I am really, really confused now…and on so many different levels.

Let me explain…

First of all MyHomeWealth.com claims to be run by a man named Scott Davenport. However, the picture used is the same picture used as "Lanty Paul" on the AutoCashSystem site – which was discussed in the write up AutomatedWealthSystem here.

But what's more astounding is that TWO of the testimonials use images from the fake Make Money Posting Links On Google blogs discussed here. And ONE of the testimonials for MyHomeWealth uses the everpresent "editor" image from the Fake News Sites discussed here.

Stock Photo testimonial photos on MyHomeWealthSystem.com

1. Lee and Rachel Walker's testimonial: "You saved us from remortgaging"
   Click here to see "Lee and Rachel's" photo at iStockPhoto
2. Evin Hewitt's testimonial: "Thank you Scott, it has been a pleasure working with you".
   Click here to see "Evin Hewitt's" photo at iStockPhoto
3. David Cranberry's testiminial: "WOW! It really works!"
   Click here to see "David Cranberry's" photo at iStockPhoto
4. Grant & Cassie Brook's testimonial: "I handed in my resignation last week!"
   Click here to see "Grant & Cassie Brook" at iStockPhoto
5. Bill Josephs testimonial: "You will never regret this!"
   Click here to see "Bill Joseph" at iStockPhoto
6. Annie Thomas makes the amazingly prophetic statement: "Better than the real thing".
   Click here to see "Annie Thomas" at iStockPhoto
7. John Shepard: "I’ve never seen anything like this before".
   Click here to see "John Shepard" at iStockPhoto
8. Sandeep Jahred: "Unbelievable. Tripled my wages overnight".
   Click here to see "Sandee Jahred" at iStockPhoto
9. Thomas Anderson: "Not like any other programme I have ever seen".
   Click here to see Thomas at iStockPhoto
10. Brad and Shirley Scott: "Great results!"
    Click here to see "Brad and Shirley" at iStockPhoto
11. James Carter: "Wow! This site totally blew me away!"
    Click here to see "James Carter" at iStockPhoto
12. Pete and Sarah Thompson: "An absolutely amazing programme."
    Click here to see "Pete and Sarah" Thompson at iStockPhoto
13. John and Anna: "Excellent websystem."
    Click here to see John and Anna at iStockPhoto

Kevin Hoeffer and friends invade MyHomeWealthSystem!

3 of the "Testimonial photos" at MyHomeWealthSystem really stand out because they are the same stock photos used on several Kevin Hoeffer and "Make Money Posting Links On Google" sites.

1. The "John Shepard" photo was used in a full page magazine display ad to promote KevinBlogSite.org
2. The Lee and Rachel Walker photo has been seen on many "Kevin Hoeffer/Make Money Posting Links On Google" type sites
3. And "Bill Joseph" is somewhat of a fake celebrity on the Fake News Sites

Red Ferrari photo file meta-information

I'm not ready to jump to any conclusions on this yet, but I do find it interesting that the photo of the Red Ferrari was apparently edited using the Adobe ImageReady bitmap graphics editor according to analysis of it's internal meta-information at ServerSniff:

Red Ferrari Meta Info

MyHomeWealthSystem CLAIMS that leading magazines have voted it the number 1 work from home opportunity

MyHomeWealthSystem Voted Number 1?

Yes, you are reading that right. MyHomeWealthSystem claims that Fortune, BusinessWeek, Entrepreneur, Forbes, and Home Business Magazine have voted it the "number 1 work from home opportunity".

LOL!!!

Are tons of people refunding MyHomeWealthSystem?

According to MyHomeWealthSystem's own "Positions Left" counter MyHomeWealthSystem must get refunded at an alarming rate.

Check out the "Positions Left" history at MyHomeWealthSystem today…

Positions left at 6:38 PM today according to MyHomeWealthSystem:

MyHomeWealthSystem - Positions left at 6:38 PM Today

Positions left at 6:45 PM today according to MyHomeWealthSystem:

MyHomeWealthSystem - positions left 6:46

Positions left at 6:48 PM today according to MyHomeWealthSystem:

MyHomeWealthSystem - positions left at 6:48

So according to MyHomeWealthSystem's own "Positions Remaining" counter, 10 people refunded the product in 10 minutes – or 1 refund/minute. If that were a consistent rate it would be 1,440 refunds per day, 10,080 refunds a week, and 524,160 refunds a year!

I mean…unless it's a fake counter or something crazy like that….nah…it has to be real…right?

