Is the Google Fortune Kit a Scam?
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.
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October 15th, 2009 at 1:42 am (#)
Thank you, thank you, thank you, I almost went for it luckally I decided to check around first. Do you know of any ligit work at home jobs? Thanks again, God bless!
October 16th, 2009 at 11:15 am (#)
You are providing a most valuable service, these scam artists are getting really slick. Thanks for the heads up!
October 19th, 2009 at 8:07 am (#)
I also have been scammed with their tactics. I did agree to the $1.97, received a CD and a notice enclosed with it that says NOTICE; Any charges disputed with your bank against this account will be reported to the internet consumer blacklist and will result in member merchants blocking you from making future purchases online! I did check my bank statement, because I did not immediately know what they were talking about and learned that my account was charged $69.95, an amount that I had never agreed on. Trying the E-mail address I had received it from has now been moved without any further information. A SCAM.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:08 pm (#)
I paid the $1.97, they did deduct that out of my account, I started reading about it then, and realized they were going to deduct $69.97 out of my account every month. Plus I had to sign up with Click Bank and be charged an additional $49.00. I'm broke, suffering, this is wrong to do people this way. I called to cancel, of course they are closed on the week-ends, had to wait until Monday. Plus, during this time I have received 20 calls from places who "Google Fortune" gave my phone number to, I have been blocking those all week-end. I spoke to two different people today, who I could not understand, no English, not English that I understand anyway. Finally got a girl, who was not a bit nice, said she would cancel it, just hope she does. Do not sign up for this. Sounds to good, then it probably is.
October 22nd, 2009 at 7:09 pm (#)
Thank you for posting this. It is one of the most valuable information columns on the internet. (suggestion) for all people who are suspicious of online work at home sites, use a prepaid credit cart with minimum amount on it ($5.00) it will save you a headache in the long run.
October 23rd, 2009 at 8:00 am (#)
Thank you for warning me (and other people) about this Google Fortune Scam. Question: If I've been scammed, where or who can I report this to right away? Sincerely, Bobby A. Clinton
October 26th, 2009 at 3:27 pm (#)
Such a scam. I paid the 1.97 then read more to see that I would be charged the 70 dollars, I canceled immediately!
October 27th, 2009 at 1:53 pm (#)
I just fell for this scam and it cost me $70+ dollars. Canceled my credit card now to prevent further hidden charges. I feel dumb b/c I never order anything like this and know better. I think my next contact will be to the attorney generals office.
November 2nd, 2009 at 2:22 pm (#)
I actually fell for this too...feel really stupid...I also cancelled immediately but I felt like I was talking to a computer, I actually asked her if she was real...I hope i'm only out the $1.97 but I guess we will see...For those that cancelled right away, did you have any other charges or problems??
November 2nd, 2009 at 7:39 pm (#)
This is a scam, with hidden fees and you get signed up for two other programs without consent that also charge your account. I had to call four differnet numbers to cancel, but the same girl answered at two different numbers...I said didn't I just talk to you at the other number????? She was stunned. I am suppose to be getting a refund for the 69.97 and 29.00 for the other program. I caught them charging my account before the "trial" period was even up. And each program has a different trial period, as to confuse you. I am so glas I printed out the information..
November 4th, 2009 at 3:50 pm (#)
I am at this very moment fighting with these people. I have been charged the $69.97 and now the $19.95. Please please please do not do this. I am usually pretty good about now getting caught up in this stuff. But a link was posted on one of my friend's page on facebook. So I thought, well if she can do it, I can do it. What I didn't know was that her account was hacked. Ha! Now I am stuck with these people charging me for things I didn't think I agreed to. Luckily, the 800 number i called to get these charged stopped was prompt at my request and provided me with cancellation conformation code. but lord knows what else is gonna show up. I am furious!!!! YES THIS IS A SCAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 5th, 2009 at 2:17 pm (#)
Yes I am a dope as well. Same thing happened to me: First I never got the CD, then found out I was charged $3.95 and then $67.12 by search4profits. I canceled with them when I received the bill and they said it was in the email they sent me. Now a month later I receive a charge from AlterFunds.com for $29.95, I canceled that as well. Grant Program and Rebate Millionaire are the same number and they have no record of me. Network Agenda also has no record of me. Hopefully this is the end of it. Thanks for the info, wish I had found this site earlier.
