Now I know a lot of you are out there on Facebook trying to network yourselves so that you can get a job. My advice to you is to be careful because there has been an increase of scam artists taking advantage of people in our situations. They’ve been sucking desperate and scared people into their nets and then taking them for whatever they can.
I know this because there was an article in my local fishwrap yesterday that I feel a need to share with you :
Scam Alert! Some Facebook advertisers want to bilk you of your hard-earned cash
- Idaho Statesman
Published: 04/22/09A member of the Better Business Bureau team walked in to my office to find me on Facebook. I sheepishly explained I was doing research for this column. She responded, “Yeah, sure.”
No, really this is important stuff.
If you haven’t ventured into social networking, Facebook is a free Web site where you can post pictures, connect with friends, make new friends, play games, and more.
My very basic calculations show about 30 percent of the U.S. population is on Facebook. About 125,500 of those are in the Boise area. Facebook’s 200 million-plus worldwide members are a marketer’s dream. EMarketer estimates that $1.3 billion will be spent on social networking advertising in 2009.
With that many people networking, Facebook is becoming a hotbed for questionable advertising. In my very brief research, I saw ads for weight-loss products, work-at-home opportunities and “free” computers.
Did I mention my time on Facebook, while in the office, was very brief?
Just because you trust Facebook doesn’t mean you should apply that same level of trust to all of the advertisers.
Here are three examples of the pitch and the real story:
THE PITCH: LOSE FOUR DRESS SIZES
The ads invoking Oprah’s name and promoting acai berry link to fake blogs designed to look like testimonials of women who lost weight using the acai supplements.
Research by the Center for Science in the Public Interest identified more than 75 phony blogs that led to Web sites touting acai berry supplements as a weight loss miracle.
Real story: The phony blogs link to Web sites offering a free trial of acai supplement. Customers are led to believe they need only pay for shipping, but they end up being charged as much as $87.13 every month if they don’t cancel before the trial period ends. The BBB has received thousands of complaints from consumers because many were billed despite never receiving their free trial or were billed every month despite numerous attempts to cancel.
THE PITCH: LEARN HOW I MAKE $67,000 A YEAR BEING A STAY-AT-HOME MOM!
The ads link to blogs that were supposedly created by people who made money through a work-at-home program. Funny thing, readers are never told what the work involves.
Real story: The blogs link to Web sites for programs such as Internet Money Machine and Easy Google Cash where people can sign up for a seven-day trial access. While the trial supposedly costs $1.95-$2.95, you’ll be charged $69.90 every month if you don’t cancel within seven days of signing up. The fine print also states that the company does not give refunds. In 2008, the BBB received more than 3,500 complaints from disappointed buyers.
OK, BDC here, hate to interrupt the article but I feel the need to comment on the above story. I have been getting a lot of e-mails from guys who promise me that they can show me a way to make money and to make me rich. The problem that I find with most of these “programs” is that they seem to be doing a lot of overpromising in order to make a sale. I’m sure that you too have had that happen to you where someone seems to be working really hard to get you to buy from them? Doesn’t it feel like they are trying too hard? Like they’ve got something to hide? Like they need to get you to buy quick before you figure out that you’re buying a piece of crap?
Yeah, me too. OK, continue…
THE PITCH: GET A FREE PURPLE (RED, PINK, GREEN, BLACK) MACBOOK AIR.
The company seeks laptop testers. The ads lead to an incentive-marketing program. Participants must sign up for various products and services in order to earn a free laptop.
Real story: Customers must jump through numerous hoops and spend anywhere from $900 to $1,500 to get the laptop. Did I mention Apple does not make MacBook Air in purple, red, pink, or green?
Dale Dixon is president and CEO of the Better Business Bureau, a not-for-profit organization serving Southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. Reach him at 342-4649 or ddixon@boise.bbb.org.
That last one I fell for a few years ago only in my case it was for a free XBox. I had to jump through some hoops and buy a lot of stuff that I didn’t need and subscribe to services that gave me a lot of problems when it came to getting off of their lists. In the end I got no XBox and I would have spent less money if I had just gone down to Best Buy and simply bought the damn thing!
So remember, it’s like I’ve been telling you all along…
If it sounds to good to be true…GOOGLE IT!!!!!!!!
