Auto Leasing Scams

Car-leasing has been lauded as a more attractive alternative to buying, offering in the process the flexibility to drive a new car for less. The reality, however, is that leasing is an option that is fraught with many pitfalls for the average customer. Leasing regulation does not require as much disclosure as buying a vehicle. This has given rise to many leasing scams that trick the customer into believing they are into a good deal when, in effect, all he is getting is a rough deal on the dealer's terms.

Here we look at some of these common scams and how to avoid them;

Artificially low interest rates:

Some dealers quote a lower interest rate when in reality it's much higher. They do this by either purposefully quoting the money factor as the interest rate or calculating the loan without amortizing some closing fees, like the security deposit, into the loan lease. Take the money factor for example: this is typically expressed as a four decimal digit, something like 0.004. Some dealers quote this as a 4% interest rate when in fact you need to multiply it by 24 to get a rough idea of the interest rate on your loan. In this example, the interest rate is a much higher 9.6% than the “quoted” rate of 4%. Make sure you crunch the numbers and understand the formula they use to calculate their interest rate. Look out for any fees not factored into the calculation. If you are not satisfied, do not enter into the lease agreement.

Terminate your lease early for a low penalty

This is an all-time leasing scam. You ask your dealer how much you will pay if you want to terminate your lease and he tells you: “You want to get out early? Sure thing, you only pay an early termination fee of $300”. What he is quoting is only the small administrative penalty of early termination, there is a much stiffer penalty called early termination fee and this runs into thousands of dollars. Do not confuse the early termination administrative penalty with the termination fee. Read the small print carefully and know exactly how much you will get charged should you terminate your lease before its scheduled end.

Pay for an extended warranty you don't need

This is another shell game to inflate the dealer's profit at your expense. The dealer slides an extended-warranty into the deal whilst it's already factored into the monthly payments, or he tricks you into buying a 36-month warranty on a 24-month lease. You do not have to pay extra money for a warranty already built into your payments or for one that goes well beyond your lease term. They might slip an extended warranty in. Don't be fooled, the warranty is already factored in.

No security deposit

Any dealer who advertises a $0 security deposit is not telling you the whole story. A security deposit is always factored in the lease under the provision for disposition fees.

Revealed, Get Rich Quick Scams

Wouldn't it be nice to make a bundle of money quickly, with very little effort, working on your computer at home? You know it Would Be! I know for me I also would love to have money constantly going into my bank account day after day while working only a few hours each week, This way I could have more quality time to enjoy with my wife and kids, without a nasty boss always pushing me and having to deal with a horrible daily commute and difficult co-workers!!

Whether it's real estate investing, using classified ads, investing in the stock market, internet affiliate marketing programs, or other online businesses, All of us are constantly bombarded by the fantastic claims of people selling "Get Rich" programs in which they CLAIM people are making tons of money, AND how they can show you how to do the same thing FOR A PRICE! I can tell you right now, with great certainty that 99% of these folks and programs are total scams! You like me, may have even been duped into believing and buying one or even more of these "get rich now” products. I have bought so many of these products that I have forgotten how many!!

What a waste of time and hard earned money! I don't know why, but I guess it has to do with the fact that I believe that most people are basically "good", and as a result I was "sold" by these hyped up marketing schemes again and again, Ouch that hurt! Finally after being consistently let down and scammed yet again, I just got FED UP! I then decided to finally get to the bottom of this fascination we all have with these "GET RICH" products and programs. I then decided to find out if there really were any REAL programs for making a living online!

I actually contacted the people behind every "get rich" website I could find in my extensive research over the last 4 years! I posed as an investor and managed to persuade the owners that I was someone intent on buying their website business. This way, once the big dollars were being dangled in front of them, they would give me free access to their member’s areas to review the websites and products I would be buying! Well as I mentioned before, I was completely repulsed and disgusted by 99% of what I found! (No big surprise after the 200th website I investigated!) You know what? Most of the owners (91%) boosted about how many people bought their bogus programs! Here is what I found again and again:

* Links in their products that did not work!

* Outdated Information

* Links to their other websites asking for More Money!

* No help for customers after buying their Program!

* No email support after purchase, no email at ALL!

I realized that these so called "GET RICH" products and websites were completely misleading scams and worthless! And you know what? The owners totally knew it!

But they told me they were very happy on their way to the bank! (Laughing all the way!) Needless to say I failed to reply when I was contacted about purchasing their websites! Interestingly while doing all this extensive research on all these bogus websites, rip off programs and Get Rich Scams.

I did find a few reputable business men that sold PROFITABLE programs that actually do make money for their customers.

