In my constant fight against actual work, I cruise the Internet looking for anything interesting. It makes the day go by, and it helps me forget about my lack of a pay raise.

Recently I came upon the Independent Profit Center. They want to sell you a package of software and info that they say is well worth the money they charge. Plus you get the rights to resell the package.

I did a little checking, and I can't say that I have found proof that they are a scam. I do believe though that, like most similar operations, the things that they offer are readily available shareware/freeware, programs on the level of school projects, or reverse-engineered pirated software. No, I have no proof of that. I won't buy into their offer, so of course, they haven't told me what kind of software and info I will get.

I have noticed one peculiar thing about IPC. If you search for "Independent Profit Center" and "scam," you won't find any negative articles on the subject. You will find page after page of positive "testimonials." Those articles have two things in common. They all seem to use the word "scam" near the top of the article, and they all are from people selling IPC. Whatever negative articles are out there are effectively buried under sales copy.

You have to ask yourself why they are so vocal that their business is not a scam. Legitimate businesses rarely feel the need to defend their practices, much less defend them in their opening text.

It may not be a true scam according to law, but that doesn't mean that people are getting what they paid for. If they really had a system that brought in money like they say, they would sell it themselves. If they really had software that was worth hundreds of bucks, they would sell it themselves. Instead, they charge us country bumpkins a fee for the right to charge someone else a fee.

As I said in the beginning, I have no proof. At least not absolutely empirical proof.

Well, at least not absolutely empirical proof about Independent Profit Center.

But what about the company and the people behind the program. Ah, that is a different thing.

This is their official site: Independent Profit Center. On the bottom of their pages, it says "Copyright 2008 - Force One Events, Inc." If you search for "Force One Events," you will find plenty of complaints.

I Googled "Force One Events" and "scam" on 12/29/08. I came up with these sites. The top 5 search results are not favorable to Force One Events.

No. 1 RipoffReport.com says to beware of Force One Events and their associated sites and names. They name Force One Events, 3hourprofits.com and the man who is behind it all, Dan Miller.

No. 2 Gariell's Weblog on Scam, Spams and Lambs reports that BBBReviews.org (not the Better Business Bureau) is a scam. In the comments, a reader reports that BBBReviews and 3hourprofits.com are both owned by Force One Events and are both scams. Both sites are still operating and want your money.

No. 3 MerchantCircle.com has a post that links 3hourprofits.com, Dan Miller, and Force One Events to scams.

No. 4 419Legal.com has a post that simply states "The following names below are involved in online scams." Force One Events appears on that page.

No. 5 Scam.com has a post that recommends that you avoid Dan Miller, Independent Profit Center, and Force One Events. It also calls 3hourprofits.com a disaster. Here is a quote.

"If anyone has experienced the 'Disaster' that was "3HourProfits" then you know who Dan Miller is (The man behind 3HP) His company: Force One Events, Inc. has a NEW program out there called: "Independent Profit Center" that again makes big promises to buyers of the program. Can it be considered totally "Scam"... no, from what I've seen on it, it is set-up for you to make money from it (of course he will make more, as all the "Parts" you need to add, will pay him affiliate commissions) And it helps him avoid part of what brought down '3HP'. I would simply recommend you avoid anything with "Dan Miller" or "Force One Events" attached to it."

After the Top 5 returns, you again run into those glowing "testimonials" by resellers.

Final note: Mr. Miller has already moved on to another venture. This one is called IPC Instant Cash. It is described as "the sister program to the highly successful Independent Profit Center Program."

If you must give these people money, I recommend IPC Instant Cash because of its $97 price tag. That's about half of the price of the Independent Profit Center. so it will cost you less money to learn your lesson.

Mr. Rheaman - ToMakeASite.com

P.S. In the subtitle, I used the word "chum." Chum is the bait a fisherman throws in the water to attract fish to his area. In this case, the fish being attracted could be appropriately called "suckers."

Jokes are usually horrible if they have to be explained. Sorry.