Get My Home Wealth System for $9.95 – if for some bizarre reason you actually want it

To prove to you how valuable My Home Wealth System is they offer it at various discounts. I got the following page that offered it to me for a $40.00 discount:

My Home Wealth System 40 Dollar Discount

Don't ask me how you get the $40.00 discount on MyHomeWealthSystem. You just have to poke around for a while. Also, don't ask me why in the world you would even want the $40.00 discount.

If anyone would like to report their experience with the product, please be sure to include an iStockPhoto picture of yourself in your comment.

Thank you.

Craig Davidson - A.K.A. as IStockPhoto 7068613

Recently I was asked to take a look at a product called Certified Cash Club – a product allegedly created by Craig Davidson (also known as IStockPhoto photo 7068613).

Certified Cash Club makes the bizarre, yet seemingly excited proclamation that it has been seen on Twitter, YouTube, Digg, StumbleUpon, and Squidoo…all of which are sites just about anyone could load information up to. In other word, making a claim like that at the top of a sales page is tantamount to saying either "I have no idea what I'm talking about" or "I hope you are too stupid to realize that none of this means anything at all".

Of course CertifiedCashClub also seems very excited about "being seen" on FaceBook, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo. As usual "HOW" they were seen isn't explained. Did they possibly BUY ADVERTISING on those sites to "Be Seen"?

Of interest is the fact that they didn't list "Google" in the "As Seen On" logo at the top. I mean, I just searched on Google and I "saw" CertifiedCashClub.com "on Google"…I also "saw" a picture of an Astronaut "on Google":

I "see" Certified Cash Club "on Google"...I "see" a picture of an astronaut "on Google"....

Thomas Bennett - a.k.a. iStockPhoto 4253221 loves all things certified

Thomas Bennett has ventured outside his comfort zone as a stock photo on the stock photo site iStockPhoto and worked his way up as a collector of all things certified.

Here he sits with his certified family in front of his certified home posing for a certified photographer. The youngest one is technically not certified yet, but she does have a certified binky (pacifier).

Michael Thompson - a.k.a. iStockPhoto 7256206 giving his "I got me some certified cash" look

Michael Thompson, also a regular of stock photo site iStockPhoto recently revealed that his glasses are fake and that he maintains his dazzling white pearly teeth by eating certified organic fruits and vegetables.

Oddly, right above the two testimonials that have images that can be found on iStockPhoto is the statement:

"Now I do know that every other formula, system, method, etc. out there only tells you how to generate money using only one not too useful tactic. WELL, YOU HAVE BEEN LIED TO AND RIPPED OFF."

What is the Certified Cash Club refund rate?

Also, another fact that seems to be in dispute is their refund rate. For example, according to the image below, Certified Cash Club claims that their refund rate is 4%, but CBEngine.com claims the refund rate on Certified Cash Club is 33.21%.

So, let's review what we have so far:

We have a photo of Craig Davidson, the alleged founder of CertifiedCashClub sitting on the stock photo site iStockPhoto.

We have a photo of Thomas Bennett and his family – the first person giving a testimonial for CertifiedCashClub.com - on the stock photo site iStockPhoto.

We have a photo of Michael Thompson – the second person giving a testimonial for CertifiedCashClub.com – on the stock photo site iStockPhoto.

We have CertifiedCashClub claiming that their refund rate is 4% and CBEngine.com claiming that the refund rate on Certified Cash Club is 33.21%.

And we have a picture of an astronaut on the moon to demonstrate that the words "as seen on" can't be properly interpreted without proper context.

What should one believe about Certified Cash Club's claim of their average member's earnings?

Certified Cash Club's Income Claim

I noticed that Certified Cash Club's optin form includes the statement "MEMBERS EARNING AN AVERAGE OF $253.91 EVERY SINGLE DAY". If I am interpreting that claim correctly it would mean that they are claiming that the average member earns $92,677.15 per year.

Should you believe this claim? That's up to you. I am merely presenting my observations of various elements of the sales page that cause me some concern. They should NOT be construed as absolute proof of anything, but merely indicators that you may want to include in your decision making process.

What would I do personally if I were considering a product like Certified Cash Club? I'd pass on the product. There are simply too many indicators that cause concern for me.

And obviously the claims on KevinBlogSite have to be real right? After all the site KevinBlogSite.org is promoting – SimplePayChecks.com has proclaimed that it is "Trusted on CNN!" I mean – obviously that has to be true right? People can't just make up stuff like this and publish it on the web can they? Can they?

I mean sure there have been thousands of other FAKE sites that promise us that we can make $5,000 posting links on Google, but this one is different right? After all, Kevin tells us that he spent "almost a year trying to find a real, legitimate way to work at home… kept getting scammed…(and in) March I finally found the only legitimate, scam-free way to work from home. I signed up and made $1541.62 my first week!"