I found that the business owners were just every day people similar to you and me that had found strategies that worked to make money online regularly and consistently.

I thoroughly checked out their programs and websites and I was very impressed with the wealth of current, practical strategies and information that they provide. Their products really work! Their programs and websites on making a living on the internet are making people an average of $100 to $300 per day using their computer at home and doing very little work. I did some further research on their programs on various online forums to see if what I was told was true, and you know what? People were very pleased and highly recommended these products; they told me they were making good money REGULARLY! They were extremely satisfied with the products and really enjoyed being able to make real money by working at home! It was wonderful to find out that after all my research I actually had some real products that I could in good conscience recommend to people who want the freedom that a real online business can provide. Please don't just believe me, just check out the links below and see for yourself! You will be glad you did!

They do charge a fee to access their programs, which is to be expected for any legitimate company that actually has people on staff who are dedicated to helping you get started. If you decide you are interested in any of the programs, I suggest you act quickly, as I have been informed that they are getting so many new members by word of mouth referrals that they may be closing off membership in the next few days. (You didn’t hear that from me!)

Well my search for legitimate "GET RICH" programs has finally come to an end. I must say that I was so thoroughly disappointed and frustrated with 99% of what I found that I encourage you not to waste your time and your hard earned money joining any programs

other than those listed in my website below

I wish you the best of luck in whatever you do, and hope the financial freedom you seek for you and your family comes to you soon.

Secret Methods of Home Work Business Opportunities Scams

Home work business opportunities scams have become the order of the day on the internet. And the menace continues to grow in leaps and bounds. Each day you come across newer and newer scams and scammers. In fact, if you happen to be a bit net savvy and have ever scoured the net looking for 'Get Rich Quick' home work business opportunities or a proven income opportunity, you already know what I am talking about.

Reportedly, more than 90% of these so called home work business opportunities are outright scams. What they actually do is capitalize on peoples hopes and dreams, take advantage of human weaknesses and finally succeed in emptying the wallets of the common man. Most internet marketers (scamsters included) are well aware that its not just making money with home work business opportunities but making easy money that is one of the single biggest motivational factors for anybody. It's therefore not surprising that its the number 1 searched topic by millions of net surfers each and every day. What people look for in the real world applies equally well in the online world too. It is common knowledge that given good home work business opportunities that work, most people would be far happier working for themselves than under a boss who is breathing down their back. No one really enjoys work pressure or work politics, right. And above all we would like to work to our own schedules, not someone else's. Perhaps, these are some of the principal reasons why the most heart attacks occur on Monday mornings!

In case you haven't noticed it yet, internet marketers and clever scammers alike draw heavily on this knowledge while drafting their sales letters especially those relating to home work business opportunities. Just recall how many times you have come across a sales letter for home work business opportunities or a proven income opportunity that harps on themes such as-'Work in your pajamas', 'Fire you Boss', 'spend more time with your wife and kids', 'work whenever you like to' or 'work from your vacation home' or island or whatever it is that really pleases you. Sounds familiar ? Savvy marketers understand that the act of buying a product is driven by human emotion and is therefore impulsive in nature. It becomes logical only afterwards in order to uphold the wisdom of the purchase decision. That's why you will invariably find these themes built into sales letters for home work business opportunities because they are meant to appeal to exactly that - your emotions.

Close scrutiny of effective sales letters for home work business opportunities will almost always reveal a distinctive pattern. So much so that, you can safely conclude that the more effective they are, the more likely it is that they have stuck to the pattern. It is well researched human psychology that people respond positively if you can instill hope or fear or cause a sense of urgency or appear as an authority or appear to be unbiased or even unusual. Taking the cue, today's cyber sales letters are deftly crafted, cutting edge works of art that have all these concepts and more woven into them for best effect. Some examples of this in action are- 'Learn how I made a million dollars in 15 minutes' (kindles hope), 'Don't be spied on' or 'you don't want any legal trouble' (evokes fear), 'prices to go up in 2 days' or 'the discount ends today' (creates a sense of urgency), 'I made $300000 from Google last year' or 'I am a member of the International Home Business Entrepreneur's Association'(appear as an authority), a 3rd party or reviewer like style to the letter (to appear unbiased), 'Stop reading and leave if you can't invest in your future' or 'Don't buy this unless you are convinced the others are bad' (appear unusual to earn your loyalty).

Even a savvy surfer who is proficient in these techniques can occasionally fall prey to one of these cunningly crafted devices blinded by the lure of easy internet riches. But the vast majority of those that do so are enterprising young men and women from all walks of life who are often unaware of the powerful sales conversion techniques in operation here and mistake it to be a proven income opportunity. Its a matter of much regret and concern that the internet in the short span of time since its advent into the larger public sphere has already transformed itself into a safe haven for spammers, scammers, pornographers and fraudsters touting home work business opportunities.

