Google AdWork Scam
[ad]
I started seeing ads today for Google hiring people to work at home. Every time I think these Google Money flogs and fake news sites can’t possibly get any more brazen, they just take it to a whole other level. I sincerely hope that they’re foolish enough to be in the US when the FTC finally gets around to slapping them silly, but one can only hope.
This time it’s our old friends at the losangeles-tribunes.com, but this time they’ve made it look like they’re an ABC website by putting the ABC logo right at the top of the site. Also, they’re no longer claiming that people are making money working at home using the Google Kit they’re trying to sell, no no. This time they’re actually straight out lying that Google is hiring people to work from home and providing you a link to sign up that says “Join Google AdWork (fill out one form)”
Impersonating a fake blog or news site is one thing. Pretending to be ABC News with a flat out lie about Google hiring people to work from home is a whole other level of fraud.
First off, no, there is no such thing as Google AdWork. It’s invented by a marketer to try to get you to click through their links and sign up with your credit card for the secret to getting rich with Google.
Fill out one form it asks? Huh, wonder why Google wants my credit card number so I can work for them? DON’T DO IT!
First, check the fine print on the first page of the profitcenterlearning.com site that the fake ABC news site brings you to:
*Google™ does not endorse or sponsor this site and is in no way affiliated with this offer. By submitng this form you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions
Ok, now fill out the first form (don’t give them your real data please) and the next form asks for your credit card number for a $2.95 shipping charge only. If you scroll to the bottom of the page, well past where most people would normally scroll, you get to the real deal:
By submitting this form I give my authorization to immediately charge my credit card $2.95 for access to the Business Kit for Google. I hereby request that my account be activated and authorize funds to be advanced as indicated. Monthly Service fees will commence 7 days from the date of this purchase, and will be billed monthly thereafter. After the 7 day trial you will be billed $79.90 monthly for the continued access to the Business Kit for Google. No refunds will be given for failure to use the requested and provided product. We reserve the right to transfer your billing to a third party Merchant of Record. This authority will remain in effect until revoked by me. This agreement will remain in effect each month until cancelled by me.
Nice! Now we’re paying $79.90 per month without our knowledge or consent! How’s working for Google feel now? I’m feeling $80 lighter, how about you?
To clarify, Google does have something called AdWords, which lets you advertise on Google search results and web pages (like this one) that displays Adsense ads. If you want to learn techniques about how to really make money with Google by advertising on Adwords and using Adsense, you can buy a book called Google Snatch for $77 ONCE with NO recurring fees or cancellation hassles.
I Was Fooled By The Google AdWorks Sites and Gave Them My Credit Card! What Do I Do?
- 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.
- Call the number provided on the website that took you in IMMEDIATELY. Finding that number is up to you, they seem to keep changing. Have a witness listen when you call and/or record the conversation if possible. Unfortunately many people have complained that they can never get anyone to talk to when they call.
- Call/write your credit card company and dispute the charges or better yet, report the card lost or stolen. They never clearly disclosed the charges you were signing up for, so you have a strong case here.
- Monitor your credit accounts! Click here to sign up for Experian ID Protection monitoring. You just gave some shady characters your name, address, phone number, credit card and secret 3 digit card number. It’s free for a full month, then it’s $9.95 a month if you don’t cancel before the 30 days are up. I’d strongly suggest signing up for the free month and check your credit report to make sure no one has tried to change your address or open a new card using your cards details.
I Didn’t Get Taken, But What Can I Do To Help?
- Post a link to this article on your site or blog to warn your readers!
- Click Here to Share this on Facebook! Hit “Post to Profile” to warn your friends.
- Click Here to Tweet this article to you friends and followers before they run into it.
- Use the “Share This” links below to Digg or Twitter or Stumble or Reddit or whatever service you use to share this so that other people might see it before they get scammed too!
- Email this link to your friends.