Yeh, I know that Michael Brown wrote this article about the Make Money Posting Links on Google Scam, but surely someone that takes out a FULL-PAGE ad in Small Business Opportunities Magazine (which apparently costs $10,130.00 for a full-page 2-color ad)…surely they wouldn't spend that type of money to tell a story that they are completely making up, would they? I mean…they could get in trouble! Uh oh.

Anyhow, I was so excited about KevinBlogSite that I even made a video about it:

Anyone know where I can buy a giant yellow envelope?

(More to come…)

Related pages:

• Make Money Posting a Link on Google Scam
• KevinsMoneyTree.org and SanDiego-Tribune-News.com
• Does KevinBlogSite.org really work?

"Felix Rodriguez" - a.k.a. iStock Photo 000006808979

"Felix Rodriguez" – a.k.a. iStockPhoto 000006808979 loves DataMoneyOnline so much that he wants to MARRY it!

Testimonial roundup at DataMoneyOnline

• "Felix Rodriguez" – currently married to DataMoneyOnline.com (happily I presume)
• "Linda Liu" who tells us that she was "ready not to believe"
• "Dorothy Gale" who requested not to be quoted (I guess not even fictitious characters have rights these days, since DataMoneyOnline quoted her anyhow)
• "Alexa Nichols" who asks the quite foreboding question, "Now who’s an idiot, huh?"
• "Livvy Feldman" who threw away her entire career as a web designer after stumbling across the DataMoneyOnline.com website.
• And…"Stu T. James" – his buddies call him "Stu". Actually I don't know what his buddies call him since his name probably isn't "Stu T. James", but if it was "Stu T. James" they'd probably call him "Stu".

Was the "Gene Truman" photo stolen?

I couldn't find the photo of founder "Gene Truman" on any stock photo sites, but the photo itself looks oddly familiar…I think it may be the photo of a member of a well-known marketing forum, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it yet. However, as you'll see later, if that IS the case the most likely explanation is that the photo was stolen.

What about video testimonials at DataMoneyOnline?

I know what you're thinking. Surely those video testimonials at DataMoneyOnline must be real, right? Right?

Video Testimonial Project on Elance

Pay close attention to the Job Description – especially the following part:

"I will give you a script you will have to memorize and speak out on a simple web cam."

NOTE: I have no proof that this is what DataMoneyOnline did, but apparently it is something that is done. Remember I found THREE such projects just quickly searching ONE freelance marketplace.

But fair is fair, right? After all DataMoneyOnline PROMISES not to charge you until you make money according to their Terms (sort of, anyhow):

"DataMoneyOnline.com is a unique program which guarantees that its members will make money within 24 hours of completion of the step-by-step free trial contained within the training program. Our system is designed to track the progress of our members as they complete each step of the training scheme – we will come to know when a User starts to make money using the system. It is only then that we will charge the card details provided by the User at the time of signing up for the free trial. We would like reinforce:

1. The User gives us the authority to charge their card as soon as he/she starts to make money using our program.
2. Submitting his/her cards details at the time of registration for the free trial acts as permission for the above clause.
3. No further permission/intimation will be required before charging the card.
4. We are permitted to charge the card only once.
5. We will not attempt to charge the card any further once the membership fee has been gained.
6. We will discard all personal data related to the card as soon as it has been charged, and will in no manner store it within our systems.

Since the User’s cards are charged only after money has started to be made, we cannot issue a refund once the card has been charged.

The above guarantee is applicable only if the User completes all the steps of the training within 24 hours of logging in to their account. All trials will be settled permanently if the User does not completes the training within 24 hours time frame, irrespective of making money or not."

OK. I know that sounds scary, but really look how easy it is…DataMoneyOnline even includes a 5 minute video RIGHT on their sales page that shows you how to make $1,000s! Here's a screenshot of it:

Just watch this easy 5 minute "Terms of Use Violation" static screenshot!

Hmm. OK. Maybe that wasn't the best example. But anyhow, apparently it's really easy to make thousands of dollars really, really fast.

Not to worry, you can easily resolve any dispute you might have via a quick trip to Kolkata, West Bengal, India according to their privacy policy (umm, why is that section in their privacy policy)? Here you go:

"Governing law

This policy and the use of this Site are governed by Indian law. If a dispute arises under this Policy we agree to first try to resolve it with the help of a mutually agreed-upon mediator in the following location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Any costs and fees other than attorney fees associated with the mediation will be shared equally by each of us.