If at all there is something that we can console ourselves about, it is the fact that there are still a few really good and legitimate home work business opportunities out there that truly work. However, like the proverbial pin in the haystack, it takes more than mere foresight to identify genuine home work business opportunities from the vast and ever increasing population of internet fraudsters. You will always do well to conduct a fairly in depth review of prospective home work business opportunities by doing a Google search on it or by visiting popular or eclectic forums on home work business opportunities where you will have the chance to enquire with present users of the program as to how they are doing with it. This will go a long way in helping you make an educated decision for yourself as to whether it indeed is a proven income opportunity. If anybody tells you that he's got a secret to share with you on how to make a million dollars in 15 minutes flat or that there are residual income home work business opportunities out there that require little or no investment of your time, money or effort, you better watch out. Unfortunately, there are no home work business opportunities that give you returns for no investment of your time, money or effort. Its against the Common Law of Business or for that matter home work business opportunities to not invest anything at all in a venture and yet earn an income from it. There are simply no home work business opportunities or even an already proven income opportunity on the surface of this earth that will succeed for you without good old hard work, patience, dedication, investment and enterprise.

Do you have what it takes to devote 1 or 2 hours of your time every day and I stress the words- 'every day' ? What if I show you one of the genuine and most popular home work business opportunities that will work for you provided you work it? A proven income opportunity. Its called the Plugin Profit site. Its one of those few home work business opportunities on the net that has stood the test of time and is still going incredibly strong. You will have to join 5 affiliate programs. Relax, for all of them are free except one. And the investment for you on that one program is just under twenty dollars per month apart from a monthly fee of about twenty five dollars which goes to your web hosting account with Host4profit that they recommend. Once you join these 5 programs you get a dynamic, profit pulling, home work business opportunities affiliate web site for free created specifically for you with tutorials, great bonuses, user forums and 24 hour customer support. The 30 Days to Success guide that comes free with the program literally holds you by your hand (explaining every silly detail) and walks you through the process of getting everything up and running in a very short while. One of the many bonuses that come with the program is a free membership to the webs most respected forum -The Warrior Forum, where you will get to rub shoulders with some of the giants in the field of internet marketing on an everyday basis for free! You can also seek the help and advice of other members through the exclusive Plugin Profit site members forum hosted within the Warrior forum. This one bonus alone can take you places. You will find links to this proven income opportunity as well as to my main web site at the bottom of this page.

It is worth re-iterating that none of these home work business opportunities will work, not even a genuine and proven income opportunity if you are new to the concept of hard work. Its becoming increasingly difficult to identify good home work business opportunities that work thanks to the continuing proliferation of fraudsters who constitute the vast majority. Good home work business opportunities like the one mentioned above which is a proven income opportunity can only provide you with the system and the tools, its up to you to make the best use of them. You can lead a horse to the water, but you can't make it drink it.

Popular Scams Online Survey Companies Use

Anyone who's ever been online should, by now, be aware of the hundreds of "work from home" internet based companies that are consistently advertised in various websites. One of the more popular is "doing surveys for cash."

There are literally hundreds of online survey companies. Most of them are not legitimate ways to make money, although a few of them can earn you a few bucks. These companies target stay at home moms who want to make a few extra dollars while taking care of the kids, the unemployed who want to make a few extra dollars while watching dozens of daytime court TV programs, the elderly who are not afraid to use the computer and teenagers who think they know everything, but aren't yet wise to the ways of the world. And let's not forget the very greedy people of low intelligence who think they can get rich by answering a few simple questions to which a five year old can respond.

These people are prey to unscrupulous methods used by some online survey companies. These scams include the following:

1. The fee for joining. There are some sites out there who charge a "fee" to join. They promise you an opportunity to earn up to $100,000 a year, sitting home at your computer taking surveys. The fee is usually less than $50. These sites are always a scam. If it was possible to earn $100,000 a year doing surveys online, the roads would be empty because no one would be going to work. Everyone would be home, in front of their computers, earning easy money. These sites prey on the greedy and/or lazy people of little intelligence. By the time they figure out that their "get rich quick" scheme isn't working, they're out $50. It's not a crime to be greedy, lazy or stupid. And, unfortunately, it isn't a crime to prey upon them in many cases. These sites are careful to add "disclaimers" stating that not everyone will earn this amount of money. They promise nothing, but include testimonials on their site from people with no last names who claim to be living the high life from the comfort of their homes. They usually have photos of flashy cars and huge houses on their websites. People need to stay away from these sites like they would avoid the bubonic plague. Unfortunately, PT Barnum was right when he said that there was a sucker born every minute. Which is why these sites continue to exist.

2. The cell phone scam. In this popular scam, you'll be asked for your cell phone number to "confirm" your membership. Seconds later, you will receive a call on your cell phone. The call will end up costing you anywhere from $1.95 to $4.95; depending on the company. These companies don't usually end up charging you too much because they figure you'll never miss a couple of bucks. But it adds up for them and that's how they make their money. They will then periodically send you text messages telling you you've won a prize and to claim it, you simply need to reply to the text. This will end up costing you more money. Do not give out your cell phone number to any website.

3. The Switcheroo. In this scam, you will be participating in a survey and then be directed to another website. They will ask you to show an "interest" in obtaining more information from one of their marketing partners. You will continue to answer "no" and keep getting more offers; the survey will never end until you answer "yes." Now this scam might not cost you any money, but it will cost you time. Because when you say that you are interested in learning more about health insurance, expect to receive an average of 10 calls a week from telemarketers trying to sell you health insurance. And the insurance they are trying to sell you is a lot more than you can expect to pay than if you contact an insurance agent in your area. I know this for a fact as I've actually done price researching. And the telemarketing company will ask you for both your social security number as well as your bank information (so they can send in a deposit with your application). It's dangerous to give out such information to anyone over the phone; legitimate companies will send you any information you require by mail.

4. The phone bill scam. You'll sign up for a survey company and provide your telephone number. Then you'll proceed in completing a survey and receive an offer for a free issue for a magazine. You'll think to yourself - what's the harm? You'll give your name and address for the magazine and hardly notice when a fee for a year's subscription shows up on your telephone bill,. If you read the fine print, however, you will see that when you provided the company with your name and address to receive your "free" magazine, you authorized them to bill you via your telephone bill. They figure that you won't even notice the extra $12.95 attached to your phone bill. And many people don't.

These are just four of the scams that I've actually encountered during my foray into the world of online survey participation. I consider myself a half-way intelligent person, but I got caught for $1.95 for the cell phone scam and $12.95 for the magazine subscription. I've also been called about 20 times so far by different "health insurance" company representatives who requested my social security number and bank information over the telephone. These companies have yet to send me anything by mail. Luckily, I know better than to give such information over the telephone.

Online survey taking can be fun, but be careful. Do not give out your cell phone number under any circumstances. Do not give out your social security number or bank information. Do not ever express any interest in receiving information from health insurance providers. And avoid the "online education" inquiries as well. Do some research prior to joining any company, do not pay a fee, and beware of anyone or any website that promises to make you rich.

Beware Of Job Fraud Scams

Searching for a job can be difficult enough, but when you finally spot the 'job of a lifetime' – just consider that if the job sounds too good to be true – quite likely, it is.

Imagine the job of "Designer - Developer/Applications/IT" with a tax-free salary of $120K for 6 months work.

Perks including Paid Overtime at $300 per hour, paid first-class accommodation, $3,000.00 flat rate travel/entertainment allowance for every intercontinental trip, free comprehensive healthcare, two weeks of paid vacation, a free laptop computer and free transportation/vehicle.

WOW! – Where do I sign up?

This is just one of the many recent postings on Monster.com – other jobs with the same salary and benefits are also available – including:

* Project Manager - Project/Infrastructure/IT

* Analyst - Systems/Support/IT

* Technical Advisor - Computer/Security/IT

* Analyst - Data Manager/IT/

Sometimes the scams are easy to spot – other times it can be more difficult. Quite often the job titles and job descriptions are often stolen from other legitimate employment sites.

You may be able to enter a snippet of the job description in double-quotes and find the original source through your favorite search engine.

For example, the position I mentioned earlier contained the text "(C++, Java, HTML, PHP, Visual Basic)" in the job description.

Search for this in Google (including the double-quotes) and you’ll quickly see how often this exact string has been used in scam-related job postings.

These companies (more likely individuals) have absolutely no intention of hiring you – they are simply after the "Administration Fee" you need to send in advance.

Here is an example of some terms on a recent posting on monster.com:

You are liable to make charges of about USD$950.00 for the procurement of your working and residential permit documents which covers:

1, Administrative charges:

2, Diplomatic Courier Charges:

3, Working Permit charges:

4, Residential Permit charges:

5, Hard copies of the terms:

They promise reimbursement of fees and travel expenses to attend the interview, but only AFTER you’ve shown up for the job and discovered they never existed!

In addition to money sent to the fraudsters in advance -- you could be suckered in for airfare, hotel and thousands of dollars in other expenses.

Some obvious clues that should send up bright red warning flags:

* The job is in Nigeria, or posted on behalf of a Nigerian company. Quite often the jobs are IT-related in companies involved with oil, banking or mining.

* The contact is using @hotmail.com or some other free email service. Legitimate offers generally come from legitimate companies with real email addresses.

* The telephone number is a fake. Don’t even try to call. Most often, if the number even works at all, it leads to a mobile phone in Nigeria or a similar country. Check the country code before calling and see if it matches the company’s address (if they even provide one).

* Beware of requests for detailed personal information, such as a copy of your passport, birth certificate, SSN card and so forth. This trick is used to make the application more ‘real’ but if they can't sucker you on the ‘application fee’ – they may just sell or use your identity instead.

* Quite often, there will be many errors in the references, spelling and/or grammar. Here is another example:

"You are to receive the hard copies of the contract terms and agreement and also your working and residential permit altogether, it will be delivered through Diplomatic Courier Services(DHL) to your various designated addresses respectively."

Do a Google search for "Diplomatic Courier Services(DHL)" and you will again see dozens of listings discussing or exposing the scam.

There are many variations to this new type of scam. Currently, IT professionals seem to be the major target. Monster.com and Monster's country-specific sites have become the hot target for these scamsters.

Although Monster does remove bogus job postings fairly quickly, the process to complain about them is difficult and time-consuming.

In many online job boards, there is no 'filtering' or human review process for job postings -- otherwise such fraudulent listings would be need to be much more difficult. Many job boards also allow free postings for advertisers -- making them even more attractive for scammers.

The important thing to remember is that few legitimate employers will ask for fees of any kind up-front – in fact, many employers will pay for your travel expenses in advance.

Don’t let the job of your dreams become a financial nightmare – be cautious when dealing with any business you can not easily identify or verify. Best of luck on your job search.

How to avoid a Timeshare Fraud

As with any kind of investment, the chances of your timeshare investment ending up in a fraud or scam are very much possible. A fraud or a scam can prove devastating for you both financially and mentally. It may take a while for you to recover from its backlash. Those of you who have already been a victim of these notorious frauds and scams can understand the trauma that they have experienced and gone through. That dream vacation that you may have been planning since a long time ended up being a nightmare for you. But if you think you are the first person to have been scammed hold on there are many more people may be in hundreds who have been the victim of this unscrupulous behavior of some individuals.

As a matter of fact the timeshares are one of the safest ways of experiencing many popular vacation places. How about a secluded journey to the geographical wonders of the world? How about that romantic getaway in a beach resort? Sounds exciting, but these are one of the marketing tactics used by the scammers to lure people into thinking about buying a timeshare. In fact this is their first victory in setting a trap for you. This does not mean that every timeshare company who uses this tactic would be a scammer. The essence of that is to be precautious and not get impulsive about it in the first go. Always think and rethink before making a decision on buying a timeshare. Restrain yourselves to the maximum.

One of the important criterions is selecting a right timeshare company. As a rule of thumb, always go with large, well established timeshare companies who have been in the business for years. In this way you know their history very well and their reputation in the market. They are less likely to fraud a person than a new or a small company. This is applicable when it comes to the resale of your timeshare property.

Many times the catchy style of marketing techniques of these scammers can easily raise red flags and you can avoid being scammed. It first starts with an invitation to a timeshare presentation. They offer you a gift if you attend the presentation which may look expensive but in reality is not. Sometimes they may also inform you that you have won a gift and you can claim it by attending the free presentation. And then once you fall prey to it and attend the presentation which turns to be nothing more than a gimmick, they start using pressure selling techniques and they won’t let you go out unless they have you sign something just like dealers selling used cars who say “we will sell you this car for this much price if you buy it today”. They may say the property is only 5 minutes walk from the beach but in reality it may turn out to be 15 minutes away from the beach. Sometimes the property might not be the same they described in their presentation taking advantage of the fact that nobody would go to Florida or Carolina to see the property themselves before buying it. And in some rare cases the property might not even exist at all. What we learn from this is to read the fine printed lines in the invitation if you are sent one. Never ever succumb to their pressure tactics and refuse to sign any kind of paper.

A much better idea is to consult a lawyer before signing any contract documents and see if all the promises that were made verbally are being fulfilled or not. Do your home work before buying a timeshare by researching the market prices in the location you are buying. And also ask for contact numbers of the previous customers. Make sure you call them and find out everything you want to know about the company and their properties.