Facebook is misleading you and contributing to scamming its users out of money. Recently, I have noticed recurring advertisements that claim you and I can access bailout cash to pay off our debt on Facebook. They consistently appear on profile views within the site. These ads claim that if you buy a CD, you will learn how to get free government checks to
pay off your debts. It appears that these ads are purchased by Grant Access Club, Inc. Most of the ads link to a fake blog that has testimonials about how “Jeff” and “Nick” filed forms with the fed and the checks started just rolling in. The posts even include fake testimonials and photos of the checks they received in the mail.
According to the Rip-Off Report, the $1.99 shipping fee ends up with a recurring monthly $57.88 charge on your credit card through hidden and obscured fees. Trying to get a refund leads to an endless and fruitless chain of barriers that are set up to compel people to give up. I am quite familiar with this industry and it is another Affinity Marketing product that depends on loosely supported marketing claims and heavy breakage. It is flat out deceptive marketing that seeks to exploit the desperate situation in which many people find themselves. Its unethical and worthy of FTC investigation.
What makes this matter worse, is that Facebook is allowing the purchase and fulfillment of such ads on their network, essentially betraying the trust of its users. Some of the ads actually have pictures of Barrack Obama behind a government check, as if he is endorsing Grant Access Club’s scam.
Facebook is responsible for the ads displayed on its site and I call upon Facebook to exercise more scrutiny of its advertisers and take the ethical highroad. Revenue from such ads is not worth losing trust of its users. Moreover, the country needs to change its view of how to earn money. Financial gain should come at the gain for the common good of our country, environment and its citizens.
Again, following a code of ethics within a company would allow the mechanism to control the influence of consumer scams such as the Grant Access Club from having access to people who trust the ethos of a social network such as Facebook.
~DK
[...] you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!A recent post on Sprawl3 asserts that Facebook, social networking giant, is enabling scams on its network through its [...]
A couple more links with info/opinion on this:
Glad to see more stuff on these Ads.
http://hourglass8.org/politics/general/100-facebook-advertising-internet-scams
http://radioracket.yuku.com/topic/3358
http://wafflesatnoon.com/2009/01/10/scam-alert-website-list/
Thanks for the additional link. I hope to apply some heat to the issue, as I see it as very serious.
I think it’s the same one going on MySpace also.
[...] February 5, 2009 · No Comments I know shouldn’t be a big deal, but I don’t like junk on websites that I frequent. Unfortunately, it looks as if Facebook has joined the list of websites I’d rather avoid. Check this out. [...]
Please do what it takes to get this company out of business. They do not tell you that you are signing up for a monthly service and they will not refund you your money even when you try to cancel. They are horrific. However, I am now in the process of contacting my CC company to get the charges reversed. I am upset that FB has turned the way of MySpace and is not the respectable social network site I had signed up for. I am willing to help prosecute any way you need me.
They also allow too many other scam companies to place an add to close to the application you are trying to use. When you think you are clicking on FB’s continue, you are actually clicking on the ad.
I too fell victim to this very deceptive scam. I tried contacting everyone you could think of but got no where. I have contacted my local investigative reporter to see if that gets me anywhere. I suggest anyone else do the same.
[...] our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!Spraw3.com posted another great blog as a follow-up on the “Facebook Misleading Users with Display Ads: Grant Access Club Scam” article posted earlier this [...]
I’m not sure how someone could say the terms are “hidden”. The link is at the bottom of the page and the terms page says:
“The 7-day trial period begins on the date your order is submitted through this website. Following the 7-day trial period, the credit card you submitted will automatically be charged $68.13 for monthly membership access to the Grant Resource Center unless you cancel by calling 1-800-235-1364 M-F, 7am-8pm PST. If you do not cancel during the 7-day trial period, you will continue to be charged $68.13 each month. You also agree to the 14day bonus trial to the SBA Connection Resource Center and the 21 day bonus trial to the Kind Remind Media Center. Following these trial periods, the credit card you submitted will automatically be charged $13.42 for monthly membership to the SBA Connection Resource Center, and $9.34 for monthly membership to the Kind Remind Media Center. These charges will also continue every month, thereafter, unless you cancel by calling 1-800-235-1364 M-F, 7am-8pm PST. You understand that this consumer transaction involves a negative option and that you may be liable for payment of future goods and services, under the terms of this agreement, if you fail to notify the supplier not to supply the goods or services described.”
Jodie
The bottom line is that it is not clear to the customer that they are buying a membership at $68.00/month. It is a business model that preys on confusion. The customer is not getting a service worth $820.00 per year (which is more expensive that cell phone service or many auto insurance policies). Grant Access Club is a scam and almost a criminal business. They are misappropriating the image of our president (as though he would endorse such GAC) and other celebrities without their permission.
It is a scam, period–
I want to thank Jodie for giving me the number to cancel this scam. I signed up through a survey website and thought that I was getting a $2.95 cd instead I was charged $58.61. Admin, you are correct, this company preys on confusion. I did not even know the companies name or website. I was expecting all the info in the mail. I know that this is my fault for not reading the fine print, but a legitimate company does not have to hide their fees. I was told by my bank that I should consider closing my account and opening a new one because even though I have put a block on this company, they will find another way to charge my account. When I was signing up no where did it state that I was signing up for a monthly service, nor did it say anything about a 7 day trial. That should be stated up front not in the”fine print” SCAM SCAM SCAM
[...] Facebook Misleading Users with Display Ads: Grant Access Club Scam [...]