s to separate you from your money, have no doubts about that.  These people want your credit card info because once they have it it’s up to you to cancel, which they don’t make easy.  They often have outsourced call centers that are slow to respond and they use these tactics of avoid and delay to keep you signed on for as long as possible.

So is Internet Wealth Builder a Scam?

The answer is a pretty obvious yes; these companies are literally on the verge of being illegal and are clearly unethical.  The worst part is that if the product did what it claimed to do then on some level these shady tactics could be tolerated or excused.  However, their actual opportunity, according to the folks who have received anything from them (many people have paid money and got nothing in return) is that it’s a poorly organized collection of common sense info on how to use Google Adwords and Google Adsense to make money.

This kind of info alone is not worth the high monthly cost especially without proper training and support.  So for your own financial safety I would recommend avoiding the Internet Wealth Builder.

If you have purchased the Internet Wealth Builder and were not aware of these additional charges here is the contact information again:

Web Money Training View Marketing, Inc.

642 Main Street, Nevis 33776

To cancel the internet wealth builder call 1-800-416-1339

To cancel Alternative Funding subscription call 1-800-994-4164

URL: https://www.processcartcenter.com/MTAxNjh8MjI2M3wzNjgwMTN8djI=/ani4b4b9/g

If contacting them fails then immediately call your bank and credit card company to have your accounts paused or closed.  It may seem like a pain but it’s better than letting these leeches siphon money out of your accounts every month.

If you're at Reviewopedia.com because you're looking for a way to make money online then check out our article "7 Ways to Make Money Online" - methods that anyone can use to earn an income from home.

 

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