If it proves impossible to arrive at a mutually satisfactory solution through mediation, we agree to submit the dispute to binding arbitration at the following location: Kolkata, West Bengal, India, under the rules of the American Arbitration Association. Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitration may be entered in any court with jurisdiction to do so."

I'm booking MY refund-getting flight NOW!

Checking prices on roundtrip flights to Kolkata

 This is a no-brainer. I would merely need to spend $1270.00 to pursue my $197.00 refund. Easy-peasy!

This could be ME pursuing my $197.00 refund!

This all seemed so familiar…

I had a nagging feeling throughout analyzing DataMoneyOnline that a lot of it seemed very familiar. But I checked through the WorkAtHomeTruth site and couldn't find any research I had done on DataMoneyOnline.

However, after a bit more digging I figured out what was going on.

There is another site I reviewed a while back called MakeMoneyStudio (reviewed here) which was loaded with stock photo testimonials.

Taking a look at nameservers, it turns out that both DataMoneyOnline.com and MakeMoneyStudio.com are sharing the following nameservers:

• ns1.datamoneyonline.com
• ns2.datamoneyonline.com

DataMoneyOnline.com name servers

MakeMoneyStudio.com name servers

Is this the work of ongoing marketing menace Vipul Gupta?

About a year ago I recall running across some questionable "Data Entry" sites run by someone allegedly named Vipul Gupta who seemed to be operating out of West Bengal, India.

Sure enough, DataEntryCompany.com not only shares the same name servers as DataMoneyOnline.com and MakeMoneyStudio.com:

DNS info for DataEntryCompany.com

DNS Info for DataEntryCorp.com

AND registrant information for DataEntryCompany.com is:

Domain Name: DATAENTRYCOMPANY.COM

Registrant:
    Eknowledge Marketing
    Vipul Gupta        (vipulkrgupta@gmail.com)
    AE 90, Rabindrapally
    Kestopur
    Kolkata
    West Bengal,700102
    IN

Which looks suspiciously similar to the registrant information for MakeMoneyStudio.com:

Domain Name: MAKEMONEYSTUDIO.COM

Registrant:
    eKnowledge Marketing
    eKnowledge Marketing        (eknowledgemarketing@gmail.com)
    Cj-129, Salt lake
    Kolkata
    null,700091
    IN

Bottom line: Avoid DataMoneyOnline.com

Where to file complaints:

• Federal Trade Commission – FTCComplaintAssistant.gov
• Internet Crime Complaint Center – IC3.gov
• Attorneys General offices of your State and the State out of which the company is operating - Use the NAAG list here
• Better Business Bureau – BBB Complaint Form

Filing disputes with your Credit Card company or Bank:

You can typically find out how to file disputes with your credit card company on the back of your billing statement and you can also read up about filing disputes with your credit card or bank at HelpWithYourBank.gov.

DataMoneyOnline.com takes off after the FTC crackdown

 Final note: Once again we see an extremely questionable site taking off like crazy just after the FTC Operation ShortChange crack down. DataMoneyOnline is shon trending towards 1 MILLION Unique visitors per month.

KevinsMoneyTree.org and Sandiego-Tribune-News. - Unique Visitors per Month per Compete

And no wonder. According to KevinsMoneyTree.org's Kevin Hoeffer seems to have the most amazing way of making money:

"Here's the basics of what I do. Google pays me between $5 and $30 for every web site link that I post. No one needs to buy anything from me or Google in order to get paid. I’ve been getting weekly paychecks working on my laptop at home."

Now, if somehow you've possibly managed to miss the thousands of fake sites like Kevin's that have flooded the internet over the past year, I suggest you read the article here about the Make Money Posting Links on Google Scam.

The AMAZING part is that the fake news site Sandiego-Tribune-News.com KevinsMoneyTree.org uses as "proof" for his system attracted 1.5 MILLION unique visitors AFTER the 7/1/2009 FTC Operation Short Change Scam Crackdown Press Release.

You can see how KevinsMoneyTree.org uses the fake San Diego Tribune News site as "proof" for his recommended SimplePayChecks system in the video below:

It's also interesting to notice how popular KevinsMoneyTree.org and Sandiego-Tribune-News.com are as of today considering the fact that Google started banning advertisers who promoted (potentially) questionable offers using the Google trademark without permission from Google.

