Triple Play Scam. Shame On Them

Harlan,

Lol how is that any different then what some Internet Marketers are doing?

It isn't any different. I've seen many of sites and blogs set up in a similar way.

I'm not saying it's right mind you, but I am saying it's no different, and now has become almost common.

As far as the bottom statement goes, at least they are presenting it openly. That's better than I can say for some of the others.

This is the crap that gives all of us a black eye
Thanks for such a well done report.
I hope everyone takes notice and starts putting
an effort into getting this stuff off the Internet

I've said it a thousand times here...

All CPA offers are not "scams".

I'm not sure if your in any CPA networks - I assume you aren't by the way you talk so generally about CPA offers.

CPA offers vary from things exactly like you showed - Google Biz kits - to things like the Snuggie or whatever you call it. (A product that has a normal sales page and an extremely low refund rate.)

There are tons of CPA offers out there that have actually been featured on countless talk shows etc,. (The actual product not the idea of the product like **** on Oprah.)

Telling people all CPA offers are scams and saying you should stay away entirely from promoting them is completely ridiculous and quite disappointing to hear from you.

Things just need to be done right...

The offers themselves may be great but due to the unsuspected cost associated with it people always cancel, or try, before ever trying the product in question.

All the offers themselves need is:

1) A checkbox stating bluntly the cost associated with the product.

2) No hidden add ons unless requested.

3) No celeb endorsements that weren't actually made. (Which is being corrected right now.)

Just like the whole FTC thing CPA offers are being misunderstood.

I still remember the days i'd come here and see one or two people lurking in the CPA forum talking. Now there is almost always 50 or so curious people willing to promote anything for a buck.

As for the flogs they aren't anything new. I've seen countless same ideas put into full page magazine ads. Flogs, in my mind, aren't entirely bad depending on what one you look at. (Most pre-sell pages follow some of the same guidelines and have for years.)

Fnews on the other hand are going too far IMO.

This summer I ran two campaigns. One around **** and one around colon cleansing... as usual I put a terms of service, privacy policy, and contact page.

After running them for awhile I made around the same amount of sales - 100.

For some odd reason I decided to actually check the e-mail address' I put under the contact page.

I got something like 75 e-mails all telling me they had been charged odd amounts for the **** offer and asking me to review their purchase etc,. (Thinking I was the one with the offer I assume.)

I was shocked - and like many marketers before the whole hidden continuity thing was well know - I couldn't believe how bad the offer was and how many literal horror stories I was hearing.

When I went to check the e-mails for the Resv. offer I had around three or so. They all were thanking me for the great product and/or asking a few questions about if they should do any exercise to speed the weight loss.

I think that sums up all that has to be said.

Some offers rock some suck ass. Unfortunately the CPA networks don't tell us which ones are good so we either have to see what the continuity is all about by trying the offers ourselves or we just have to test and see the reaction.

(Getting a pre-paid credit card is great for testing offers.)

I really hope you re-consider the whole assumption that all CPA offers suck or are "scams". Just like with anything else the bad is always emphasized and the good ignored...

Zach

I personally dont think it is a scam and i think you are making too much of it.

Hey wait a second......

I recognize that article! It wasn't real!

Seriously though, I hate those sites.

I see where your coming from...

Think of it this way though:

Joe is a marketer who uses the fake name Jim and makes up a fantastic story of losing weight and tells others via his blog - or flog since it is somewhat fake - his story.

His story is great...he lost 20 pounds...dropped 4 pant sizes...but non the less it's fake.

But here's the difference. The product he recommends people to try actually works. It helps others - although in some cases maybe not as much - lose some weight.

People are happy and no one cares if Joe is really Jim or whether the story is even remotely true because Joe/Jim got them to buy and they are having great results.

This is the way almost all internet marketing is done - not all but most you see. We all are "fake" to a certain degree.

The "guru's" may not have tried XYZ but they still promote it to you and say it's great even though they don't truly know.

Or guru1 is in the market for selling carrots - sorry for outing the niche ;-) - and says he's really Susy and says he/she has a great new product to help grow great carrots.

Although Susy hasn't grown amazing carrots the product still kicks ass - because it was written by someone who knows what their talking about - and everyone throws their money at Susy.

The problem is flogs and especially fnews' simply take it to that next level with the fake comments and fake everything. (We all know - in most cases - the real comments would be negative.)

Point being if the CPA offers kicked ass the marketing would be more irrelevant to us all because you could have confidence that people aren't being hurt by you.

As for the statement that the big money is made by the big "scams" CPA offers you are - unfortunately - 100% correct.

I know of many offers in the ****/Resv niches that make crazy EPC's and are totally legit and great. And those niches, along with green tea etc, are moving along to more ethical approaches because they realize they can actually have a long term business model with an individual site. (Without needing to change sales pages and names every few months.)

But things like Biz kits or even worse government grants simply can't be done ethically. No matter what you do the products simply don't work so the consumer - no matter the price - can't be happy.

Not condoning anything - just offering a different view point...

