The Three Rules To Avoiding Scams

by on September 24, 2010

The rules are fairly simple.  Sometimes you actually need to stop and  think, a fast talking sales pitch can easily part you or a loved one from their hard earned money.  Before you give out that credit card number, go over these three rules.

Rule #1: Never give your credit card number out without research

More and more shady businesses are trying to trick you into entering your credit card number online.  The hide the terms and conditions and start charging you every month or put the actual charges in small print off to the side.

As a general rule, any site in the top 500 sites on the web is going to be worth doing business with.  No fly by night site trying to steal your money is going to be able to break the top 500.  A payment processor in the top 500 isn’t going to stay in business scamming people out of their money.  If anyone knows a blatent exception to this rule, I’d like to see it.  Sure, there will always be billing issues and disputes with any company, but the large ones try hard to resolve them.

Some payment processors and larger sites (like Clickbank and eBay for example) can get complaints about the items that people sell on their marketplace.  That e-book from Bob Snakeoil might be a complete waste of money, but you will have always have some recourse through the payment processor.

How do you check a site rank?  Go to Alexa.com and copy and paste the URL for the site you are looking at from your browser.  Don’t try to type it in, since you might be a victim of Rule #2 below.

Or grab the Alexa Sparky toolbar, which will tell you the rank of every site while you are surfing.

Next, use Google to see what other people say about that business.

Rule #2: Check if the site is real

A classic scam is to send a fake email that looks just like something you would get from a legitimate place you do business with.   Banks, credit card companies, Paypal and the like should NEVER ask you for account information through email.  The message will contain a link for you to click on, which takes you to something like paypal.secuur.ru.  Yeah, see, that’s not Paypal.

Look carefully at the URL.  Subdomains are ok (secure.paypal.com), but the thing right in front of the .com should be the site you want, not chase.bank.chaserobber1123,com.

Rule #3: Never give out payment information over the phone

Unless you made the call and know exactly who you are talking to, don’t ever give a caller any payment information.  Even if it sounds like the best business opportunity in the WORLD, and it’s a LIMITED TIME OFFER OF A LIFETIME don’t be fooled!  Ask for written information to be sent to you that explains all the charges.  If they try to send you to a website to pay, refer to RULE #1 above.

Be careful out there!


{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }

rt43 September 30, 2010 at 2:46 pm

Hey, I’ve got a question about one of your posts. Can I get in contact with you? My email is (email removed). Thanks.

Sonny December 1, 2010 at 1:10 am

I’ve been contacted by this company – http://www.australianhbb.com/ i am concern that this might be a scam? They told me the package will cost $10,000au that was when it was on sale, i just checked on the web it’s now $19,000. I’ve seen the system and said that i will think about it and will call back – but seems like a lot of money to invest in and their site doesn’t give you much details either nothing about Money Back Guarantee. Any advice/details would be appreciated.
Regards Sonny

El Plumber (admin) December 1, 2010 at 8:58 am

Sonny. Oh. Oh my. Please don’t give those people any money. It is very likely a ripoff. $19,000 for what? Software that helps you bet on horses? Don’t walk, run away from this one.

dada narayan bhoyar January 1, 2011 at 1:47 pm

you are right, cheatin is more, be careful?

dada narayan bhoyar January 7, 2011 at 11:40 am

NOW A DAYS CHEATIN IS MORE,BE CAREFUL, DON.T FAITH.

Sonny January 9, 2011 at 8:22 pm

Hello,
Are there any know autopilot websites that is not a scam which i can use to generate income? It has been very time consuming doing searches just to find one that really works. Are there any online money making ways that really works? I am already one of those person who have paid “Online Network Hosting, scams” and of course have not genreated any money, which they did assured that i would! Your recommendations would be much appreciated.
Thanks Sonny

El Plumber (admin) January 9, 2011 at 9:45 pm

Sonny, define autopilot. Any completely “autopilot” websites that existed will have been copied thousands of times and stop earning money before you see it. There is work involved, but it doesn’t have to be a lot. I spend about 10-20 hours a week in my spare time total on my sites.

