Episode #3 – A Call to Action, Just Think Media, Google Scams, and 10 Tips to Avoid a Scam

This week on As Seen on TV We will be discussing a Call to Action, Google Scams, as well as 10 Signs to Identify A Scam, This is Episode 3 recorded for October 18th 2009.

On Tuesday I got an email from a reporter in LA working for Fox News, he wanted more information or research notes on the Google Scams that I have worked on, Kevin Hoeffer and the related websites. He asked a few questions did a quick interview I guess is what you could call it and asked about going in front of a TV camera, I have no objections to this so I figured I would say yes, but what we are really needing is you the consumer. I know someone out there has been affected or knows someone who was affected by this scam and would be willing to come forward. Here is why we need you, He can report on a story and I can go in front of the camera but what are we really doing if we do not have someone affected by the scam to be the teeth of the story. You can remain anonymous, you dont have to put your face on a camera but a quote would be awesome.

You do not have to be ashamed about falling for the scam its very easy to do, they used the Google name to bring the scam into your house since Google is a Household name so my plea and call to action is if anyone is affected or knows someone affected by this scam to get in touch with me or this reporter. You can find the blog post in the show notes for this episode.

We want to get the word out quickly and efficiently, this reporter even mentioned directly confronting
the parties involved to get the answers to any questions that comes up and see what the consumer can do. Mind you they are not doing anything illegal so this is our only recourse. We as consumers have to stand up for consumers everywhere and get the right thing done.

If all we can get out is a news article or a 30 second clip on the news I am fine with that we just need you. Can you answer the call? Do you have what it takes to be the teeth of this argument to attempt to put a stop to what is blatantly a sham? Email me at [email protected]

[Music Interlude]

We are going to take a few minutes and talk about all the google scams that are running around as well as touch on company that is running these scams, we will touch base on what else they are running as well. Most of these sites include some claims to get you all excited which are false, such as on Kevin Hoeffers domains it normally says follow these steps to making riches with Google

“Step 1: Go to this link, fill out a basic online form and hit submit to get your Google Money Kit. Pay the $1.95 for shipping.
Step 2: Follow the directions in the Google Money Kit and set up a Google account. Then they will give you the website links to post. Start posting those links. Google tracks everything.
Step 3: Google will start sending their first check to you in about a week or two. Or you can start to have them wire directly into your checking account. (Your first checks will be about $500 to $1,500 a week. Then it goes up from there. Depends on how many links you posted online.)”

Here is one problem since I use AdSense and have been using it for a while you do not get a check every week Google mails checks monthly and normally about 1 month behind. Meaning I will get Octobers earnings near the end of November. I also enjoy that you pay 1.95 for shipping but download the ebook in many cases.

They also show all these big checks that are obviously fake, like the name does not curve with the check, or other various oddities but the biggest one of them all is that if you run the routing numbers on the checks against routingnumbers.org you will find that the routing numbers on the check do not even exists. And looking closely at the check it seems like the checks I can print out using Quicken.

So how did this scam propagate Not to long ago Facebook, MySpace and other social media sites were inundated with ads for making money with Google, and articles about Kevin Hoeffer the accountant, plumber, and other random jobs and his twins. We did some digging and found out a little information but when I went back to dig some more I found other companies as well doing the Google scams. It seems that the Kevin Hoeffer and related websites are actually affiliates for another organization.

The good news is Facebook removed the ads because they where against the terms of use for advertising in section 9 which talks about Subscription Services. They say that a subscription service must clearly and accurately display the price and billing interval on the landing page as well as any other page that take’s information, and that you must opt-in to the subscription knowingly. So what we as consumers can do on Facebook is investigate these ads and start reporting them. The actions of users is what got these ads removed so we must continue the fight.

When we look at all these affiliate sites they are all hidden by Domains by Proxy. Domains by Proxy was originally instituted to stop spam and other crap you get from being a registered domain holder. I still get a lot of solicitations from domains that are not registered by Domains by Proxy or some other private registration service. The problem is though nearly everyone that runs these types of scams uses the service to hide behind. So we are left with looking only at the terms of service and other information we can find on the payment site. I have found various payment pages and domains and it does not seem like one clear person behind it. So we are dropping all the affiliate sites and going to start digging into who is taking the payment.

