How to Spot Fake Freebies.

[Young_Freebie]

Gmail is good too. Though you can use it for a main account, it's spam blocking is great for free webmail.

[Breton]

Dear Madam..The insight is very much appreciated..I suppose to add an extension to your remarks one should be fully aware also of "Survey" sites which are nothing more than glorified telemarketers.They in themselves are the perfect scam.Another is the offering (Survey Sites ) of Certificates and Checks which one never sees.It all goes back to what you are telling us...Re.."Don`t throw caution to the wind"..Your taking the time to try and help we panel members is very much appreciated...Thank You...Breton...(Robert )

[StarDancer]

Thanks Pink! Great info! what does making it sticky mean?

[bcteagirl]

Sticky means that it will stay at the top so new members will be sure to see it.

[StarDancer]

Thanks bcteagirl!

[roseofblack25]

guess i didnt see this before lol also if you go to www.whois.net you can look up the site to see when it was created and the host

[docbosh]

Even the intelligent can get caught.

I consider myself an intelligent individual, who is cautious about all sorts of scams designed to steal my money and or my identity.

I saw this "deal" offering a $100 FREE gas card. It may be in fact some what legit but I wasn't sure exactly how it worked, so I figured I'd investigate.

This was the deal, if you sign up for 2 bronze level, 2 silver and 2 gold level goods or services they'll send you this gas card. I didn't get too far once I understood the rub. However I did sign up for 2 bronze level... I signed up for an eBay auction kit, to learn the ins and outs of being an eBay seller. cost $2... so far I haven't seen this one so I probably lost my money.

The real scan came from the second product, called Rem Max All Natural Sleep Aid. They offer a free bottle for the cost of S&H, which was about $5... So it shows up a week or so later, and the accompanying letter worried me. It said that this was the first of 4 bottles, and that the remaining 3 would be sent out shortly for the cost of $100 USD. I couldn't figure how I'd agreed to it, but was suddenly aware, I had clicked the Terms and Agreements box without actually reading it. Big mistake, it was here that I had agreed to purchase these other bottles. Admit to yourself that you to have clicked one of these without really reading the terms and agreements contained therein.

Fortunately they sent that letter, I swung into action. I called Visa to ask them their advice. They said that it was clearly a case of false advertising, they like it when all the terms and agreements are all up front and not hidden behind a link. They told me to send a regestered letter to the company advising them that I did not authorize them to take a payment. As a precaution I put the card on hold. Sure enough when I checked with Visa the company Acumen Labs had attempted to charge $99 USD to my card, but it was refused. I monitored it for a few more days, and again they tried more than once. I decided to cancel that card out right. It is a pain to have to cancel the card since I use it for various preapproved payments, but it is easier than the alternative. [edit] -> I forgot to mention in the end I didn't send the registered letter, the address(es) I found appeared to be nothing more than PO boxes at the post office, and I doubted that anyone would actually read the letter. What was the point of spending good money after bad?? <-

My new creedo, is similar to my old, it isn't about how smart you are, you still have to be cautious.

[bcteagirl]

Good advice, and thank you for sharing your experiences.

[Raynygirl]

Thanks for starting the thread/sticky Pink ! Super idea and very informative-thanks again !

[Pinklicious]

Thank you for sharing with us Docbosh.
And you're welcome Raynygirl. =)

[Prue]

Wow Docbosh thats incredible, thank goodness you were wise enough to call Visa! Thanks so much for sharing, I know I have many times clicked the accept terms and agreement link without reading it - something I won't be doing again!

[jelyanne]

Very helpful, thank you

[buddhasmurf]

thanks
bobby

[Prue]

Beware email collection scams - Most of the sites that consist of nothing but a form offering free stuff are there to collect email addresses for spammers. These sometimes have long lists of offers or "newsletters" you can subscribe to. If you are tempted to sign up for these, be sure to use a disposable email address.

Also if the freebie is from some unheard of company, and the site has no way for you to actaully order their product, its likely a spam site. Companies send out freebies in the hope you will like and later buy their product; if there's no way for you to purchase their stuff should you choose to, odds are you won't be getting a freebie!

[carenej77]

awesome information. thanks sooo much