CONSUMER ADVOCATE REPORT
HOME BASED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES, MARCH ISSUE, 2009
With the increase in lost jobs and the increase in energy costs, more Americans are looking for a home based business opportunity. Unfortunately, many consumers in search of work at home become victims to online scams.
The Better Business Review, has been helping American consumers stay informed and avoid common scams. We have been successful in helping consumers because we listen. We rely on the feedback of everyday hard working people to keep us up to date on the most recent scams and most reliable online businesses. When consumers report to us, The Better Business Review, we investigate. The results of our investigations can be read below in our CONSUMER ADVOCATE REPORT. We are not a government entity and this website includes the opinions and interpretations of our company.
We encourage anybody who suspects an online home based business scam to report it to us. We will have our consumer advocate team investigate. The results of these investigations will be used for upcoming consumer advocate reports.
HOME BASED BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES; March ISSUE 2009
The report is based on information from the following; consumer reports, consumer interviews, FTC (Federal Trade Commission), BBB (Better Business Bureau) and our other investigations. We have focused on Coupon scam alerts and 3 legitimate offers, that we feel are most relevant for consumers at this time.
CONSUMER ADVOCATE REPORT
Coupon Scam Alert
Coupon Certificate Booklet Scams
Coupon Clipping Scam
Legitimate Free Information Websites:
We have selected 3 websites that offer free information about work at home businesses. (The Better Business review only provides links to companies that are both free and reliable).
SCAM ALERT: COUPON SCAMS
Overview:
Cents-off coupons are providing big bucks for scam artists who offer business opportunity and work-at-home schemes featuring coupon certificate booklets and coupon clipping services. Using the Internet to market these so-called opportunities, fraudulent promoters are promising entrepreneurs, charity groups and consumers earnings of "hundreds per week" and "thousands per month" simply by selling coupon certificate booklets or cutting coupons at home. The fact is that consumers and manufacturers are getting clipped in these costly—and deceptive—coupon capers.
There’s only one legitimate way to use a coupon: Cut it out of the newspaper or other source and use it toward the purchase of the designated product. A coupon is meant to be used only by the consumer who buys the product for which the coupon is printed. Selling or transferring coupons to a third party violates most manufacturers’ coupon redemption policies—and usually voids the coupon.
Coupon Certificate Booklet Scams
A promoter sells an investor a business opportunity selling coupon certificate booklets. The investor is supposed to sell the booklets to consumers for $20 to $50 each. The booklets contain 20 to 50 certificates, each of which can be redeemed for $10 worth of grocery coupons. That makes each booklet "worth" between $200 and $500 in coupons. To redeem the certificates for coupons, the consumer must complete and mail a form, select 30 to 50 products from a list and include a self-addressed, stamped envelope and a processing fee.
In theory, the investor should make big profits selling the booklets to consumers. And consumers should save big money by using the coupons when they buy the groceries. In reality, though, the promoter is the only one who makes money.
Investors who spend several hundred to several thousand dollars to buy the certificate booklet distributorship lose money because inflated earnings claims never pan out. Consumers who pay out substantial processing fees and postage for coupons lose money because they can clip coupons for themselves from their newspaper. To redeem $500 worth of certificates, for example, a consumer might pay postage and processing fees of over $100. And everyone loses on false claims that coupons have no expiration date: Only a tiny share of coupons issued by manufacturers have no expiration date.
Coupon Clipping Scam
A related scam centers on coupon clipping. Promoters make overblown promises about the income or profit potential for consumers working at home clipping coupons. These claims certainly sound appealing, but they are unsubstantiated at best and bold lies at worst. Making money—particularly "hundreds per week" and "thousands per month"—isn’t that easy. Success generally requires hard work.
Sometimes, fraudulent promoters use coupons clipped by consumers to fill orders from other consumers who redeem the coupon certificates. Many manufacturers have policies that do not allow coupons to be transferred. That is, the coupons that are being sold may not be redeemed by the retailer or manufacturer.
The article above is courtesy of the FTC.gov
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Copyright 2009, Next Green Media LLC
Legitimate Free Information Websites:
We have selected 3 websites that offer free information about work at home businesses. The 3 websites below meet each of our 5 requirements.
Requirements for a Legitimate Information website:
1. Free information. No up front fees.
2. Clean record with FCC & BBB
3. Information adds value to consumers.
4. No deception.
5. Responsive & courteous.
Free Information Websites From Our January Issue:
Click Here to see the full January Issue with Scam Alerts
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