I went ahead and clicked through to the SimplePayChecks.com site that KevinsMoneyTree.org and Sandiego-Tribune-News.com were promoting and went through the order process as you can see in the video below:

Obviously the part of the SimplePayChecks.com order process that stands out the most is on the order page where it states "By submitting this form, I agree to the Terms and conditions below." after which you see me scrolling all the way to the BOTTOM of the screen to find the terms and conditions which state:

"By submitting this form, I am activating the MyMoneyPlan three day trial. I also agree to the bonus trial of SearchProfitSystem for fourteen days. After the three day and fourteen day trial periods, I will be billed forty-nine dollars and eighty four cents for MyMoneyPlan and twenty eight dollars and seventy one cents for the SearchProfitSystem monthly thereafter until I choose to cancel either or both programs. I agree to the Privacy Policy / Terms and Conditions of this Web Site. Google does not sponsor or endorse, nor is it affiliated in any way with this site."

One important aspect of the terms and conditions listed at the bottom of the screen of SimplePaychecks.com is the fact that the dollar amounts are written out in WORDS.

According to Ken Adams, an expert on contract drafting and author of "A Manual of Style for Contract Drafting":

• "…numerals are easier to read than numbers expressed in words…" (see 10.1)
• "Drafters will often do the words-and-numerals thing when stating amounts of money: Acme shall pay Widgetco One Million Dollars ($1,000,000). The idea is that whereas numerals are easier to read than words, they’re more prone to typographic errors; adding words provides a safety net, as courts generally hold that if there’s a discrepancy between words and numerals, the words govern.But stating numbers in words and numerals distracts the reader and represents another possible source of inconsistency, yet adds little or nothing of value in return. If your proofreading isn’t up to making sure that when you say 12 you really mean 12, the words-and-numerals system isn’t going to save you."

The second quotation is part of the fuller article Stating Amounts of Money here.

But perhaps more relevant is the Texas Attorney Generals recent complaint filed against the company Infusion Media (d/b/a/ GoogleMoneyTree, GoogleTreasureChest, and InternetIncomeInitiative) where the AG states in items 18 & 19:

"18. Defendants have added an inconspicuous disclosure to each of its Web sites that describes the additional fees. For example the following representation is made on the GMT Payment Page, below the area where the consumers are asked to submit their credit card information:

To get your free kit, just enter the information on the right, and I'll get your kit shipped out fast. Also…for a limited time, not only will you get my entire GOOGLE MONEY TREE KIT, but you will also get a seven day trial to my private, members only website. People pay almost ninety bucks a month for access to this site, but during this seven day trial period, you can have unlimited, back stage private access, without any charge whatsoever. You can stay a member at the discounted price of seventy two dollars and twenty one cents per month for life. Of course, if your goals change, you can always call and cancelyour subscription at any time. It really is the easiest thing you'll ever do. If you can follow simple instructions and will devote just a little time every day…you can be living the life of YOUR DREAMS TOO. I AM!

"19. Although information about a monthly fee is mentioned in the above disclosure, the defendants have carefully crafted the layout and design of the Web site to prevent consumers from reading the disclosure and discovering the $72.21 fee. For example, the numbers "seventy two dollars and twenty one cents," "seven day," and "ninety bucks" are all spelled out in the paragraph so that consumers are less likely to notice them. Every other time a number is used on the payment page – 35 separate instances – it is represented with a numeral."

I've excerpted the relevant part from item 19, but you can read the entire complaint against Infusion Media and all of item 19 here.

You'll also notice in the video that the only way to find an active hyperlink in the phrase "By submitting this form, I agree to the Terms and conditions below" is by mousing over EACH individual word in the phrase until you come to the word "Terms" which is an active hyperlink to the SimplePayCheck.com's Website Terms and Conditions.

Again this is interesting in light of item 24. the FTC listed under "Defendants Business Practices" in their recent complaint filed against Google Money Tree as part of their Operation Short Change Crackdown. Here's what item 24. in the complaint states:

"24. In at least some versions of the defendants' payment information pages, the words "Terms and Condition" in the phrase "I agree to the Terms and Conditions' serve as a Iink to a separate Terms and Conditions  page. These words,  however, are not underlined to indicate that they serve as a link."

SimplePayChecks.com uses the Google logo twice on the top of the first part of it's sales page

Its almost as if SimplePayChecks is trying include every possible issue that either Google, the FTC, or local AGs have indicated they have an issue with, including putting a gigantic Google logo at the top of their sales page and within the phrase "Want to Work From Home With Google?"

What about MyMoneyPlan and SearchProfitSystem – the two sites being promoted by SimplePayChecks.com?