When we look at the terms of service on several of these sites we see the terms of service says that it is and I quote “an Internet Property of CoastWest Holdings Ltd” CoastWest Holdings seems to run EarnFastCashWithGoogle, PureLift Ultra, Credit Report America, TvDirect2PC, Green EnergyMax, QuickOnlineCash Pro, Kyle Waitley, EasyWeightLoss Tea, OnlineJobsFast, GoogleSuccess Kit, Johns Workout Tips, GovGrantsDirect, Tina Teeth Whitening Success, PureCleanse, Guarana Pro, Premium Acai Burn, DazzleWhite, Easy White Teeth, MaxProfitSecrets, ResvEdge, and several other sites. Now this list looks familiar, so when we start looking at the terms and conditions of the sites and finding the toll free numbers for the supposed cancelation line, we notice that some of them are related to Click Money, and Some of them relate to NetPro Marketing but when I look at some of the other numbers I found an post on ripoffreport.com, you can find the link to this post in the show notes. This post was from Mark A at Just Think Media who claims that DazzleWhite is a Just Think Media Product, as well as AcaiBurn, PureCleanse, ResV, Credit Report America, Fraud Protection, Insider Secrets, Resv, PureLiftCream, Google Scams, Grant Related, and ID Theft protection. He was kind enough in the email to include all the toll free numbers they are supporting for the products they own and promote.

When we google a few of those they are all related to the scams we are talking about, Okay so we now know who is taking payment on these sites or getting the money from them and that is Just Think Media. Just Think Media is not kind enough to have any real information on the website they run at justthinkmedia.com but they do post jobs on careerbuilder.ca and they say the jobs are located in Sherwood Park Alberta Canada. So that is where Just Think Media seems to be run by a gentleman names Jesse Willms which you can find about jessewillms.com and he claims to own Just Think Media.

Jesse Willms started supposedly selling software on Ebay, and started E-Direct he claims this was a 35 million dollar a year business, he got sued big because he was getting software from Jordan and selling it. In which he settled with Microsoft for an excess of 1 million dollars, Symantec also sued him for a few million. Microsoft’s Statement was and I quote “EDirectSoftware.com one of the largest offenders has already agreed to settle Microsoft’s lawsuit out of court for more than 1 million in cash and property.”.

So after these lawsuits did he resort to scamming? We want your help now to find more information on the people and products we have talked about, so chime in with your information and we can share it next week on As Seen on Television.

[Music Interlude]

So all this talk about scams and shams brings us to our next topic and that is 10 signs to a scam. In order to prevent ourselves from falling victim we must be able to find what is legit and what is not. So we will quickly go over the 10 signs of a scam.

1.) Dont assume that any ad is legit even on trusted sites, web publishers like Scam Times does not endorse the ads on the site and a lot of the times we dont even review or see the ads, Some are shown from the context of the page like Google AdSense. I would say 90% of the ads that show up on scamtimes.com to be a scam, maybe I will use them when I need new content.

2.) Never buy if you feel pressured. If someone is pressuring you for the sale they do not want you to think they just want what you have in your pocket. Always take time to think about the proposal and make sure its right for you, This even goes for buying a car or a house.

3.) Never trust the use of logos, people are constantly using logos like Google, CNN, ABC and others to make you feel comfortable that is all they want you to do, if you see a logo look for a disclaimer every site that uses a logo when it is not endorsed will put some type of information up so they will not get sued.

4.) Dont be tricked by the no experience needed, no skill needed, huge wages and get rich quick. These types of ideas are designed to bring in the people who are in trouble financially or needing something quickly, its to get you hopeful and normally will not work for what you are looking for.

5) Never give out your personal information just to get some information a lot of these sites want your information to see if you qualify those are a red flag and you should never do it. I am willing to bet 100% of people with a credit card qualify.

6.) Read all the fine print, there are links to the terms of service and you should read every line of the terms of service before you ever put your credit card number in. One thing I never thought about until now is that just because you did not hit submit does not mean your credit card number is not known. With JavaScript and the web 2.0 thing just entering the information into the text box will allow the developer of the site to send the information back to the server. I will have to think about this some more but just came to me.

7) Men do not be fooled by the fine women, fancy cars, and wine they are trying to show you the great life to get you wanting it, by saying that you can have this life by purchasing this product they are getting you thinking about the lifestyle and not what they are selling.

8) Never be fooled by a pop up of a live agent on these sites, they are not live agents and all they have is a programmed script to get you to buy. They also just want you to stay on the site. Last one I ran across I asked it “What is the cause of global warming” I was told” This is a once in a lifetime offer, you do not want to miss this!”

9) Always use a search engine before buying anything. take the name of the product and type it into google and ad the word scam such as see what you see. You can not base your whole decision on this however because it could be just a disgruntled person. But always try to find as much information as possible out about the product or service you are about to buy.

10.) Always use your instinct if it’s not feeling right walk away, you will not be happy in the end. Even if the offer is legit and you do not feel good about it you probably will not excel at it. Your feelings have a lot to do with success.

[Music Interlude]

Next week we will discuss ClickMoney and other scams and shams that are floating around on the internet, this has been As Seen on Television presented by Scam Times. If you would like to sponsor a show or be on one of our shows you can go to scamtimes.com and let us know. We look forward to next weeks episode and hope that you do as well, This is Matt Jezorek signing off, Be Safe and Be Smart!