Have you been sold a worthless website?
If you are reading this then the answer is probably "yes".
WHO ARE THE SCAMMERS?
There are several companies on the internet that prey on people who want to own an income generating website. These companies all seem to be based out of Arizona or Nevada. They set you up with a cookie-cutter website and promise you'll be making money by being and Amazon.com affiliate. The truth is that these sites they are selling are worthless and will never get any traffic or sales. These type of sites don't even show up on a google search.
What they do is get your credit card information, set you up with a site, and when you discover your site is not making money they try to sell you "training" and other worthless services promising more traffic to your site. Once they have your credit card information they will keep charging you monthly.
HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU'VE BEEN TAKEN?
If the company you signed on with uses the term "back office", you have been scammed.If your website has the phrase "Your one-stop-shop for the very best values the Internet has to offer." on the front page, you have been scammed.
If the website you were sold has a name ending with any of the following names or something similar, you've been scammed.
greatproductconnections.com
creativesolutionsmall.com
creativesolutionstore.com
fabulousproductsmall.com
fantasticproductsmall.com
featureproductsmall.com
greatdiscoverymall.com
greatwebmalls.com
incrediblebargainmall.com
incrediblebargainstore.com
incredibleonlinemall.com
incredibleproductshop.com
incredibleproductstore.com
newsolutionsmall.com
onlinebestdiscountstore.com
onlinefamilyshopping.com
onlineproductsconnection.com
onlineproductsmall.com
onlinesupervaluemall.com
shoestringmall.com
shopfromhomemall.com
superonlinevalues.com
supervaluesmall.com
terrificproductsmall.com
creativesolutionsmall.com
onlineproductalliance.com
Some of the company names:
Ace Marketing
Affiliate Masters LLC
Nebucom LLC
Fortune 500 Affiliate Group
Website Development, LLC
Logix 9
Links to horror stories and more info from other people who have been scammed:
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/affiliate-masters-llc-scam-c721776.html
http://www.dexknows.com/business_profiles/ace_marketing_group_llc-l900300630/reviews/
http://robertbcairns.com/2012/10/26/scam-alert-affiliate-business-group/
http://www.theworkathomewoman.com/phone-scam/
http://www.ripoffreport.com/r/Nebucom-LLC/Phoenix-Arizona-85029/Nebucom-LLC-Randy-A-Howard-Jessica-Martin-Charged-400000-on-my-Credit-Card-and-Provid-1067190
http://onemorecupof-coffee.com/affiliate-masters-llc-amazon-phone-call-scam/
http://www.complaintsboard.com/complaints/logix9com-fraudulent-charges-c618799.html
SO YOU'VE BEEN SCAMMED, NOW WHAT?
First thing is to call your credit card company and have the charges removed if possible and stop future payments. Second, call the company that sold you their services and try to get a refund. You'll find after reading the horror stories from other people that this is not an easy task.
The Amazon Associates program is completely free and if you're still interested in joining it there is a great thread on the Amazon Associates forum on what it takes to get started.
HERE: http://forums.prosperotechnologies.com/discussions/Amazoncom_Associates/Discussions/My_Ideas_of_What_it_takes_to_get_Started/am-associhelp/42211.1?redirCnt=1&nav=messages
The Amazon Associates forum if filled with great advise and there are many regular posters on there that will be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.
I hope you found this website helpful in some way. Best of luck to you!
I got scammed by Lookout Wholesale on Amazon. The buyer claimed the book I sold was the wrong edition. I sell very few books and I list it by ISBN, so I know I did not make an error. I assured the buyer it was what was ordered, but I offered a return anyhow. A few days later, the buyer filed an A-to-Z and won! Amazon refunded the money paid AND allowed the buyer to keep the book. Amazon would not budge despite what was presented. Fortunately, I removed all my payment information and changed my name on their systems. They have not been able to charge me. So, I am only out a LOT of time and a LOT of stress and some smaller fees (shipping, etc). I will never go back to Amazon for anything after this.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, if you do business online, avoid this business:
Lookout Wholesale, LLC
1712 Church Street, Chattanooga, TN 37421
Yes, had the same experience with Lookout Wholesale on Amazon. Sold them a book I had purchased from Amazon a year earlier which was a student copy. Lookout contacted me saying that they "needed" the book but wanted a partial refund since they claim it was an "Instructor's Copy" which it was not. It seems that this is another way for them to generate profit by buying books from unsuspecting students and then scamming them through Amazon.
DeleteI got scammed by Lookout Wholesale on Amazon. The buyer claimed the book I sold was the wrong edition. I sell very few books and I list it by ISBN, so I know I did not make an error. I assured the buyer it was what was ordered, but I offered a return anyhow. A few days later, the buyer filed an A-to-Z and won! Amazon refunded the money paid AND allowed the buyer to keep the book. Amazon would not budge despite what was presented. Fortunately, I removed all my payment information and changed my name on their systems. They have not been able to charge me. So, I am only out a LOT of time and a LOT of stress and some smaller fees (shipping, etc). I will never go back to Amazon for anything after this.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, if you do business online, avoid this business:
Lookout Wholesale, LLC
1712 Church Street, Chattanooga, TN 37421
405~454~6459 Just received a call from a lady saying she worked with Amazon and that it was a work from home job that I wont have to talk to the customers or deal with any of the product then she said she had to ask me a few questions starting with if I had a credit or debit card I told her yes then she asked what I did for a living I said Im a stay at home mom she then asked if I needed my husband to make decisions I said we make decisions together and she hung up on me. I tried to call back to see if I could milk anymore information out of her an
ReplyDeleteI've been listening to these stories for a very long time on the Amazon Associates Forum.
ReplyDeleteI have always maintained that Amazon, demonstrating they are a responsible company should be doing more to stamp this out.
It has been nearly 20 years since I received my welcome letter from Jeff Bezos, but I would expect they still send out welcome letters to new Associates. That letter should include a clear notice that it costs nothing to join their Associates programme, and perhaps in "legalese" some pointers to whether you have been scammed.
If you murder a scammer and no one is there to see it. Did it really happen?
ReplyDeleteHEADS UP FOR EVERYONE ABOUT THE NEW AMAZON SCAM CIRCULATING... PLEASE READ THIS. DO NOT BE FOOLED!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been receiving calls over and over about this Amazon scam. The phone number is 1-951-420-6856 (my phone just says Unknown Name and that it's a California number). It's an automated voicemail with a womans voice. As I have visual voicemail, I'm able to read my voicemails (as well as listen to them) ... this is what the automated voicemail says...
"Hello this is Sarah calling with Amazon careers.com. A nonprofit recruitment firm. I saw your resume online and I'm calling about an online opportunity working with Amazon. You'll be listing products and posting reviews online in your spare time. Hourly pay ranges from $17-$32 an hour. We are currently hiring 23 people this month. So please register today @ amazoncareers.co. That's Amazon careers.co."