Information about the MyMoneyPlan product being promoted by SimplePayChecks.com:

MyMoneyPlan.net is listed under the BBB report for Mars Hill Media, Inc. which includes the following statement:

"Complaints received by BBB allege the customer signed up for a free online business kit where the customer pays $1.95 for shipping and handling. Three days later they are charged $49.84 and find they agreed to terms and conditions for a 3 day trial offer and continuous charges they were unaware of. These kits may include Google Money Kit, Twitter Kit and Money Mastery Kit."

Of possible interest in the Mars Hill Media, Inc. BBB report – but again only possible interest is the following:

"Business Management

J.C. Residual LLC, a principal member for this company, is also listed as a principal member for Thrive Learning LLC. A separate BBB report is available for Thrive Learning LLC."

The BBB report on Thrive Learning LLC. can be read here and mentions the following Government Actions:

Information about the SearchProfitSystem product being promoted by SimplePayChecks.com:

I haven't found much on SearchProfitSystem.com.

Compete shows ProfitCenterLearning.com trending towards 800,000 Unique Visitors per month

Not long ago I skirted over a site called ProfitCenterLearning when reviewing one of the thousands of fake news sites flooding the web.

I shouldn't have. I should have noticed the connection between ProfitCenterLearning.com and Pacific WebWorks – especially right at the bottom of ProfitCenterLearning's Terms and Conditions it states: "Products provided by Pacific WebWorks, Inc. and/or affiliated companies."

ProfitCenterLearning.com was registered by IntelliPay which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Pacific WebWorks, Inc. I'll go into why this is important later in this post.

Apparently ProfitCenterLearning has some sort of "qualification" procedure so I decided to see how "hard" it would be to qualify:

Q: How much money per week are you looking to earn?
A: $1,000 per week

Q: How much time are you looking to spend working per week?
A: Less than one hour

Q: Please enter your Zip Code to find out if you qualify.
A: I entered 1,000,000,000,000 as my zip code

I excitedly submitted the button to see "if I would qualify" and – phew!!! I did. I got the following message:

ProfitCenterLearning.com tells me I qualified. Yahoo!!!

Wow. What a relief. I qualified!

NOW WAIT A MINUTE…why did ProfitCenterLearning have to check my zip code to see if I qualified if they're qualifying me in an "Unknown area"? I'm starting to feel like they don't really care about me. And for once in my life I was feeling "validated"

Well, they did care about the length of the zip code when I actually tried to proceed to order the Google Biz Kit:

ProfitCenterLearning.com Zip too long

OK. So I put in a 5 digit zip and now I'm onto the order page which tells me I can get instant access to the following:

• Real, live support
• Their proprietary software
• Access to tips, videos, tricks, etc.
• The Home Business Kit using Google
• Home BizKit software
• Unlimited Tech Support
• Instant Access to my Profit Gateway Portal

Wow. All for a $1.97? I'm ready to go! At least that's all I see ABOVE THE FOLD of my computer screen along with some really cool big red arrows pointing to the arrow box that just make me want to hit that big ol' INSTANT ACCESS button.

But wait…there's more! What are all those words at the bottom of the page?

Oh, way at the bottom of the ProfitCenterLearning.com order page it says:

"By submitting this form I give my authorization to immediately charge my credit card $1.97 for access to the Business Kit for Google. I hereby request that my account be activated and authorize funds to be advanced as indicated. Monthly Service fees will commence 7 days from the date of this purchase, and will be billed monthly thereafter. After the 7 day trial you will be billed $79.90 monthly for the continued access to the Business Kit for Google. No refunds will be given for failure to use the requested and provided product. We reserve the right to transfer your billing to a third party Merchant of Record. This authority will remain in effect until revoked by me. This agreement will remain in effect each month until cancelled by me. You may cancel at anytime by writing to 230 West 400 South, Suite 100 Salt Lake City, UT 84101 or calling 1-800-497-4988 or 1-801-578-9020."

Hmm. 79.90/monthly x 12 = 958.80/year. Hmm. That's a tad more than $1.97.

At least it looks like they make it easy to cancel…better check their track record…

Since ProfitCenterLearning.com was registered by IntelliPay which is owned by PacificWebworks I decided to look into the complaint history of Pacific Webworks and came up with the following at the BBB:

Pacific WebWorks Complaints by Type

"BBB Rating for Pacific Webworks Inc (click here for the full BBB report)

Reasons for this rating include:

• BBB concerns with the industry in which this business operates.
• 487 complaints filed against business
• Failure to respond to 72 complaints filed against business.
• 66 complaints filed against business that were not resolved.
• Overall complaint history with BBB.
• Government action(s) against business.