[ad]
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for the info. I actually did stupidly enter my contact info in the first form but then wisely googled a search to make sure it was legit then stopped short of submitting my credit card number. Should I do anything at this point? They don’t have my credit card number (I entered my number in the box but didn’t hit send then deleted it, so I’m fine right?), but they do have my address. Any help would be appreciated.
hi. I just paid for this google biz kit. I thought because it was being advertised on newyorkgazettenews.com, it would be legitimate. This was just yesterday. I just came across your site and many others today. Please, how do I get out of this because I just started building a website through their site. (I had no site before I joined, but knew what I wanted to sell.) I know about the number to call to cancel, but I already downloaded the webwizard from visualwebtools.com which was the link on profitgateway.com to build my own site. When I cancel, don’t I need to cancel this too? And is the visualwebtools.com a profitgateway.com sister?
I’m not worried about the credit card because I used one of those $25 gift cards before I saw the small print on monthly charges. I’m a little worried, though, about my information that I already entered in the visualwebtools.com’s webwizard. I just started building the site at 2:00am this morning, and it’s now 5:17am when Icame across your site. It’s a little heartbreaking because I spent years now searching for a legit home-based business, and now this. Well, all hope is not lost. I’ll keep searching
“…without our knowledge or consent”? But the conditions WERE posted! You quote them right here! If it takes too much effort to scroll to the bottom of the page, learn the hard way (hopefully only once).
Always, always ALWAYS read what you’re signing up for. I cannot tell you how many times people are surprised (and jabber away through it) when I take the time to actually stop and read what I’m signing–leases, checking accounts, etc.
It’s there to READ! READ it!
I just got a pop-up containing this website:
weekly-reports.com/finance/?id=cv
…which is continuing to perpetuate the Google AdWork scam. Every link on the page goes to something called “track606.com”.
Why hasn’t someone tracked these people down and put them behind bars yet?
Lala, while there may be disclaimers hidden at the bottom of the page page on these types of Google Adwork sites, that doesn’t imply knowledge or consent at all.
The FTC has basically clearly outlined what and where disclosures should be and what knowledge and consent requires. Check out our article on Free Trial Scams And The FTC. It’s akin to blaming a rape victim because they were drunk and wearing a short skirt. You shouldn’t HAVE to look at the bottom of the page for disclosures. They need to be obvious and clear and near where you are clicking according to the FTC.
I knew it was a scam when I saw that all the supposed links to supporting information went instead to the sign-up form. And I still signed up for it. Why? I had $9 left on a pre-paid card that’s expiring in a week. They only wanted 99 cents of this “use it or lose it fund” that I don’t want to give to the card issuer, or (worse) the government. So I thought I’d find out what the ad meant by “post several small text advertisements on websites in the Google network. These ads will showcase products that are currently part of the Google Adwords system.”
Before clicking “ok” I was given the option to uncheck a box signing up for a continuity program. Then, at the bottom of the next page was a form to sign up for another $2.95 shipping charge on top of the $.99 and incur yet another continuity program. I think that was the “$80 lighter” one. But still, I had the choice to bypass that one. Finally, they told me I had trials to 3 programs totaling $85 in continuity which had already started. One was a 7 day trial, one was a 14 day trial, and the other was a 21 day trial. Talk about a confusing array of continuity to stop! And this was true “hidden continuity,” not the optional ones I had declined.
I’ll log on to see what these contain. (After all, they’re “free.” ) But such is the beauty of a prepaid card expiring in 4 days. They will never see a dime of that continuity, even if I don’t get around to canceling! And the 99 cents? If they do ship a physical product, they will lose money on that as well! (They must get continuity payments from a high enough percentage of clients to cover the losses from such as I.)
But I will give them this much credit. They are relentless in their pursuit of the sale. And who knows? Maybe the continuity programs contain enough value that some might opt to keep them. I’ll keep you posted on that if I find my way back to this blog.
Wow. Thanks mate. You just saved my ass. 10 seconds and i would be preparing for bankruptcy. . . Total save by you. . . Thanks again. But i also agree with lala, they should be jailed. This garbage should be stopped. I mean, how many others can fall to this. . .
Thanks, for the information it was really helpful. I was about to sign in but someone told me not to, just until I was 100% sure this was not a scam.I started researching, and I found your report, thanks once again for preventing us before acting.
Nice job with the Experian ID protection.