Easy Google Profit And Other Work-At-Home Scams
In these tough economic times, with almost 1 out 10 Americans unemployed, many people are desperate for a job or an opportunity to earn a little extra money to pay their bills. Not surprisingly, it is also when scam artists come out of the dark to prey on innocent consumers. The latest work-at-home scheme proliferating on the internet is “Easy Google Profit.” Typically, consumers surfing the internet will click on the link “Easy Google Profit” while reading -- what they later find out to be -- a fake newspaper article or advertisement. The link directs consumers to a work-at-home scam, where they unwittingly sign up and their credit or debit cards are charged a fee.
The New York Times recently reported about once such example: The reporter writes about a friend who came across an article online in the “Miami Gazette” about opportunities to work at home. The article begins with general thoughts about the economic situation and how online jobs from home may be the next big thing. Then it zeroes in on, and praises “Easy Google Profit,” which offers people work from home posting links on Web sites using text advertising applications. It all looked legitimate; except, as the reporter points out, the “Miami Gazette” does not exist. Moreover, the “Reader Response” posted under the fake article also seemed genuine, complete with misspellings and success stories. In fact, the key to the scheme was that every link in the story sent readers to “Easy Google Profit.” And in tiny, hard to read type below the newspaper logo, the following statement appeared: “This publication is an article advertisement for Easy Google Profit.” The reporter’s friend didn’t notice the warning signs and signed up with her debit card. She had unknowingly authorized this scam work-at-home company to charge $72 to her debit card every month until she called to cancel.
Unfortunately, many consumers across the country are being deceived by these sham work-at-home offers, particularly because they believe that Google -- a trusted and famous household name -- may be affiliated with these offers. For example, in April, 2009, the Texas Attorney General filed a complaint against Infusion Media, Inc., a company that allegedly ran at least three sham work-at-home websites, two of which capitalized on the Google brand: GoogleMoneyTree.com, Google TreasureChest.com and InternetIncomeIntiative.com. The State of Texas alleged that all three websites violated the Texas consumer fraud statute because the defendants engaged in false, deceptive and misleading acts and practices in the course of trade and commerce. And we recently published a post on another famous work-at-home opportunity: Jeff Paul’s “Shortcuts To Internet Millions” program. As we wrote then, a website dedicated to protecting consumers from sham business opportunities wrote that Jeff Paul’s program is a “scam” and warns consumers not to “believe everything you hear!!” Another consumer website reported that in its opinion Jeff Paul’s program is not “a legitimate program” and cites to consumer complaints posted by people who signed up for the program.
The Better Business Bureau received 3,539 complains last year about work-at-home companies, and Allison Southwick, a spokeswoman for the bureau, says that her agency is “very concerned about seeing a rise in instances of fraud targeting job hunters this year in light of the increase in the unemployment rate.” “Scammers,” she added, “read the headlines and anytime people are vulnerable, they’ll take advantage.”
If you were deceived by a sham work-at-home scheme, please contact us to discuss your legal options.