The BBB has recently received numerous complaints regarding this company and the fact that consumers were not aware of fees that would be charged after the trial period for a Google Home Based Business offer."

The BBB then goes on to describe the Government Action against Pacific WebWorks:

"Government Actions

On August 26, 2007 Pacific Webworks Inc entered into a Settlement Agreement with the Utah Division of Consumer Protection ("the Division"). Without any admission of guilt, Pacific Webworks Inc agreed to the following: a) to comply with all of the requirements of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and all other laws and rules administered by the Division; b) to provide the Division with evidence that the consumers listed in the agreement have been made whole; c) to pay a fine, a portion of which was stayed for the company's compliance with the agreement; d) to comply with all of the requirements of the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act and all other laws administered by the Division, acknowledging that any complaints received by the Division regarding transactions entered into after the date of the agreement shall be subject to administrative or other legal action; e) to issue refunds for any validated consumer complaint, concerning consumers who purchased Pacific Webworks Inc products and/or services through the date of the agreement, and who file a complaint with the Division. This agreement does not affect the civil claims of parties other than the Division; nor does it preclude enforcement actions by other agencies having jurisdiction over them and their actions. Pacific Webworks entered into this agreement freely and voluntarily without any undue influence of the Division."

You can read the Utah Consumer Sales Practices Act here. I haven't located the original complaint, but I did locate the DOJ Consumer Protection Cases Completed in 2007-08

…which lists Pacific Webworks this way: Pacific WebWorks – Unauthorized Charges

And the most recent resolved complaints against Pacific WebWorks are listed below:

Pacific WebWorks Complaints Detail View

While it's good that all of these complaints were resolved and are closed, it is interesting to notice that "Billing or Collection Issues" continues to make up the highest volume of the complaints.

The specific breakdown the BBB gives for the 63 Billing or Collection Issues complaints that Pacific WebWorks resolved in the past 12 months is as follows:

BBB BreakDown of Pacific WebWorks Billing and Collection Complaints for the past 12 months

Of course the most interesting parts are the 41 Unauthorized credit card charges and the 13 Unauthorized bank debits.

It would be interesting to look at other websites and DBAs owned by Pacific WebWorks or one if it's subsidiaries.

I don't have time to that now, but there here are the sites and DBAs that the BBB lists under the Pacific WebWorks BBB report:

www.pacificwebworks.com
www.yourprofitgateway.com
www.profitstudiolearning.com
www.googlebizkit.com
www.esuccess2u.com
www.eauctionsuccess.com
www.moneyy.org

ESuccess2u.com
eAuctionSuccess
Profit Studio Learning
Google Biz Kit
Tweet Profit Studio
QuickStart
Tradeworks Marketing, Inc.
YourProfitGateway.com
Home Business Kit for Google

I don't know why I'm even posting this other than the whole sales page at ClickNMakeMoney is so bizarre.

Aside from the promise that upon ordering the system you'll be a millionaire within 15 minutes – and YES that is what ClickNMakeMoney literally claims no matter how the owner of the site might try to spin it – there are other elements that are also quite strange.

There's also the 5 star business review of ClickNMakeMoney.com from an unidentified source.

… not to mention a testimonial from "Samantha N." dated 9/13/2009 even though the page hasn't been updated since 8/6/2009 as you can see from the two images below. Here's the testimonial on the page:

Most recent update of ClickNMakeMoney.com's main page

/*Current date script credit:
JavaScript Kit (www.javascriptkit.com)
Over 200+ free scripts here!
*/

var mydate=new Date()
var year=mydate.getYear()
if (year < 1000)
year+=1900
var day=mydate.getDay()
var month=mydate.getMonth()+1
if (month<10)
month="0"+month
var daym=mydate.getDate()
if (daym<10)
daym="0"+daym
document.write(""+month+"/"+daym+"/"+year+"")

The ClickNMakeMoney.com site itself apparently sells a report that promotes a system called the NPN Gold Team.

You can read a fairly detailed review of the NPN Gold Team here.

It's like winning the lottery - only in reverse!

"Chris D." of SelfProfitsMadeEasy excitedly proclaims on the SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com website: "…It's like winning the lottery. Now I know I can do it. Thank you so much!"

Now the phrase "It's like winning the lottery" could be interpreted in a couple different ways. It could mean:

a) He feels so lucky to have found SelfProfitsMadeEasy that he feels like "he's won the lottery"

OR it could mean:

b) The chances of possibly succeeding with SelfProfitsMadeEasy are so astronomically low that if someone DOES possibly succeed with it it would be "like winning the lottery".

