Morning everyone,
Yesterday I had the pleasure of speaking with Tiffany Hsu of the LA Times regarding her article:
Here’s a portion of the article:
…Online predators have hit on social media site Twitter as the latest tool to lure victims into get-rich-quick and work-at-home schemes, according to the Better Business Bureau.
After tracking years of scams involving e-mail and Google, the bureau is seeing a surge in the number of companies claiming to help people turn Twitter into a virtual ATM with little effort and no risk, said spokeswoman Alison Southwick.,….
My part came in when I was asked about Twitter Profit House. You might remember that became a very active thread on the Virtual Coach Income Fitness forums over at
where I demystified the Terms of Service portion of the site. To wit:
Following the 7-day trial period, the credit card you submitted will automatically be charged $99.99 for monthly membership access to the Twitter Profit House Resource Center unless you cancel by calling 1-888-822-4507 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
This is highlighted NO WHERE on the main page EXCEPT the Terms and Conditions.
My contribution and response to Tiffany’s question, is this legal? was:
Barbara Ling, an entrepreneur who runs a forum about earning income online, looked into TwitterProfitHouse.com at a skeptical visitor’s request.
Her conclusion: Consumers are responsible for reading terms and conditions, and it is notoriously difficult to get money back from companies that market Twitter schemes.
"These companies make it sound so seductive that you run screaming at them flinging your wallet saying, ‘Take my money,’ " she said. "It’s very scummy, but it’s not necessarily illegal."
Since I’m NOT a lawyer, I cannot in any way say what’s legal or what’s not…but I can sure voice my opinions about it! 
The site in question uses what’s called a Negative Option…when No Means Yes. That was from 2005. Mark wrote a followup post entitled:
FTC Considers New Restrictions on ‘Negative Option’ Marketing
Here are some of the areas of concern:
… In addition, the rule requires sellers to follow certain procedures, including:
- abiding by particular time periods during which sellers must send introductory merchandise and announcements identifying merchandise the seller plans to send;
- giving consumers a specified time period to respond to announcements;
- providing instructions for rejecting merchandise in announcements; and honoring promptly written requests to cancel from consumers who have met any minimum purchase requirements…MORE….
Remember, as a consumer…you ARE ultimately responsible for doing your due diligence to the best of your abilities. This means that before you buy something….RESEARCH IT FIRST!!
You can go to Google and search for
ProductName scam
ProductName forum
The first resource will pick up posts that generally point out where something has failed to deliver, and the second should direct you to forums in which the product is discussed. Other sites like
are also helpful for finding out where people are discussing the product in general.
In closing, always remember….
If it sounds too good to be true….it ALMOST ALWAYS is!
Enjoy,
Barbara
ps – have you benefitted from and enjoyed the free goodies our community offers yet? If not, get thee hence to the Virtual Coach Income Fitness Forums and post all of your questions – you’ll receive fast friendly help that will assist you in growing your business online. And did I mention…it’s free? 
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What a super review of an article that should be read by everybody who is online. These spammer/scammer deals are popping up left and right and buyer beware no longer cuts it.
So true. I hope lots of people read the article and protect their wallets online.
I have always applied the ‘if it sounds too good to be true’ rule to anything I’ve come across online and I reckon it’s save me a fortune. The problem with those that fall for these scams is that they want so much for it to be true that they will try anything, probably because it sounds like an easy way to get what they want. Heaven forbid that they try and do some work to get what they want.
Sire’s last blog post..Get Your Twittley Action Into Gear And Watch Your Post Rock
So very true. I really wish folks would gift themselves by learning how to research things online…their wallet would thank them for it!
But that would mean work Barbara, and you know what a dirty word that is to some people. It’s much better that they believe in virtual miracles
Sire’s last blog post..Get Your Twittley Action Into Gear And Watch Your Post Rock
It seems to be so easy to identify the scammers. I’m surprised this is a problem.
Vered – MomGrind’s last blog post..Retouching As An Act Of Kindness
You’d think that, right? Me too.
You mean they’re NOT true? Eeek!
This is great Barbara, thanks for sharing this, I can see I need to read your blog regularly, back in my reader
Suzie Cheel´s last blog ..Law of Attraction Carnival #53
Sounds good!