The "Real" Online Opportunity That Targets Aspiring Writers
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Targeted
It's a shame that in times such as these, people have become so desperate that caution is thrown to the wind. With the current economic turmoil, and the rising rate of unemployment, people have begun to turn to the web in record numbers, looking for something...anything to help them get through. They'll take almost any glimmer of hope for an improvement of their financial picture; anything, that is, other than cut back on their lifestyle choices. That's the last change they want to make.
Often, aspiring writers are targeted because they are looking for experience and exposure, or some marketing clues and information as to how they can get the experience and exposure to launch a writing career.
Sites like http://www.freelancehomewriters.com claim that they will help writers get paid $25-45 per hour for writing articles. They claim to charge a mere $2.95 to get their potential victim started, and Charles Wellmore signs his "personal guarantee" as to the volume of "indepth" information that he claims the site offers and guarantees you'll be satisfied with. However, you don't see the terms and conditions until after you have clicked the "submit" button sending your credit card info to the company.
This agreement says you can get a refund if you are not absolutely satisfied with the standard information on their site; information you can find for free all over the net. The condition of this refund is that you must contact them by phone to cancel within 7 days of the payment, or you cannot get your refund.
However, the contact number is not manned by anyone, and you can never get through to cancel. This is how they get you. After seven days, they begin to charge your credit card a fee of $47 monthly, until you cancel by phone, or cancel the card. This scam is particular to writers, but pretty much anyone who is looking to work from home is a potential target for these thieves.
In lieu of this desire to work from home, many are searching the web hoping for an answer to prayers that petition God for help to stop the inevitable changes this economy is ushering in. One would think that in anticipation of this, the scammers have laid their traps, but Pro 1:17 says: Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. This would indicate that, in season and out of season; economic downturn or not, these vermin have already laid their traps for the distressed and desperate who are looking for a way out; and are just lying in wait for any sucker that comes along.
What vermin am I talking about? Online scammers like this one: DataMoneyOnline.com. Now mind you, I'm not writing this as a victim of this particular company. I just happened to stumble upon this company because they spammed me in my email. Out of curiosity, and because I wasn't sure what datamoneyonline was, I went to their site.
The Pitch
The scammers try to legitimize themselves with the high credentials of other organizations that are trusted by mainstream society. They claim that their program was seen on and basically legitimized by these reputable news agencies. Then they begin their pitch to scam you.
In the case of this particular allegedly "reputable" offer, they claim you can start your income opportunity with them for free. Now we all know that nothing in this life is "free," not really. It may appear that way on the surface, but there is always a back door snag somewhere. In the case of this "offer," you could start the program for "free" so that you can see that you will make money with it, however, if the potential sucker is not smart enough to check the fine print, they will get snagged on a minor technicality.
First, the pitch:
'Get Access To A One Of Its Kind, No Crap, Step By Step Program And Start Making A Modest $120 Per Day Starting JUST A FEW HOURS FROM NOW - GUARANTEED!'
No Up front Fee. No Obligations.
Only pay if you start making money
within 24 hours of completing the program
Please note: this guarantee is being offered for the very first time - even on internet! I am getting such an overwhelming response to it that I won't be able to continue to run it for a very long time. As such, your position on this program has been reserved for the next 15 minutes only. With very limited number of openings in your city, we can't guarantee availability once this time is up.
Hurry ! as of 11:03P.M. only 2 seats are left open!
Time Left:13.32
Click Here to Start Making Money Immediately!
OR
Keep Reading For More Info...
Requires No Prior Experience Proven System With Most Daring Guarantee EVER Made Start Receiving Payments Within 15 Days No Educational Background or Special Skills Required! Instant, Risk - FREE Access
Next they give you the "I-can-identify-with-your-situation" pitch, wherein the site owner/rep puts his picture and/or name and begins a lengthy tirade about his personal struggles with previous employment and or financial woes that basically leave him out of the loop with no real opportunities or future. After all of this blah blah dialog, you are pitched again with photos of checks people allegedly made, and a bunch of "testimonials" as to the greatness and/or effectiveness of the program. Then you are pressured to sign up immediately for your "free" or very low cost (ie: $1.95) access to this "fabulous" and "liberating" system that will "change your life."
At this point you are supposed to click on the "get access" button and you are taken to a sign up page where they ask for personal info as to who you are. However, this is where you need to start paying attention to minor details. You should scroll to the bottom of the page to check for the following:
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Member Login | Contact Us | Affiliate
Copyright © 2008 - 09 DataMoneyOnline.com. All Rights Reserved.