November 5th, 2009 at 3:35 pm (#)
This company is a SCAM!!! I didn't do my research, ordered the kit for $1.97 and all of a sudden received a $69.97 charge on my bank statement--I didn't receive anything!!!! (plus overdraft charges) I called the company (Google Fortune) and, after raising the roof was promised I would receive a refund--never happened!!! So, 10 days later, I called the company again and, this is where I am--another promise to refund my money!!! The customer service reps are liars and trained robots, but I'm hoping that my outrage will become the promised refund. I the meantime, I'm posting here and everywhere I can, will file a fraud report with my bank, will file with the Better Business Bureau, the FTC, the attorney's general of Utah!
November 10th, 2009 at 3:54 pm (#)
Thank you so much for this information. I already got this scam done to me. I only checked my bank account because it said I was overdrawn. I didn't know I was being charged a monthly fee. So I called today (within my 30 days) and demanded a full refund. Thank you so much.
November 11th, 2009 at 12:15 am (#)
For all those who have been taken in by this scam (as I was taken in three months ago), BEWARE: Once you cancel your debit cards AT THE BANK (which I did, one hour after ordering the 1.97 packet from Google "Fortune," and "Google Gem," which was advertised on Time.com, and after I received an email cancel confirmation from the scammer, citing that my account would not be charged- a week later I was STILL charged 1.97, which led me to cancel my debit cards immediately through the bank), the scammer can still somehow manage to charge your CANCELED DEBIT CARDS AT THE BANK, for months after YOU STOPPED ALL TRANSACTIONS ON THAT CANCELED CARD with your bank. This scam is twofold; the only reason the scammer gets away with it is that the banks (for some scary reason) continue to permit monthly charges that were set up prior to cancellation to be stolen from your completely, non-existent, destroyed and deleted old debit card. I have filed 6 or seven monthly affidavits since the original fiasco, and the NON-EXISTENT debit card still manages to be charged, every month, now 69.97, each and every month (even after I canceled before the charges were made! After calling several supervisors since September at Citizen's Bank, I was told that there are FULL-TIME personnel dealing with this kind of fraudulent activity, which the banks promote, and which they assure you that, once you fill out the nineteenth affidavit, they will remove the fraudulent charges every month, but without doing anything to delete the old card from their system so it can't be charged; this means that the bank allows canceled cards to be charged (because the revolving charges were set up by the scammer immediately upon the original transaction, and even before the consumer knew it would be a monthly charge). If consumers can no longer be assured that a canceled debit card is truly a canceled debit card, through their own banks, then this country is not only in big trouble, it's already beyond salvaging. Even if you've already assumed that the bank has canceled your debit card off their system, or even if the bank sends you new ones after a large-scale fraud or breach has occurred, check your statements, EVERY DAY. Report ALL fraudulent charges right away, after the cancellation,(especially because the statement won't tell you if the charges to your account are coming from a canceled card or a new one), fill out the affidavits, and prepare to have no choice but to call your bank every day for weeks, and to become very angry and aggressive. For some reason, the banks permit the scammers to set things up so that the consumer can be charged for months fraudulently, long after they have canceled their compromised card, and all the bank will tell you is to fill out monthly affidavits, until such time that the bank decides to stop the activity from within their own system. In addition, be prepared to receive multiple calls from the bank; some of these will be from the scammer. Call the bank ONLY using the number that is in the phone book, and report all other calls coming from automated bank calls to the Do Not Call List. In addition, when you call, the bank representatives will not only know that this happens all the time, but they will try to tell you that the only way to stop the problem is to call the scammer to stop charging your canceled debit card, and to file your affidavit, so that you get your money back, which the bank is legally required to do, but only if you notice the fraudulent activity, and only if you fill out the affidavits, and if you submit all the voluminous proof, each and every time. The bank won't take responsibility for the canceled debit problem, unless you talk to multiple representatives supervisors repeatedly, and even after they assure you the card has been deleted off their system, the scammer will still keep on charging the canceled card. Even worse, one supervisor told me that many people try to cancel their checking accounts as a means of stopping the fraudulent activity the bank allowed. When this happens, the scammer still charges the deleted card, and you will get overdraft fees as well as the original charges! Until the banks decide that it is in their best financial interest to fix this problem at their end, these problems are unsolvable. This scam, and the bank's utter stupidity, have added up to an unrelenting nightmare for months. I'm hoping that people will not assume that once they cancel their cards, that the scammer can't still hurt them, with the bank's full encouragement and permission. I was told that, not only DOES this happen, that many full-time people work only to replenish accounts with moneys taken from accounts fraudulently, and that the bank doesn't do anything to stop it for months after the fact. Good luck!