Since Chris D. also goes by Stock Photo number 000006832151 at iStockPhoto (click here to verify) I'm betting on choice "b": "The chances of possibly succeed with SelfProfitsMadeEasy are so astronomically low that if someone DOES possibly succeed with it it would be 'like winning the lottery."

The first thing I noticed about SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com was the Google Fortune logo that was at the top of the first page. So either this is the same company that ran Google Fortune or it's an entirely different company and the copied the Google Fortune page and modified it.

One things for certain though – SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com promotes the following two sites:

• Network Agenda (NetWorkAgenda.com) &
• Grant Members Site (GrantMemberSite.com)

The reason why that's important is because it appears that both sites are or were associated with a company called Raven Media Inc., a company for which the BBB issued the following two reports:

"BBB REPORT #1

Raven Media aka Grant Funding Solutions, Grant Search Assistance, Grant Writer Professional, BSM, SBA Express and www.networkagenda.com
2620 S. Maryland Pkwy. #859A
Las Vegas, NV 89171

Lara Clemens, Administrative Assistant

(866) 370-7270

www.gsassistant.com

This company has an unsatisfactory record due to unanswered complaints and a pattern of complaints due to a failure to eliminate the underlying cause of consumer dissatisfaction. As of 3/27/2008, the BBB has been UNABLE to confirm this company has a valid local business license for the locale in which they operate."

"BBB REPORT #2

Grant Master CD
 
13 Summit Square Center
Langhorne, PA 19047

(866) 370-7270
 
Based on BBB files, this company has an unsatisfactory record with the BBB due to unanswered complaint(s).

TIPS

If you have received this deceptive call from RavenMedia, Inc. and have confirmed personal information with them, but did not agree to charges, we suggest that you check with your merchant card service ASAP about a bogus charge that may be placed on your card and then dispute it ASAP. If you have had dealings with this group resulting in unauthorized charges to your account/credit cards, we strongly suggest that you file formal complaints with your BBB (www.bbb.org), state Attorney General’s Office, as well as the Federal Trade Commission (www.ftc.gov)"

Click here for the full BBB report on Raven Media, Inc.

What stands out in report #2 is that the BBB is indicating that people were complaining about unauthorized charges. And taking a look at the SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com order page I noticed that the disclosure of the monthly charges were way at the bottom of the SelfProfitsMadeEasy order page quite far below the order box.

Strange GoDaddy Security Certificate for SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com

SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com uses SafeTrialOffers.com validation certificate

I also was a bit confused by the Godaddy Security Certificate on SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com.

Anyhow…

That made me start to wonder if Search4Profit, LLC actually was essentially the same company as Raven Media, Inc.

I took a look at various relationships between domains, phone numbers, IPs, name servers, etc. but didn't really find anything definitive.

I did notice that both SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com and SafeTrialOffers.com were both hosted by the same name servers –

• ns2.crushllc.com and
• ns3.crushllc.com

I also noticed that the phone number in the following paragraph of the SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com privacy policy:

"If you do not wish us to use personal information about you to promote or sell our products and services or to sell, transer or otherwise provide personal information about you to third parties, please inform us by contacting customer service at 1-877-350-8480 and we will certainly honor your request."

A quick search on the phone number revealed that the same number was used to handle customer service for ExtremeAcaiBerry.com – although it could just be two different companies using the same call center.

Since ExtremeAcaiBerry.com also used the same nameservers as SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com and SafeTrialOffers.com ( ns2.crushllc.com and ns3.crushllc.com) I decided to see if there were any more datapoints that might be useful to see if there was a way to determine if Raven Media, Inc. and Search4Profit, LLC.

While nothing turned up to support that idea, what did turn up was a bit more interesting. 

I looked at one of the early WhoIs records and found the following information:

"Domain Name: EXTREMEACAIBERRY.COM
      Created on: 07-Jul-08
      Expires on: 07-Jul-10
      Last Updated on: 09-Jul-08

   Administrative Contact:
      Brailow, Jason  marc@crushllc.com
      Creative Edge Marketing
      # 231
      5348 Vegas Drive
      Las Vegas, Nevada 89108
      United States
      (801) 633-9861      Fax –"

And doing a search on the email address listed in the whois record turned up some very interesting information

Particulary this FTC case against Jason Brailow and JAB ventures.

I suppose it goes without saying that with the list of negative factors piling up rapidly against SelfProfitsMadeEasy.com that it looks like a good idea to avoid it.

So just to wrap things up, here's a list of domains suspected to be owned, operated or controlled by Raven Media, Inc.:

The following are also thought to be associated with RavenMedia either via BBB reports, News stories, or both: