Google Profits Kit and Travis Made Cash Scam

If you want the summary, yes, Travis did actually make cash.  But he did it by stealing from you.  And while you can work from home posting Google advertisements on the internet, you will get nothing but a giant headache and major screwing (and not the good kind) if you give these people your credit card.

It is our opinion that the people running the Travis Made Cash site and the people behind the Google Profits Kit are breaking the law pushing these part time online job kits that do nothing other than drain your credit cards.  I really had hoped that something would change on December 1st.  The FTC announced near the end of the summer that on December 1st, 2009, they would implement new guidelines clarifying the rules about what types of sites, advertising and affiliate offers were considered legal and how disclosures needed to be handled.

Well, looks like it was a complete and utterly empty gesture from the FTC, as these Google Profits kit type scams continue to invade every corner of the internet.

If this is your first time running into one of these fake news sites or fake blog sites promoting the, check out our article on the original Easy Google Profit scam that started this whole thing.

How does the Google Profit Kit work?  Here, I’ll lay it out:

1. Some unsavory character, lets call him Phil for lack of a better term, takes an old electronic book about how you can make money online by posting Google Adsense ads (which is a FREE program from Google), then makes a crappy website out of it.  He calls it Google Profits Kit.
2. Phil then sets up a flashy looking website, promising anyone who orders the Google Kit will make anywhere from $200 to $943 a day by doing nothing, and you can too for only $1.95!  Note that if you want to make $944 a day using the magic of the Google Profit Kit, you’re apparently out of luck.
3. What you don’t notice is that hidden in the Terms and Conditions in the fine print is that you’ll get charged $84.73 every month, and $43.23 and $23.47 for some other stuff you had no idea you were signing up for.  Yes, this is 100% illegal, but the FTC is too busy and underfunded to go after someone running this scam from the Caymen islands.  And if they do get caught, the worst that happens is they have to give the money back, as they can claim that since it is in the Terms they technically aren’t complete criminals.
4. Phil then posts his site as an “offer” on an affiliate network site, saying he’ll pay anyone $40 for person who you can trick into signing up for his Google money making scam.
5. Travis, whose name isn’t really Travis but it works here, sets up a fake blog or fake newspaper and pays for advertising.  He’ll probably get 1 out out 100 people to fall for his fake site, click through and cough up their credit card to discover how they too can instantly solve all their financial problems for only $1.95.  If he pays $0.20 a click for the ads, and he hits on 1 out of 100, and he gets $40 for the poor soul who gave these folks their credit card, he just made $20.  Now pay for $2000 worth of advertising and make $2000.
6. You get caught in this, and begin a nightmare of hidden charges and busy Customer Service numbers.

It’s the internet equivalent of the Three Card Monty, Phil is the dealer, Travis is the shill, and you my intrepid friend are the mark.

The sad thing is that THIS SCAM WORKS.  People have been raking in the dough hand over fist using this scam, and it’s been going on for well over two years now. yet the FTC and other authorities seems powerless to stop it.

Oh, in case you were wondering, check out the hidden Terms and Conditions from the Google Kit that Travis links to at www.securesiteoffers.com.  Note by the time you read this, it will likely have changed as these guys like to keep moving their sites every couple of days/weeks to keep ahead of the FTC.

Your Membership is the perfect tool to start making money on the Internet. We’ve helped thousands of people achieve their goals. By submitting this form you are ordering Creative Search Training and the trial membership for $1.95 Instant Access. If you do not cancel within the 3-day trial period, you will be charged a one-time amount of $129.95. In addition, you will be provided access to an online Learning Center which will bill at $39.98, unless you cancel, 30-days from the date of enrollment and you will be re-billed every 30 days at $39.98 per month until cancelled. To cancel call 888-753-4203 M-F, 7am-5pm, MST within 3 days of the date you ordered.

You will also receive a Risk Free 14-day Trial membership to HomeSource. You may cancel anytime during the trial period by calling 1-800-537-0984 M-F, 8am to 5pm, MST. If membership is continued you will automatically be charged $29.95 a month.

Yeah.  That’s right.  $129.95, PLUS $39.95, PLUS $29.95.  Plus god knows what else you are going to find on your credit card.

How To Cancel The Google Profits Kit?

Well, they do provide a phone number you can call.  HOWEVER, a number of people have suggested that calling their number is not the right thing to do.

If you call to cancel, they now have a record of you contacting them and if you later try to dispute the charge with your credit card company, they can show the record of your call to your credit card company as proof of the transaction.  Only go this route if you can’t afford to cancel the card in question or if it is a debit card which is much harder to dispute.  You’ve been internet mugged here, don’t take it lying down.  It is our opinion based on the FTC guidelines that these people are breaking the law, plain and simple.  You wouldn’t call a mugger to ask for your money back, you would go to the authorities.

Here is what we recommend:

1. Don’t feel bad! Seems like hundreds if not thousands of people have been taken in by these sort of “negative option” offers that trick you by not clearly disclosing you are signing up for monthly charges. You were tricked, it happens to the best of us.
2. Call/write your credit card company, dispute the charges and report the card stolen. Since this site does not meet the FTC requirements for clear disclosure for the charges you received, consider your card stolen.  This will make sure they can’t charge you any more and that they can’t sell your credit card number to anyone else. If they tricked you once already, what makes you think they won’t try to squeeze every penny out of you they can?
3. Start ID theft monitoring right away! Click here to sign up for Experian Protect My Id monitoring. You just gave some shady website your name, address, phone number, credit card and secret 3 digit card number.  You can get Experian ID Protection for free for 30 days, then it’s $9.95 a month. I’d suggest signing up for AT LEAST the free month to check your credit report for free and make sure no one tries to change your address or open a new card using the current cards details you gave away.

I Didn’t Get Taken, But What Can I Do To Help?

Wh can you do to stop these guys from taking in more people? Warn everyone about it!

1. Click Here to Share this on Facebook! Hit “Post to Profile” to warn your friends.
2. Use the “Share This” link below to Digg or Stumble or Reddit or Email or whatever service you use to share this so that other people might see it before they get scammed too!
3. Click Here to ReTweet this article to warn all your faithful followers.