Update 4/29/2009 – On April 24, 2009 the Texas Attorney General filed charges against the owners of Google Money Tree for operating a fraudulent Work-At-Home Scheme:
“AUSTIN – Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged two Utah-based defendants with operating a fraudulent work-at-home scheme. The state’s enforcement action names Infusion Media Inc. and Jonathan D. Eborn, whose “GoogleMoneyTree.com” promised six-figure earnings for conducting specialized Google and Yahoo Internet searches
According to investigators, the defendants promised big payouts in order to convince Web users to spend $3.88 on shipping and handling for a “free kit” that supposedly would show them how to make money from home. Those who purchased the kit were later surprised to discover they were being charged $72 a month by the defendants.”
“According to the state’s enforcement action, GoogleMoneyTree failed to clearly inform purchasers that they had been enrolled in monthly memberships and had only seven days to cancel their trial membership. Purchasers who failed to cancel within seven days were automatically charged $72 on their credit card statements each month. In addition to the unexpected credit card charges, customer complaints obtained by state investigators indicate that GoogleMoneyTree failed to actually send the “free kit” and refused to honor customer refunds.
The state is seeking an injunction, civil penalties of up to $20,000 per violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, as well as restitution for purchasers. Texans who believe they have been misled by similar business practices may file complaints with the Office of the Attorney General toll-free at (800) 252-8011 or file complaints online at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov.”
Update 2/6/2009: Since this was originally posted Google Money Tree – also known as Internet Money Tree - has made significant improvements (in my opinion) to their sales process.
If you are going to post a comment – and are able to do so – please post the original date that you ordered Internet Money Tree as it would be interesting – and could be helpful – to match those dates up with the version of the Internet Money Tree sales page that was current at the time.
Note: This is NOT an endorsement of Internet Money Tree, but an acknowledgement of improvements (again, in my opinion) that were made to their sales process.
End 2/6/2009 update.
Hey Internet Money Tree – you can run, but you cannot hide. Whassa matter l’il Money Tree – did you get tired of people screaming and yelling at you in our discussion about the notorious Google Money Tree version of yourself?
Remember what Gertrude Stein once wrote…
“A rose is a rose is a rose”
Or in your case:
“A skunk is a skunk is a skunk”
Most of you can skip this paragraph: (For all you poetry fanatics and English Lit majors who are planning to come down on me for misinterpreting Gertrude Stein’s phrase…according to this article in WikiPedia I’m in good company. 
Basically Internet Money Tree – I’m PRETTY sure that YOU STINK.
But I’m going to walk through your order process and see what you’re up to these days and how the InternetMoneyTree ordering process works:
Note: I’m hunting down the original sales page for InternetMoneyTree.com and will continue writing this after I find it. If you happen to know where it is, please let me know – or if you know where you saw it advertised.
I was subjected to moneytree as well. I paid $3.88 for shipping and handling and then was charged $72.21 for a membership that I did not want. I cancelled within the 7 days and was told to bad by a number of representatives that they would not refund my money. I called my bank they are going to take care of the charges and file fraud charges against google. I thought google was suppose to be a creditable company but you can never tell now a days. I also filed a complaint to the better business bureau of Las Vegas, Nevada telling them of the situation also.
Al, Internet Money Tree – also known as Google Money Tree have nothing to do with Google. GoogleMoneyTree is using Google’s name without Google’s permission.
Today I woke up and had had enough. I started calling google tree, I MEAN I STARTED CALLING! If they said something I didn’t like I’d hang-up and call again. For about 4 hours I called and called (I’m disabled so I just sit here anyway) I didn’t Stop. They started getting $issed. Finally the owner called me and threatened me with a law suit. After chewing him out I asked if liked stealing money from people, he told me “YES if we were stupid enough to answer his add then we needed to lose our money” My advice is to CALL AND KEEP CALLING. Every minute during hours hang-up and call again don’tr stop don’t slow down do all day start a movement if you will just keep Calling. Drive these scum out of business. Find a web site to meet and just go postal on these #astards!
So I got suckered to. Thru myspace. I understood it that I would be billed a one time 3.88 no mention of any monthly charge. No mention of being billed if I didnt cancel in 7 days..or I would have.