You have to learn to make a site of your own, create content (or buy it from someone else) and get links to your site (or pay someone else to make them). If you want to start learning for free, go here: http://electronplumber.com/Affilorama

Burnt June 22, 2011 at 5:39 am

Hey. I fell for all the quick talking of Online Hosting Network. I was told I didn’t need to know much, they would set everything up and I would get $US500 for every successful sale they made from referrals from the site they would set up. I reinforced I knew nothing about the web/computers and they assured me it didn’t matter. I foolishly believed all the hype and paid $,000s. They training was brief and spasmodic and meant stuff all to me. Eventually 4 referrals were made, but I only got paid around $20 each for them. I complained and complained. Heard all the excuses and that I wasn’t told what I was told etc. Eventually, after several trainers, 1 decided to set up a site for me. She picked the topic and started to build it. She was ‘promoted and some 4 months later nothing was happening. Eventually, after much complaining, a supervisor built the site to get me going. Guess what, nothing – no income etc. And their experts built the site and I was supposed to get 000,000s of advertising ‘stuff’. What a rip off

Sonny Pham June 23, 2011 at 2:00 am

I have been trying to get my money back from these people since March. Someone name Hugo contacted me and said that i needed to send him evidence of my advertising before he can refund my money. Ihave checked their website and they now have a message “Scandalous businesses attempt to scare and confuse Online Hosting Network customers! Online Hosting Network is a legitimate, ethical company. But beware! You may find false negative reviews on sites created by shady competitors that are attempting to scare Online Hosting Network customers and direct them to the competitors inferior product offerings”.
I haven’t sent my proof of advertising yet – any advise that i should add to when i email this Hugo? Regards Sonny

Scamwatcher June 29, 2011 at 2:30 am

The biggest Gold coast scumbag scammers are back in Horse Racing
Philip Cropper
Larry Pickering
They are the owners of ozripoff.com, latest scam, they remove anything on them straight away! (Proof that they are behind it apart from the mountains of other evidence)
They even have it automatically picking up the words �larry pickering� and if your report has it in it will not even get listed.
http://www.australianhbb.com
australianhbb.com
AUSTRALIAN HOME BASED BUSINESS PTY LTD

The Bundall road boys scammers are back!
GOLD COAST KNOWN SCUMBAGS NOT IN BRISBANE
Quick buy now only 2 left at $19999 before they go up to $24999
How stupid do you think people are?
They will still have 2 left in 6 months
Run a mile.

These guys are the worst fraudsters in Queensland. There is too much to list on even 10 pages on these guys.
Nutech Advantage, Redback Gaming, Fortune 100, Profit Performer, BGT Global and Totemaster, Betfairly now AHBB or Australian Home Based Business
Just a few of the lovely things their clients have to say about them,
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/profit-runner-profit-performer-nutechadvantage-ontrack-global-track-whispers-poolcomps-c128380.html
http://www.aussiestockforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=22037&page=1
http://www.ozripoff.com/report-view/87-red-back-gaming-pty-ltd-trading-as-fortune100
http://www.ripoffreport.com/computer-software/fortune-100/fortune-100-bgt-global-red-b-ad735.htm
http://www.arbforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1188970461/105
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/oz-ripoff-is-a-scam-c305534.html

Current Organisation Details
Name AUSTRALIAN HOME BASED BUSINESS PTY LTD 1E6590534
Name Start 17-Jun-2010
Status REGISTERED
Type AUSTRALIAN PROPRIETARY COMPANY
Class LIMITED BY SHARES
Subclass PROPRIETARY COMPANY
Disclosing Entity NO
Current Registered Office
Address PIVOTAL POINT THE MBA PARTNERSHIP PTY LTD, LEVEL 3,
50 MARINE PARADE, SOUTHPORT, QLD, 4215
1E6590534
Start Date 17-Jun-2010
Current Principal Place of Business
Address LEVEL 22, 127 CREEK STREET, BRISBANE, QLD, 4000 1E6590534
Start Date 17-Jun-2010
Current Director
Officer Name BRUCE GRAHAM GORRIE 1E7380123
ABN Not available
Birth Details 26-May-1947 BRISBANE QLD
Address 5 MARINA STREET, CAPALABA, QLD, 4157
Appointment Date 06-May-2011
Ceased/Former Director
Officer Name KARL ZENO KEONG 027248974
ABN Not available
Birth Details 06-Dec-1975 TOOWOOMBA QLD
Address 22 MATTOCKS ROAD, VARSITY LAKES, QLD, 4227
Appointment Date 11-Jan-2011
Cease Date 06-May-2011
Officer Name MATTHEW JACOB KOPKE 1E6590534
ABN Not available
Birth Details 19-May-1978 PALMERSTON NORTH NEW ZEALAND
Address 2633 GOLD COAST HIGHWAY, BROADBEACH, QLD, 4218
Appointment Date 17-Jun-2010
Cease Date 11-Jan-2011
Ceased/
Domain Name………. australianhbb.com
Creation Date…….. 2010-06-16
Registration Date…. 2010-06-16
Expiry Date………. 2021-06-16
Organisation Name…. Australian home based business
Organisation Address. 100 Bundall Road
Organisation Address.
Organisation Address. Bundall
Organisation Address. 4217
Organisation Address. QLD
Organisation Address. AUSTRALIA

