Resveratrol_NOT
Greengrass,#2Consumer Suggestion
Sun, October 11, 2009
Unfortunately we all either know someone or have been claimed as a
victim of one of the "free trial" scams that are all over the internet.
In an attempt to educate others in avoiding the mistakes I made (even
though I thought I was pretty secure in the way I treated this "free
offer") I offer this posting/rebuttal.
Please copy it, and send it to everyone you know, if the thieves can't
be stopped, we can hurt them through being smart internet-savvy
consumers, armed with the correct weapons for this type of fight.
The BEST way to fight this scam is to be PROACTIVE!! A good offense is your best defense!
If you have a PayPal account (or any other type of account like PayPal) look for their product/service called a "SINGLE USE SECURE CREDIT CARD"
(you may have to download and install the PayPal plug-in for your
browser). If you don't have a PayPal type of account, consider
obtaining one, it is a more secure way of doping business over the
internet and the "secure Credit Card" system enables you to make
purchases more safely on the internet. Other credit card
companies/banks are starting to offer this service as well, ask around.
If they have one (as PayPal does) when ordering the free trial USE THIS SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD!!!
It will not be attached or be identified to your bank/charge card
accounts and will prevent unauthorized charges to your account!!! * (see below) Don't forget to save your receipt for the transaction....
You will be able to obtain the free trial, and not have to cancel the account as the Credit Card will be dead *. (see below)
Or in my case, fail to cancel the subscription BEFORE the 19 day trial
period for a 30 day trial of the product! * (see below) Which is how
they "get you", assuming that they will bill you for the next round of
product(s) BEFORE you see the credit card/bank statement!!!
* NOTICE: PayPal SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARDS can be processed by a merchant more than one time!!! I found this out the hard way.
It seems that a "single use" card can be "hit" up to FOUR times by the same merchant for things like multiple ship orders, or SUBSCRIPTIONS!!!
Since the free trial is considered a subscription, the merchant was
able to "hit" the card again 19 days after the first charge of 99 cents
(for the free trial offer).
THE WAY AROUND THIS is to log on to your PayPal account and CLOSE the SECURE SINGLE USE CREDIT CARD
as soon as it has been charged the first time for the 99 cents!!! (On
PayPal, just click on the menu item on the right side of the page that
says "PayPal Plugin", then there will be new menus on the left side
that will enable you to view secure cards and close any open ones)
Since the card was a "single use" card, you have done nothing
illegal or wrong by closing this card. You have not violated any terms,
agreements or any other convoluted "fine print" or terms and conditions
hidden on some obscure often overlooked page of their website that the
scammer has made you agree to in the free trial offer.
I assume other bank/credit card companies may have similar types of
secure single use credit cards, just check out if they can be processed
more than once by a merchant. Then see how to close/cancel them as
soon as the first charge for the free trial comes in.
Good Luck, and if we do this right, we can put these scammers out of
business, because they won't be able to exist selling their product for
99 cents and wasting time trying to collect from dead credit cards.
Pass this info around, the more who know how to defeat these opportunistic bastards, the better!!!