Just got off the phone with my credit card company. Not true unauthorized charge they say becuz I gave them my card number. They say its more a case of fraud, and they will take my complaint.. but that its not likely they can help me.
and in the meantime they want to replace my card, which means I will spend hours online adjusting all my autopayments. /sigh
T. Charles
@Trish Charles: I find it really ironic that you are whining about getting suckered since you run a website puretnt.com that routinely rips people off. You took my money, never sent anything and then proceeded to ignore all my emails.
Karma.
@Ripped Off: I love how you don’t put your name or email or any indicator of who you are. Sounds like sour grapes. More than likely over a personal interaction than any interaction with the site she owns.
Anyone who has ever done ANY transaction that involves Paypal, including shopping on that site, knows that it’s extremely easy to get a refund if as you claim you got “nothing “. You file your dispute, and the seller has a very short time to provide proof via a tracking number than can be confirmed that they delivered, or you get a prompt refund. It’s just that simple.
In fact it’s SO simple that sellers often get ripped off, shipping to addresses or locations or via shipping methods with poor tracking. The buyer simply says they didn’t get their order and when the seller cant provide shipping confirmation, a refund is given.
For it to have happened as you claim, would mean that you are INCREDIBLY stupid. Any contact with PayPal would have prompted you to be made aware of your dispute right and a refund would have been on it’s way to you.
I shop any site that uses paypal as their gateway with confidence.
A. Mintara
yes I am also a victim of this scam and I’m out 3.88+71.21 how can we out this and who can we report this to. what do I do now? I am so tired of greed and the humans who thrive on it!!
Kathy,
We have the instructions for filing complaints in This discussion of Google Money Tree.
It’s the same company using a different name.
Paul
Kathy,
Sounds like the same folks got you and me, lets pool our resources and see what we can do. I paid for mine on a debit card.. the charge is still pending. Im curious to know if funds are held when the charge pends or not. If not Then one would think I could pull my money out of my account and that 71.21 charge wouldnt clear thru. But pends also sit on your account for 30 days before dropping off. AND it depends on if your debit charge lts it clear and puts you into a overdrawn state, possibly incurring more fees or not.
I keep hoping for an angle or way to freeze this while I deal with trying to undo the damage.
Trish
Trish@PureTNT.com
Trish call your bank, dispute the charges. They can get your money back, ALL of it. Make sure you cancel your card, if you don’t they will recharge your card.
Trish it takes up to ten days to get back the money, but you will get it back. My bank got all my money back, just dispute the charges.
Jerry,
My other question for you is did your bank ask how they got your number to charge you? Paypal implied that it wasn’t an unauthorized charge as I gave them my CC number. And that it fell more under fraud. Their online claim filing process requires I choose one avenue of complaint or the other.. so I need to choose wisely as I cant undo it.
Trish
Trish@pureTNT.com
Trish, My bank didn’t even ask and I offered no info. I did ask if they will get my money back and she said sure no problem it may up too 10 days but you will get it back. # days later and there it has. She also was the one that I should cancel card because they would try again to charge me. I did say that I never heard of googletree and didn’t know how they got my card number.(little white lie)
I mean 3 days later and the money was back in my acct.. Both charges the 3.88 and the 72.21. As for Paypal if it were me? I’d just tell them someone else took your card, if its not too late. If Paypal is defending googletree’s type of practice rather then looking out for YOU the consumer, %ELL with them you deserve better. I hoped this helped. If not we’ll still put our heads together and keep trying. We can’t stop now keep plugging away. I know to lie is wrong, but when we have deal with these kind of cheats sometimes it just has to be done.
I signed up and read the terms and conditions… i cancelled on the sixth day and avioded being charged.
glad i read the blog before i getting ^ucked out of my money! Sorry you had such experiences, hope all will find resolution. Google Money Tree is a fraud! Google should take measures to clear their name if their stand by their disclaimer that they are in no way affiliated with Google MoneyTree. Only makes sense. If they don’t it would be clear that these two hooligan companies are in bed with each other.
I enjoyed your blog. Well done mate, this is a very useful topic for many people / businesses.
“Internet Money Tree is not affiliated with, endorsed by or in any way associated with Google.”
-fine print at the bottom of their page!