Zach

P.S- As you'll see with sites like Laura's diet blog - Google it - the claims are just becoming outrageous. And no program, at least that i'm aware of, would get you those results. So yeah things have to be changed there to make people's actual weight loss due to a product seem relevant.

I think it is a lot like the ads that run in magazines that resemble news reports. It might not be the best way to advertise, but people need to read before they buy.

So many scams across the Internet....I am shocked by how many are on places like U-tube and ect.......ebay had to do away with digital delivery over a year ago.....because scams are running wild...yes it's a shame !!

My brother fell for something like this. He called three companies attempting to get his money back, and in reality ended up dealing with the same rep all three times the rep gave him different names but he could tell it was the same person. He concluded that he was actually calling different departments of the same company, even though you can easily picture all of these departments being located in a single room. Same hold music, same reps, same company.

Don't wanna put words into SpudDS's mouth but what I think he meant was that Harlan needs to have more of an open mind to the whole CPA concept and not focus on purely the negative.

Again @Jon Tees some CPA offers are gonna be like that - and some aren't.

There's a reason my money isn't taken back when there's a refund - because it's damn hard to get a refund and it rarely happens.

But for some offers - like the resv one I talked about previously - you call in, cancel, and go about your way.

Remember both offers converted around the same the only difference is the resv offer did things ethically and in the process lost maybe around 10-20% of initial profit.

Zach

Alexis Dawes wrote an excellent report about seeking desperate buyers because they're super-easy to sell to. But when we provide those desperate buyers with a real, useful solution to their problem, that's clearly different from screwing them over because they're already bent over the barrel.

It should be obvious by now that some folks truly cannot see that difference. So rather than burn energy arguing with someone who sees the world very differently, you may want to simply take note of the names of those who defend the scammers -- and never buy a WSO from them, nor do a joint venture with them. Trying to do more than that may be a waste of time. Can you teach a scorpion to sing a bluebird's song?

While I don't sanction what the scammers are doing, I do suggest you may want to put the bulk of your energies into tending your own store rather than playing endless rounds of "ain't it awful."

Cheers from warm and smiling Thailand,
Charles

I guess that I am rather shocked at the number of defenders there are for deception in marketing.

It causes me to wonder what is going to happen when the new FTC rules go live in December. Possibly people plan to fly under the radar and think they will continue to market with deception. However, the current enforcement model is not only to go after the big guys, but to make examples of of a few small guys as well.

Since the Warrior forum is a high profile forum. Some of its members could be tasty targets for the FTC in December.

Just a thought.

Does that mean you won't be buying my new WSO titled:

"How to make millions of billions on the interweb scamming people with CPA $$$ offers because we all know - thanks to those who have no idea what CPA offers really are - that they are all scams." ?

Here's another nasty CPA offer:

http://www.yourbabycanread.com/defau...d=itm1090#back

Look into those faces...pure evil I tell you...pure evil...



Zach

It's interesting to see all the different opinions for basically the same subject: IM Ethics .

for some of you it's "ok" for Pegan to be called DeAngello, and for John Smith to be called Mary and for Mary to be called Bob (cause she's CPAing a new fly flishing rod) etc.

But it's not ok to sneakily stuff a continuity program (and I agree!)

So my question is: What IS ok? What qualifies as a lie and what as a "marketing license"?

I think black and white clashes here in this thread but IM (life itsef for that matter) is never black or white. It's about shades of grey.

MY question: Where do you draw the line ?????

My answer is to follow a simple rule: Don't do things that you dont want be done to you.

My 2 cents

So what's the point of making this video? Focus on the positive, man.

The internet isn't some magical mystical place where we all hold hands and cuddle each other. If there's money to be made some people will always push it to the very edge of the law and beyond it - just like in the real world.

It's naive to think any different.

There's a huge difference between "ethical" and "legal," Harlan. I'm sure you're aware of this. I don't agree with what they do. But you're tarring an awful lot of people with the same brush.

Also, it's no secret that these guys make a comfortable seven figures a week. And, thanks to your step by step video, you've helped many others join the game.

Tom

Nothing new there. Whoever is running that campaign is making a killing. The problem is the way is laid out, going right after people's greed.

@harlan i known about this for months it was first shown on scam.com its not just not the usa it is worldwide i have seen the newspaper page i seen the same as that but called the manchester gazette (as in manchester u.k)

i didnt know this was a cpa offer mind
thanks for this
andy

If you are in any doubt about the morality of what you do, then I advice you to apply my method.

When I post something on the internet, I assume my incredibly gullible father is going to read it.

There is no grey area. There are however those who can't tell black from white.

I have nothing in principle against CPA and am using it (Carefully) myself

My 2c

Colin

What I learned from this video is the A in cpa stands for acquisition not action, go figure

Sadly it is nothing new. Those black hatters would sell their grandma for 5 cents.

Dude, seriously ever heard of disclaimers?

There are visible disclaimers and the terms are fully disclosed. If someone makes a buying decision without reading the terms - which IS ONLY a few sentences that then that's their problem.

If we follow the laws and FTC rules then we are not breaking the law. If you dont feel ethical about doing these sites then don't.