8345 NW 66TH ST #5013, MIAMI, FL 33166
Before proceeding any further, if this information is present, and it has to be either on this page, or on the signup page, you must check this information out prior to proceeding with the signup. Particular things to pay attention to are the location/contact info on the company. You will want to verify this providing the Terms of Use check out first.
Now, if you're anything like me, reading the fine print or these online endless contracts are a bit of a bore. The quickest way to assess if this program is for you, is to scroll down looking for certain things.The first thing you want to find is the "Charges and Refund" part of the policy or contract. That is the part that will tell you what you will be charged for this "free" program and what the conditions of those charges are. In the case of this particular program, the stipulations were as follows:
Charges and Refund Policy
DataMoneyOnline.com is a unique program which guarantees that its members will make money within 24 hours of completion of the step-by-step free trial contained within the training program. Our system is designed to track the progress of our members as they complete each step of the training scheme - we will come to know when a User starts to make money using the system. It is only then that we will charge the card details provided by the User at the time of signing up for the free trial. We would like reinforce :
1. The User gives us the authority to charge their card as soon as he/she starts to make money using our program.
This means that if you make 1 penny, you have made money on their program and they will charge your credit card immediately.
2. Submitting his/her cards details at the time of registration for the free trial acts as permission for the above clause.
Mind you, if that 1 penny is all that you ever make with their program, you have no recourse for a refund according to this statement, because you did make money with the program.
3. No further permission/intimation will be required before charging the card.
You've already given your permission just by signing up.
4. We are permitted to charge the card only once.
Yeah, but that one time will be a doozie!
5. We will not attempt to charge the card any further once the membership fee has been gained.
Yeah, because they will already have ripped you off, and you'll be screaming bloody murder, and reporting them to the BBB and anyone else you can think of, to no avail.
6. We will discard all personal data related to the card as soon as it has been charged, and will in no manner store it within our systems.
Since the User’s cards are charged only after money has started to be made, we cannot issue a refund once the card has been charged.
Note that the statement "only after money has started to be made," does not indicate amount, which means just like I indicated, it could be a penny, and they will charge you, and you will have no recourse for any refund because by signing up, you are agreeing to the charge. In other words...you're screwed.
The above guarantee is applicable only if the User completes all the steps of the training within 24 hours of logging in to their account. All trials will be settled permanently if the User does not completes the training within 24 hours time frame, irrespective of making money or not.
This means that whether or not you complete the "training" within the 24 hours or not, they will charge you, and you will not be able to do a thing about it. That's the what the reference to "all trials will be settled" means.
Now if this information doesn't stop you from proceeding with this deal, look for one more thing.
Choice of Law and Forum
This site (excluding third party linked sites) is controlled by DataMoneyOnline.com from its offices within the State of West Bengal, India. It can be access from all 26 states as well as from other countries around the world to the extent permitted by location. As each of these places has laws which may differ from those West Bengal, by accessing this site, both you and DataMoneyOnline.com agree that the statutes and laws of West Bengal, India shall apply to any actions or claims arising out of or in relation to this Agreement or your use of this site, without regard to conflicts of legal principles thereof. You and DataMoneyOnline.com also agree and hereby submit to the filing of any claim only in the exclusive personal jurisdiction and venue of West Bengal, and agree that any legal proceedings shall be conducted in English. DataMoneyOnline.com makes no representation that materials on this site are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and accessing them from territories where their contents are illegal is prohibited. This Agreement shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the Sale of Goods.
In other words..."You outta luck, sucka!" The very fact that there are two totally different locations given for this company, and they operate out of a foreign jurisdiction is indicative of a scam. Even if it was completely located in the united states, you need to review those sections of the terms of agreement carefully.
Finally, were you wondering what the charge to the credit card would be once you started making money from this program? Well, I scanned that terms of agreement contract 3 times, because that is where the charge information is normally hidden, but this contract had no information at all about how much you would be charged; hence the statement in the contract as to number 4. We are permitted to charge the card only once. I'm sure that the charge is so ridiculous, that they could never possibly justify another charge of that nature.
The real online opportunity is for the scammers to run a game on all of us and profit illegally at our expense. I pray God helps you to make wise decisions when seeking an opportunity online.
© 2009 Sandra M Urquhart