November 16th, 2009 at 5:30 pm (#)
Mercy! I too fell for the "link on my Facebook page" scam! My friend's account had been hacked into - and the hacker was posting the Google Fortune link on her friend's pages! I agreed to the $1.97 charge. Have yet to receive a CD. Began looking into a possible scam after the Google Fortune site became a bit suspicious (no terms and conditions link anywhere). Thank God I found this!! I just canceled my "trial memberships" to Rebate Millionaire, Network Agenda, and the Google Fortune site! I was sure to get cancellation confirmation numbers. Hope NOT to see any charges to my bank account!!
November 17th, 2009 at 10:32 pm (#)
This was done in September 2009. I have canceled 3 times and they were still charging my credit card.I have canceled my credit card. Google fortune keeps giving me the run around like I would have never canceled. You know we all need our money . This is ashamed to do this to people. All I want is my money back.It was suppose to be fully refundable . I just hope and pray I can get out of this MESS . WHAT A SCAM !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 18th, 2009 at 9:13 pm (#)
So I just got off the phone with self profit as she told me there wed site I asked which one are you there are several are you the ones that are saying you are big time scammers these people are using our economy to steel from people in need they ripped off my 65 year old diabetic father, he just wanted to make more money on the side because the 60 hours a week that he works still isn't enough my mother who has polio syndrome unfortunately is very disabled and we all know that social sec is nothing and neither is her disability the insurance they give you is so confusing oil is highly priced and my parents are being ripped off I hope that they sleep well at night taking advantage of old sickly poor people just trying to hold onto there home and possessions....thank you the daughter of stuart and donnalyn wucher ps they gave me the run around until the battery on my phone died!!!!!
November 29th, 2009 at 12:50 am (#)
diana, thanks for your post there. i feel like an idiot. i just called my bank to cancel my debit card and they reassured me it was going to be taken care of. but now that i've read your post, i feel like such a fool. i can't believe even banks can't fix this mess. i mean, i admit, i am an idiot for falling for this scam in the first place, but this happens to even the best of us -- with the number of people who have been victimized by this scheme, i think there should be a way for banks to be able to solve the issue, don't you think? sadly, this type of scam happens all the time... banks ought to have a standard way of handling these sort of things.
November 29th, 2009 at 11:31 am (#)
I joined Google Fortune and I got a broken CD. I tried their No.1 877 361 8622 and hold it for more than 30 minutes but they picked up the phone. I went to their site googlefortunemembers.com to have chat and tell them about broken CD they sent. No one was on line. I was looking for other sites to get help till came cross this site. My account has been charged two times for $69.95 and I did not know who made charges. After reading these stories I now know who charged my account.
December 4th, 2009 at 1:50 pm (#)
After calling their 877 number to cancel my subscription, all of the sudden they can not find my account information to cancel my subscription. I gave them all of my info to locate the account to no avail. The rep says that they will use the info in their accounting department to locate and cancel my account. It seems that I have gotten jacked by these scammers like David who did practically the same things I did to get out of this mess.
December 20th, 2009 at 2:59 am (#)
Hell yeah this is a scam!!!! I been fighting with TD bank for 3months now and it really sucks that bank like TD bank don't protect you from scam like this. they are telling me that they did an investigate and it said when i joined for $1.97 that if i don't cancel it within whatever the date was that i will be charge. I never got any kit and i couldn't cancel it. they just kept telling me to call some other number. everybody should make a claim so that site like this gets notice and put them in jail....i even want my $1.97 back!!!!!!and everybody should too. I'm fighting this till i get my money back. don't give up, keep calling your bank and get mad at them, THEY WILL HELP YOU. I am almost there......
December 31st, 2009 at 2:15 pm (#)
YES very much so a scam. I signed up with this to see what is was all about the 1.97 never knowing i was going to get charged 70 dollars i knew it wasn't for me the more i ran into it. i have been fighting with this 800 number for over a month now they said i would get my money back that minute i said lawyer and bbb i still haven't received it yet. Now they wont give me a answer they hang up on me and i need that money to pay bills and its sitting with them and not in my bank.
January 11th, 2010 at 4:14 pm (#)
I too am an idiot ! I am still trying to get my account fixed because of this. DON'T DO IT !!!!!