Admin Name……….. Matthew Kopke
Admin Address…….. 100 Bundall Road
Admin Address……..
Admin Address…….. Bundall
Admin Address…….. 4217
Admin Address…….. QLD
Admin Address…….. AUSTRALIA
Admin Email………. marketingexperts10@gmail.com
Admin Phone………. +61.1300771922
Admin Fax…………

What Betfair say about it them, (cant trade with no account can you) ?
“We have reason to believe that an arbitrage company may be placing bets through our exchange on your behalf. Please be advised that Betfair do not allow 3rd party access to Betfair accounts – it is against our terms and conditions. All bets on your account must be placed by you, as per the terms and conditions to which you agreed upon during registration.Your Betfair account has been temporarily suspended for your protection.”

Busted Cropper you thief,
This is the worst known active scammer in Queensland
Do you really think they will answer the phone after you ask for your money back?
Same old rubbish free trial high pressure all the pretty pictures of the beach cars and so on�������
Crawl back under your rock Phil Cropper you piece of crap.
Darren Jansen sucks.

Bradley Cooper August 1, 2011 at 9:15 pm

australian hbb.com
is now
hbbaustralia.com
new phone number

CHris August 16, 2011 at 2:02 am

Hi, i have been contacted by people from hbbaustralia.com P.1300482085 Adress level 19, 10 eagle st Brisbane QLD 4000. There are offering betfair trading software for $25000. Can you tell me if this software and company are legitimate or scammers.

Cheers CHris

El Plumber (admin) August 18, 2011 at 1:09 am

OH MY GOD! You are joking right Chris? $25,000 for software that lets you bet on horses? Seriously? I think you have to turn in your internet license for even asking that question.

In case the sarcasm didn’t get through to you, OH MY GOD! Don’t even consider it. I’m finding it hard to believe that you even need to ask anyone if that seems like it could possibly be a good idea.

Peter August 20, 2011 at 4:59 am

Any information on Home Based Business Australia P/L of Holden Place on the Gold Coast would be welcome.

I went there and checked them out. The computer system looked good and the office seemed legitimate. Got onto a forum at night and contacted two of the people who did testimonials and they also seemed legitimate.

Would welcome some other information.

El Plumber (admin) August 20, 2011 at 2:10 pm

Oh my god! People keep asking the same question expecting a different answer. If it sounds TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, then it probably is.

Peter, here is my opinion: DO NOT GIVE THEM $25,000 or even $2,500 or even $250. DO NOT. NOT. NO NO NO NO NO. It has all the classic warning signs. Their site has a private hidden registration so you can’t find out who registered it. That address for HBBAustralia that Chris posted is a “virtual” office where for $360 a month you can make it look like your business is located there, take phone calls and even rent out a meeting room for an hour to meet a client like yourself in a professional looking office that appears to be yours: http://www.servcorp.com/executive-suites-virtual-offices/australia/brisbane/10-eagle-st-brisbane. That official looking “seal of approval” they have on their site is from a company whose address is listed as the 24th floor in that same building that is ALSO a virtual office at the same location, very likely not a real consumer agency but something created by the same exact people in order to look more official. Let’s face it, they have $25,000 to gain here and they only need to sell a few people every month to make a VERY LARGE amount of money.

Now I can’t say for 100% sure, but if someone who is hiding behind all these “virtual” addresses is trying to sell you magic software for $25,000, my opinion is NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. If you really want to give some horse race betting from home software a try there is MUCH less expensive stuff out there, like this one. Try it for $40 first and see.

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: