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May 3, 2006 | ||||
 In This InfoKwik Issue Click here to view newsletter online
This Week's Articles Yahoo Tech, as the new Yahoo property is known, marks the latest move by the world's biggest Internet media company to reinvigorate or expand into areas such as travel, finance, automobiles, and now technology. Yahoo Tech is set to offer hundreds of thousands of products with user product ratings and reviews through its Yahoo Shopping site, as well as question-and-answer guides and community features that exist within the wider Yahoo realm. When one of my members recently told me how he had been ripped off big-time online, it occurred to me that there are an awful lot of people online who run the risk of falling prey to one or more of these scams. In this article you will learn about three of the most popular rip-offs being perpetuated by lowlifes today. Two of the methods being used I want to bring to your attention because they are for everyone to be aware of. The last and third scam is primarily for all marketers selling any product, service, or program where they also offer an affiliate program. You are welcome to distribute and forward this article to anyone you think could benefit from it and all I ask is that you leave my signature line intact. And, you may also submit to article banks and include your signature file after stating: "Submitted under authority from author by (your sig file here)." You will note I am NOT selling anything, this is information of such importance that I believe everyone on the net should be made aware of it. 1. The Paypal Scam This scam actually has two forms, but each methodology used by the scumbags operating it seek only one objective, and that objective is to get the users PayPal account and credit card information. The first style or method of this scam is an email sent with the "from" line indicating support or admin or service, etc. at paypal.com. And, if you put your cursor over that from line in the header of that email, then right click on your mouse (using Outlook Express) you will see what appears to be an official looking email address at PayPal… it is not. The subject line runs the gamut from "Update Information", "Your account", "Verification needed", "Important", etc., etc. And the message goes on to explain in some detail how PayPal is attempting to update their records on your account for some important reason, and the reasons will vary, but the point is they appear to be genuine. This scam goes on to give you a link in the message where you click, and are taken to what "appears" to be an official PayPal page where you are asked to re-enter your PayPal account information. If you will look closely at the URL that shows in your browser window, you will see that it "appears" only to be a URL at PayPal - it is not. Know this, PayPal will only and always if they contact you ask you to login at www.PayPal.com. They never ask you for your password or your credit card info. They already have it. And they always address you with your 'first' and 'last' name or your 'company name' (if a corporate account) in the greeting, i.e.; "Dear Michael Glaspie." When these dirtballs are successful at getting the victim to resubmit their PayPal account information, guess what? They now have 1. Your PayPal account name and login information You will note, that item six above only applies to your PayPal account if you have a "verified" account, which means that you can send money directly from PayPal to your bank account and/or have PayPal debit directly from your bank account. Let's move on. Once the scum has all of this information, they can not only go into your PayPal account and spend your money that you have sitting in there, with impunity, but they can also buy just about whatever they want online with your credit card. You see, they have your billing address, they have your credit card security code, they have your credit card account information, and they can buy goods, services, ebooks, advertising, you name it, until that card runs out of steam. These scampsters have many times tried to buy advertising from us, to promote an affiliate program that they signed up for, using false information. They are very difficult to track down, as almost all the time they are located outside of US jurisdiction. And, with your banking account information, guess what can happen next?… Have you ever purchased anything online by using just your checking account number and your bank routing information? It's done all the time. Legitimate companies will often offer this as a purchase option. Once the con man has this information, they can spend your bank account with impunity and or even just transfer the money into any other third party internet processor account they have created online and again, using false contact information. The internet is unique outside of banking circles in that it provides a way for con men to proliferate and move your money from one account to another, spending it, investing it, using it for marketing, etc., until they get everything out of it they can. Then they're gone, and so is your money. PayPal Scam #2 I've given you all of the basics of the PayPal scam in the first method above so I won't cover it again here; I'll just say this… This scam comes to you again, looking very official, but with an ATTACHMENT. The attachment asks you to, without having to log in to any official looking PayPal site, re-enter your data or open a new account. When you do, they got ya. These PayPal scams are sent out as spam mail. Because PayPal is the largest third party payment processor online in the world, a significant percentage of Internet users have a PayPal account and therefore, these scams tend to be successful for the rip-off artist. However note, members and customers of other third party processors as well as major banks are being targeted by these lowlifes, so beware. 2. Nigerian Scam This one has been around for many years. This con began long before the Internet was even thought about, and these lowlifes would send an official looking letter to registered business owners (business owners tend to have lots of money in their business accounts) through direct mail. The letter appearing to be very official and from an alleged prominent "individual" representing some poor deceased multi-millionaire whose money was confiscated by the Nigerian government would seek a business partner to help get those funds released. Today, these lowlifes have moved online. The "from" line is often very different and the subject lines usually are "Urgent assistance needed", "Assistance needed", "I solicit your support", "I seek your help", etc, etc. The email goes on to explain that some poor slob that no one's ever heard of has left a fortune, often times many millions of dollars, and that the government or some other agency in the country that the lowlife claims to reside in has locked up those funds but they can get them out with a legitimate investment partner and they seek your assistance. They then simply ask you for a response to their email, sometimes asking you for some information upfront. The end game is this. Through a series of emails and often even phone calls, all they want from you is… your bank account information. Checking account number, bank routing information. And you already learned what happens next. Say goodbye to your fungolas. What can you do to protect yourself from this scam and the PayPal scam? Hit delete, and if you want to waste your time you could report them to FTC.gov, but trust me, they get these forwarded to them every day. These scumbags using public computers and operating out of hotel rooms in foreign countries are very difficult to track down and prosecute. 3. The Chargeback Scam If you are marketing any program, service, products, or opportunity online today and offer commissions to affiliates who market for you, or in your future do so, you'll want to pay particular attention to this one. As you've already learned, there's lots of buying going on using stolen credit card information online. It's a big problem online and every marketer, whether they use their own merchant account or a third party processor, is a victim of it. Once that purchase is made and the product is downloaded, or the service is rendered, or the product is shipped to an address other than the address of the legitimate card holder, and then thirty to forty-five days later the legitimate card holder gets their statement and see an "unauthorized" charge, they call up their issuing bank and go through the process of charging back (which means to reverse the charges) and/or simply getting a refund from the seller. In either case, the marketer loses. But, that's not what this scam is about. This scam is quite different; here's how it works. You are marketing something online and you have set up an affiliate program where you pay affiliates a percentage of each sale that they generate. Then, unbeknownst to you, a lowlife "in affiliate's clothing" uses "their own credit card" and then they begin buying from you what your site is selling. If your shopping cart does not automatically prevent multiple purchases from the same buyer, you will get stung sooner or later. And, sometimes these dirtballs will purchase from you multiple times using a different name as the buyer by creating a different account name, and then use their own credit card again and again for each new account name to make the purchase. You will get stung because.. After they get paid their commissions, guess what?.. They simply do a chargeback. To avoid these two possible scenarios, it is recommended that your shopping cart be configured so as to disallow more than one purchase from the "same name" and also from the "same credit card". We do this very effectively at BlockSpamNow.com and we even make it clear on the order form page that only "one purchase per individual or card will be authorized." Just the act of making that statement will usually send the scampster off to another site to steal from someone else. If you are using one of the many third party payment processors, like 2checkout.com, paysystems.com, clickbank.com, etc., they have in place for our protection measures that may guard against this to some degree. For example, if the credit card has a history of chargebacks the sale will not be authorized. Or, if the credit card is suddenly being used extensively for online purchases through their system the sale may not be approved. Where marketers lose out with third party processors is if their site is first in line for this fraudulent activity - the sale gets approved, the commissions get paid, and then the sale is reversed. Despite the fact that as a merchant you have the right to challenge any chargeback requests, more often than not the merchant bank will agree with their card holder and issue the refund and you lose out. It is my suggestion, on your order form page, you include the language above and before you authorize disbursements for commissions earned (most third party processors and of course your own merchant account) you very carefully review accounts for suspicious activity. Look for: 1. A sudden uptick in sales from a new affiliate over a very short period of time. Once you have conducted your review of suspicious accounts, if any, send them an email telling them you conducting an investigation into their account and you need them to call you. I don't care where they are, who they are, if they have money coming and it's legitimate, they will call you. Chances are they will never call you but they will try and resolve it with you through email... they are hiding... Don't pay them. And if you are convinced that you are a victim of fraud, as in the case with multiple purchases from the same individual / credit card, just issue or authorize a refund. It's a lot better for you to have a refund on your merchant account or through your third party processor then to have a chargeback. You are not going to get the money anyways, you might as well give it back now rather than give it back later and run the risk of losing your merchant account or paying penalties through the third party processor as a result of having "too many" chargebacks, or worse yet, have your third party processor terminate your account and lock up all your funds. Back to Index of Articles 2 Challenge your readers at the end of your ad. Make a bet with them; if your product doesn't solve their problem, offer them a free product in return. People love to gamble and most are greedy. You're just using it to your advantage so you can sell them your product or service. Some people like to gamble just because it's fun. 3 Get your audience involved in your ad by asking them questions. They'll automatically want to answer the questions in their mind. For example, you could say in your ad copy, "Where do you want to be weight-wise in the next 5 months?" Another example, "Do you want to weigh that much or more 2 years from now?" 4 Introduce yourself in your ad copy. Haven't you ever read ad copy and wondered who was selling the product halfway through? It's a big turn-off. For example, you could say, "Hello my name is (your name and a little about yourself)." Another example, "It's (your name) here, I'm going to tell you about..." 5 Start your ad with a story. It draws people right into your ad and they forget they're being sold to. For example, you could start your ad, "Once upon a time ..." Another example would be, "Last year, one of my friends and I were..." 6 You should eliminate the hard-to-understand jargon on your ad copy. Unless your product calls for technical words, you want your ad to be read without people pulling out a dictionary. If you need to use a word your target audience might not understand, define it or use an example to help them understand it. 7 Create benefit intensifiers for your list of ad copy benefits. For example, the benefit: "Save More Time", the benefit's intensifier: "Never Seen Before!". You could also intensify your headline, sub-headlines, guarantees, postscripts, etc. 8 You could have a famous and respectable person on your banner ad representing your product, web site or service. People will click because they'll trust that person over you. For example, you could say, "The famous (name) has even bought our product! Click here to see why!" 9 Load your ad copy up with a large amount of benefits and bonuses. People will think and feel like they are getting a lot for their money if they buy. For example, if you read an ad which had 40 benefits listed, then saw a similar one with only 10 benefits listed, and both were around the same price, which one would you buy? 10 Don't forget to use words that create emotion. All people have emotions; people will have more interest when they are emotionally attached. Use words like mad, happy, angry, sad, excited, scared, surprised, etc. For example, "Imagine how happy you will be when you can finally afford taking that exotic cruise!" Selling Triggers, Part 2 coming next issue.
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