I read their terms of service before I did anything, and it’s spelled out right there that they intend to charge $70 every month for the privilege of using their service. I didn’t see anything about what exactly that service is, and of course they disclaim any promise that you’ll make any money.
omg..i seriously dont know what to do. i want my money back…the same thing happened to be.i know i gave them my card # for the shippin amount but i didnt realize i was goin to be charged $72..i dont know on whether i should go my bank and see what they can do for me or not..the fact is that i gave them my card info, so doesnt that mean its my fault in a way…i just want my $ back..
Well I filed with paypal with whom I paid with. canceled and replaced my card to prevent subsequent charges. They are supposedly filing the claim on my behalf. As of this date I have not yet recieved a refund of the 72.00 charge.
Some cheesy ass cd did arrive in the mail about 3 weeks after the incident. As if I would pay that for that cd.
trish
Googlemoneytree.com or Internetmoneytree.com SUCKS…
Well, I wish I had found this website before I got charged $72.21 !!! I called and spoke to someone got no help. She told me that there was a 7 day cancellation policy that I didn’t know anything about. I said I want my money refunded to my account. They said we can’t help you. I did try to go to a log in that was sent to my email and it doesnt work.
I told them they better take my name of the list. She said well you could try and get the money from your bank and I wen to my bank and she wanted me to make a police report, but I never got my money back. They knew they already had me for the first installment. NO REFUND FOR ME.
When I asked to talk to a supervisor, she said her supervisor doesn’t take calls.
Whatever. $72.21 lost to the idiots….
TOTAL SCAM…DON’T GET SUCKED IN, NOT EVEN FOR THE $3.98 SHIPPING FOR THE “KIT” THAT NEVER COMES!
Googlemoneytree.com or Internetmoneytree.com SUCKS…
Well, I wish I had found this website before I got charged $72.21 !!! I called and spoke to someone got no help. She told me that there was a 7 day cancellation policy that I didn’t know anything about. I said I want my money refunded to my account. They said we can’t help you. I did try to go to a log in that was sent to my email and it doesnt work.
I told them they better take my name of the list. She said well you could try and get the money from your bank and I wen to my bank and she wanted me to make a police report, but I never got my money back. They knew they already had me for the first installment. NO REFUND FOR ME.
When I asked to talk to a supervisor, she said her supervisor doesn’t take calls.
Whatever. $72.21 lost to the idiots….
TOTAL SCAM…DON’T GET SUCKED IN, NOT EVEN FOR THE $3.98 SHIPPING FOR THE “KIT” THAT NEVER COMES!
Call your State Attorney General’s office and give them all the information (including the website URL) on what happened and the phone conversations. Some states require this type of business to record the conversations. Many states are going after these types of businesses. Sadly, the terms and conditions you agree to make this transaction legal, but there are other regulations that some of these outfits don’t adhere to (like the recording of the conversation) that the business regulation people can take action on. Make the call and put the heat on these frauds.
I got scammed too. I paid a dollar something for the shipping because they were having a half price special. Then today I got a charged for $72. I called them and the rep said that she can’t give me my money back, but they can offer me a 6-month free trial thing. So I just cancelled it.
Then I called BOA, but they said they can’t file a dispute until the transaction is no longer pending so I have to wait for them.
Then I called moneytree again (866-407-6539). It was a different girl. She told me the same thing. I also confirmed that my account was cancelled. I tried to get a refund from her, but she basically said that it was in the agreement that I’ve checked. I told her that I never got anything from them since I’ve signed up. She said that they’ve sent an email with my username and password, but I never got it. They kept saying that it’s a 7-day trial period, but I never got anything to TRY! Then she said that once I get the cd, I can return it and get a RGA number and then they will refund my money. I asked when I will get it and she said in about 2 or 3 weeks. Also, since the CD was suppose to come later, that’s why they give you the username and password. Oh, and when I asked her which email they send it to, she said, “why don’t you tell me and I’ll confirm it…” or something like that. WTF! I should have said a fake e-mail and see if I can catch them in the act or something.
I even asked for a part of the refund and they said no. What kind of company is this?
Then she cut me off and was like, “is there anything else I can help you with today?” after I started complaining about how this is all a scam.