When ordering two Easter flower arrangements from ProFlowers.com, I received good service and something unexpected.

Today while reviewing my bank statement, I noticed a pending $14.95 charge from Easy Saver. I do not remember buying anything by this name. After thinking about it, I Googled Easy Saver and found their name associated with ProFlowers.com in a scam.

If I remember correctly, after my first arrangement order, I got a pop up ad for 15% off or possibly free shipping. So, naturally I took the offer. This led me to being signed up for Easy Saver Rewards Club. Luckily, I found it early, and was able to stop service and get a refund by calling 1-800-355-1837. It sounded like a sweat shop of telemarketers in the background, but the lady was nice and so was I.

As a EasySaver Rewards Club member, you will have for shopping access to members-only cash back savings through the Club gift card program, as well as access to members-only savings, discounts, rebates and other benefits on specified travel, leisure and entertainment purchases and other specified products and services made available. That's fine that you offer the service, but I did not order it.

ProFlowers on the other hand will be getting an email from me. It would be in their best interest to distance themselves from this type of activity.

Should I continue to patronize ProFlowers.com?

Labels: Easy Saver, ProFlowers, Scam

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Have you ever been scammed on eBay?

You can buy almost anything on eBay. It has also become a magnet for criminals, counterfeiters and fraudsters.

Two weeks ago, the luxury jeweler Tiffany & Co announced it is suing eBay after finding that almost 75% of items claiming to be originally from its stores are, in fact, fakes.

Laura Moss, a journalist for the Daily Mail, decided to see how bad the problem was. Of the 34 items she bought, from market labels such as Tiffany, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, it emerged that 33 were fake and only one was genuine.

One tactic is to photograph an item with the brand's logo on display in the background. All this paraphernalia created an illusion of authenticity about the products, but crucially there were no close-up photographs of the jewelry and no detail could be acquire from the distant shot on screen.

It is also relatively common to come across an item on eBay that carries a brand's name but is not a copy of a known design. Another indicative sign can be if someone is selling multiple numbers of the same item cheaply.

The way most eBay buyers decide whether a seller is trustworthy or not, is by the feedback system. Every time an item is purchased online, the buyer can leave a message marking the experience as positive, neutral or negative. It is recorded and can be seen by all potential buyers the next time the seller uses the website, in addition to comments about the sale.

Only one other eBayer refunded Moss when she told them the goods were fake; four out of the 22 refused to repay her and one seller did not respond. The rest promised a refund upon return of the goods. The majority of sellers claimed that they had bought the items in question from other eBayers.

The price is normally an indication of whether or not the garments are legitimate. If something appears on a website with a much lower recommended retail price than retailers, which is normally a sign that it is a fake.

After all, in life, if something seems too good to be true, that is because it probably is.

Labels: Ebay, money saving tip, Scam

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Con artists have 900 numbers in their toolbox. Some of them use promises of gifts and prizes to try to get you to call them back. Read on to see why you should not call these numbers.

You can get all sorts of information and entertainment services by calling 900 numbers. These pay-per-call numbers are also used for surveys, contests and charitable fundraising. The provider sets a price for the service and bills you through your local telephone company.

Unfortunately, others people make phony offers to help you find a job or get out of debt. Some even claim to be about a family emergency. Be wary of contests, sweepstake offers, and messages that require you to call a 900 number. Also keep an eye on your monthly phone bill for any unfamiliar charges.

Both the FCC and the FTC have rules concerning pay-per-call numbers. Advertisements for pay-per-call services must tell you the cost of the call. This may be a flat rate, a per-minute charge, or calculated on some other basis. Any minimum or additional charges that you might have to pay must also be identified. If a call involves sweepstakes, prizes, or awards, the ad must give you the odds of winning and how you can enter without calling the 900 number. Pay-per-call services cannot advertise directly to children under age 12 unless they are legitimate educational services.

If you have a problem with a charge on your phone bill, call your phone company, deduct the disputed charge and pay the rest by the due date. You should hear back from the company within 40 days, and the problem should be resolved within 90 days.

You may have other rights according to state law. Check with your state or local consumer protection agency or state utility commission. To prevent 900 number calls from being made from your phone number, request blocking from your local phone company.

Labels: 900 numbers, money saving tip, Scam

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Read on to see how this family's hardship could be avoided, but there is more to the story.

As featured on CNN, Patricia Guerrero was making $70,000 a year and weeks later, with bills piling up and in need of food for her family, this middle-class mother did something she never thought she would do, she went to a food bank. What a sad, sad story.

If she had a fully stocked emergency fund of 3-6 months worth of expenses set aside in a savings or money market account, she would not be in such a tight fix.

Now for the rest of the story. Someone looked up Guerrero on the LA county assessor and recorder database. They found more information about Guerrero’s financial situation from public records.

The almost 3,000 square foot house sits on a quarter acre lot and was built in 1948. She and her estranged husband Ray acquired the house, apparently from his parents in August 2002, at which time the debt on the property was about $157,000.

Ray and Patricia took out a conventional fixed-rate first trust deed on the property in August 2002 for $202,000.

Between 2002 and 2006 there were various refinancing and equity loans, but the present note from August 2006 is for $649,999.

So, in the end they bought the place for a song and blew about $450,000 equity over a period of just 4 years. In CNN's effort to create more panic about the hosing market than there really is, they got scammed themselves.

Labels: CNN, emergency fund, Mortgages, Patricia Guerrero, Scam

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Someone took out an ad on craigslist that said Robert Salisbury of Jacksonville, Oregon was being forced to leave the area and that he was giving all his possessions away for free, including a horse. Check out what happened.

Salisbury, who works as an independent contractor, was at Emigrant Lake when he received a call from a woman had stopped by his house to claim his horse.

On his way home he stopped a truck loaded down with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater.

"I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back," Salisbury said. "They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did."

The driver then sped away after rebuking Salisbury. On his way home he spotted other cars filled with his belongings. Upon pulling into his driveway he was greeted by close to 30 people rummaging through his barn and front porch.

"They were like a pack of vultures," he said.

This is not the first time something like this has happened on Craigslist.

The scammer hijacks a legitimate rental listing and posts it to Craigslist. They post it for significantly less rent than is true. Applicants that respond on Craiglist are told to fill out an application and send money to an address. What makes it easy to fall for, is that the rental is a real legitimate rental. Buyers drive by the property and see the for rent sign so it makes the Craiglist ad seem real.

It also goes to show you, people believe anything they read on the internet.

Labels: Craigslist, Scam

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It is still true that if it sounds too good to be true, well you know the rest. Apparently taxpayers are being targeted by a scam offering them IRS refunds. The e-mails look like they are from the IRS, and they request the taxpayer's Social Security number. In some cases the e-mails promise refunds; in others they tell the recipient that he/she is under investigation. The IRS does not send unsolicited e-mails or ask for personal or financial information online. It is recommended recipients of these e-mails do not open them, but forward them to the IRS.

Labels: IRS, Scam

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About 20 years ago I remember there were several pyramid schemes (not to be confused with legit multi-level-marketing organizations) going around. Today, they are still around in one form or another, now it is as a HYIP. High-Yield Investment Program (HYIP) disclose little or no detail about the underlying management, location, or other aspects of how money is to be invested and little information on how returns are actually generated.

These online HYIP schemes rarely last for more than a couple of months and typically accept small deposits while promising astoundingly high returns (the usual is 200% in three days). Promoters claim that the transactions must be kept strictly confidential by all parties, making client references unavailable. The Securities Exchange Commission warns about them and also prosecutes them. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Labels: HYIP, investing, money saving tip, Scam

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