Internet Business Scam Alert!

rwskate · #1 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 10:41 AM

I wasn't sure exactly which forum to post this on, but I wanted to alert everyone of a online business scam to watch for. Before I came across Lisa's website(s) I 'signed up' for 'Internet Secrets' using Google and ClickBank and they charged me $25, for, which I thought I was getting a book, instead I received a 2-page PDF file explaining how a women by the name of Jean (www.3500weekly.com) will 'create my website' for me, get traffic via Google and Clickbank for me and I can start making money between 4-16 and I don't have to do a single thing! Yeah right.

After doing research, they are listed on BBB's website as having several complaints against them as well as being listed several times on ripoff report.com.

Although you do excited when you come across things like this, I have learned, it's better to be careful, take your time and NOT feel forced to sign up for anything. I filed my own complaint with the BBB and will get my money back and yes, $25 (ClickBank deducted the monies from my account) isn't a lot of money, but it's money going in someone's else pocket for being dishonest and that is not right.

Renee

lisa · #2 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 11:00 AM

Thanks, Renee. Perhaps I should create another section here for scams because this is good to know. I get a lot of emails from people who ask me about programs and 95% of them are not legit or fishy.

Many people get lured in by "ready website" claims because it does sound enticing if you don't have to build a site yourself. But the problem with any program or product that promises to instantly build your site is usually bad. First of all people become successful because of their useful, UNIQUE content. Most of these programs are creating duplicate sites, which are a big no-no as far as the search engines are concerned.

Secondly, what if you want to edit this site with your own content, how would you do that if the person is hosting the site on their servers? These people sicken me because they lure in beginners who are new to internet marketing and they know how to appeal to them by telling them what they want to hear.

Thanks, Renee. This is good to know.

rwskate · #3 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 11:26 AM

Lisa,

I think you should create a new forum - definitely. There's so many internet scams out there it's CRAZY. Unbeliveable how the internet has turned into a way for folks to lie, cheat and steal to try to get ahead. I wish we could all do something as a group, create a website where we all blog with any information as regards to internet scams.....h-m-m-m-m, not a bad idea

I think everyone needs to be aware. And I come across any others, I will definitely let you know as well as update everyone on how I make out with these folks. In the meantime, if you need more information, believe or not, I have plenty of things to share, all personal experience and from others I personally know.

Renee

TechieGuy · #4 (**permalink**) 07-26-2007, 07:33 PM

It seems everyone is looking to make money over the Internet. Unfortunately, many are hoping to make money very quickly with as little work as possible, and that is where they can be cheated out of their money. They need to remember one rul: "if it seems too good to be true, it probably is".

Lajocar · #5 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 05:15 AM

Well this a big problem that we have in society.
People want fast cars, fast food, ... fast (quick) money

You can make very fast money .. if you win the lotto
This is highly unlikely

I would say leave the get rich quick schemes and get your hand dirty and work towards your goals.

Tyger · #6 (**permalink**) 08-27-2007, 02:56 PM

I think everyone needs to remember you reap what you sow. no effort = no rewards, and to the opposite effect to get big rewards = lots of effort.

mesamunefire · #7 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007, 05:21 PM

you can try craigslist for people in your area to do things for you (like creating a website, server applications, ect) i make alot of money doing website and server stuff there and the people get to see me personally.
If you live near a university of some sort...thats even better. You can get colleg students that are passionate about what they do t create your website for peanuts (like myself)

And i do agree there should be a forum about scam artists. I know ive been messed up with scams, i tried to find a free .com provider (when i first started out). The closest I could find is the .co.nr name that I have now.

Well hope that helps!

PeterM · #8 (**permalink**) 09-20-2007, 06:20 PM

I have written the content myself for my site. I have been speaking to the website of a fairly big site in my niche, he is interested in publishing my content on his website and linking back to my site. I thought this would might help with traffic and backlinks a little. Would google penalize my site if my content is being used elseware as well?

jdanswers · #9 (**permalink**) 10-15-2007, 10:00 PM

I have been blogging on Blogger since May 2006. I was a total newb and learned a lot about editing html thanks to the Blogger platform and helpful folks in Google Groups. I now have 15 monetized niche blogs.

Blogger is free so I took the advice of some "guru's" and got 3 actual paid domain names at NameCheap and paid hosting at HostMonster. I thought I was ready to rock! Then I ran into trouble because I looked for turnkey niche sites that I could add content to and add other streams of income besides Adsense and Amazon.

This led me to being ripped off, yesterday, to the tune of $80.00 for two turnkey websites that the seller (PARLOT.COM) uploaded to my host for me. What he failed to mention (and I failed to ask about) was - the sites were created in .php and could not be edited in html without incuring a bigger bill from him to do the editing because he didn't have time to give me the steps to do it myself.

To add to my shame, I bought the sites without a money back guarantee (dummy me! impatient me!) and I am out the money. On the plus side, I now own over 300 ebooks and software I can sell on a wide range of niche topics at any price I choose. I might just give them away through my blogs to build an opt-in list

I will go after this guy through PayPal and my credit card company.

I almost got ripped off one other time, for $17, PayPal did nothing but my credit card company gave me a $17 credit back. That guy, Jamie Iaconis, had a 100% No Questions Asked Money Back Guarantee! He was in the famed Warrior Forum (and still is). So, even being cautious is no protection with hard core thieves.

Anyway, undaunted, I continued my search for niche websites today. I typed "HTML website templates" into Yahoo Search and 2createawebsite came up #2 and here I am.

I have read tons of info on learning html and I must compliment Lisa on her clear and concise tutorials. They are great! I downloaded everything. I also downloaded an HTML template to play around with.

So, for what it's worth, I look forward to visiting here, contributing, and learning.

Jim

lisa · #10 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 09:17 AM

Hi Jim

Thanks for letting us know about those programs. It may prevent others from falling for them. I really hate to hear about all these companies ripping folks off. It makes it hard for the legit companies who are really doing good things and have awesome products.

Glad you found us and enjoy your stay!

jdanswers · #11 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 09:45 AM

I truly meant what I said about your tutorials. They are sooo simple to follow because you made them that way. Believe me, I know, because I slugged through the html learning process. I wish I had your tutorials in the beginning.

Speaking of tutorials......

Have you thought about creating tutorials for your free templates?

How to add a .gif logo - do this...

How to add/delete categories/products - do this...

How to set up a shopping cart - do this....

Or perhaps start a forum category for coding help. I realize that there are paid services for this kind of help but lots of folks (like me) have limited funds.

Just a thought.

Jim

lisa · #12 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jdanswers

Speaking of tutorials......

Have you thought about creating tutorials for your free templates?

How to add a .gif logo - do this...

How to add/delete categories/products - do this...

How to set up a shopping cart - do this....

Or perhaps start a forum category for coding help. I realize that there are paid services for this kind of help but lots of folks (like me) have limited funds.

Just a thought.

Jim

There actually is a forum here for coding/HTML help.
http://www.websitebabble.com/html-ja...her-scripting/

I'm always trying to improve my site and try to think of useful tutorials. My next big goal is writing a book that I will offer for free on making money, etc. and really details the process I've followed over the years, and how to avoid common mistakes.

But a template tutorial is a great idea and perhaps I will consider doing that sometime in the near future. I'll put that on my long list of "to do's" in the next few months.

Thanks for the feedback!

jdanswers · #13 (**permalink**) 10-16-2007, 09:55 PM

I did see that portion of the forum and the others too. I have been working my way through, reading everything. Good stuff. Helpful.

I realize the biggest hurdle for all newbies is understanding the "language" and how things work together to make a website do what you want it to do. It really is like learning a second or third language, isn't it.

Maybe I can break the template into the pieces I don't understand, post the code for those pieces (one at a time) in the proper forum and simply ask:

What does this do?

Do you think this approach might be a good idea?

Jim

lisa · #14 (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 10:22 AM

That might get confusing. It might just be better to get the whole/template page online "as is" and then go to the forum and say "How do I make this column larger" or something like that. And link to your page.

It helps when people can see the actual page, often times rather than the code. Or you can post a general question like, "How do I change the colors of my links" or something like that. I'm not sure posting snippets of code is the way to go.

webdev · #15 (**permalink**) 10-17-2007, 04:14 PM

Hey Jim,

everyone makes mistakes when starting out. That's okay. Before buying into anything always check the credibility of the merchant. See if the merchant has its own blog or site or giving out his email address so you can contact him later.

You mentioned opt-in list in your post. I couldn't help noticing it because just recently i learned that to grow your affiliate business you need to build a opt-in list of you visitors which are basically are your customers.

webdev

WB Sponsors