Idiot who learned hard and quick
Anonymous
You know IT'S A SCAM if...
1. If you're getting winks from someone who hasn't even viewed your profile - IT'S a SCAM!
2. If you're getting winks from women very far away from you - IT'S a SCAM!
3. If they give an email for IM, chat you up about hooking up right now, and they ask you to sign up for another site - IT'S a SCAM!
4. If you're a man in your 40s-50s, receiving unsolicited attention from 20-30 year old flat out hotties who want to IM you and have quick hook-ups - IT'S a SCAM!
5. Be careful for sites that hide the fact that you will be auto-renewed (especially for cheap short introductory offers of a few days). Even reputable sites do this. They auto-refilled my credits without notice. I wouldn't have even realized that they added credits and charged me, but I was paying close attention to how many points I had remaining. When they charge your credit card without your informed consent - IT'S a SCAM!
6. Be careful of sites that are free or have very low introductory rate, but you need to pay more to do anything more than wink. It isn't necessarily a scam when someone shows interest and you have to pay/subscribe to reply. But some sites are known for setting up fake profiles to entice you to pay/subscribe, to be able to answer people showing interest. The rule is, if the person showing interest is too good to be true - IT'S a SCAM! Especially if they haven't even viewed your profile. Unless you're smoking hot, people won't usually contact you after only looking at your summary.
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I got hooked by #3 after chatting it up with a way too hot young woman. I was sent a spoofed email that had a fake promotional code. The site is setup so that you think you will be able to enter the promo code from their email to not be charged, but there's never any place to enter the promo code.
IF YOU GET SCAMMED...DON'T WORRY...it's easy to fix.
Call your credit card company, and ask for the Fraud Department, not the Dispute Department. Again, when they charged your credit card without informed consent, that was fraud. You want to communicate it to the credit card company that way to better protect yourself and guarantee the best outcome. It protects you more because if you only dispute it, that gives the cheating vendor a better opportunity to argue against the claim. This is not a dispute - hiding the fact that they're going to charge you money, without your informed consent is called fraud. That's very different than conducting business with a vendor and "not receiving services", which falls under a "dispute".
It's also better because the rates vendors pay to credit card companies, and how easily they can submit transactions (without the risk of automatic rejection or delays) depends on the credit card company vendor score or rating. And that score is based on the vendor's prior track record, of how many disputes they've generated. You can bet that a fraud complaint results in a higher score than a mere dispute.
I can't stress the world of difference between "fraud" and "dispute" enough, so repeat it three times to remember it.
When you conduct business with a vendor, and there's a dispute as to whether they have delivered those services or not, that's a "dispute". When a vendor charges your credit card without your explicit informed consent, that's called "fraud". Hiding the fact that they will do this in small print is not informed consent - you must "opt in" or explicitly agree to be charged.
Oh, and finally - no, I am not licensed as a lawyer (I do have a law degree and passed the bar). Nor am I giving legal advice. I'm just trying to help people by passing on information I've found, and by relating my own personal experience, and giving my opinions.
1. If you're getting winks from someone who hasn't even viewed your profile - IT'S a SCAM!
2. If you're getting winks from women very far away from you - IT'S a SCAM!
3. If they give an email for IM, chat you up about hooking up right now, and they ask you to sign up for another site - IT'S a SCAM!
4. If you're a man in your 40s-50s, receiving unsolicited attention from 20-30 year old flat out hotties who want to IM you and have quick hook-ups - IT'S a SCAM!
5. Be careful for sites that hide the fact that you will be auto-renewed (especially for cheap short introductory offers of a few days). Even reputable sites do this. They auto-refilled my credits without notice. I wouldn't have even realized that they added credits and charged me, but I was paying close attention to how many points I had remaining. When they charge your credit card without your informed consent - IT'S a SCAM!
6. Be careful of sites that are free or have very low introductory rate, but you need to pay more to do anything more than wink. It isn't necessarily a scam when someone shows interest and you have to pay/subscribe to reply. But some sites are known for setting up fake profiles to entice you to pay/subscribe, to be able to answer people showing interest. The rule is, if the person showing interest is too good to be true - IT'S a SCAM! Especially if they haven't even viewed your profile. Unless you're smoking hot, people won't usually contact you after only looking at your summary.
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I got hooked by #3 after chatting it up with a way too hot young woman. I was sent a spoofed email that had a fake promotional code. The site is setup so that you think you will be able to enter the promo code from their email to not be charged, but there's never any place to enter the promo code.
IF YOU GET SCAMMED...DON'T WORRY...it's easy to fix.
Call your credit card company, and ask for the Fraud Department, not the Dispute Department. Again, when they charged your credit card without informed consent, that was fraud. You want to communicate it to the credit card company that way to better protect yourself and guarantee the best outcome. It protects you more because if you only dispute it, that gives the cheating vendor a better opportunity to argue against the claim. This is not a dispute - hiding the fact that they're going to charge you money, without your informed consent is called fraud. That's very different than conducting business with a vendor and "not receiving services", which falls under a "dispute".
It's also better because the rates vendors pay to credit card companies, and how easily they can submit transactions (without the risk of automatic rejection or delays) depends on the credit card company vendor score or rating. And that score is based on the vendor's prior track record, of how many disputes they've generated. You can bet that a fraud complaint results in a higher score than a mere dispute.
I can't stress the world of difference between "fraud" and "dispute" enough, so repeat it three times to remember it.
When you conduct business with a vendor, and there's a dispute as to whether they have delivered those services or not, that's a "dispute". When a vendor charges your credit card without your explicit informed consent, that's called "fraud". Hiding the fact that they will do this in small print is not informed consent - you must "opt in" or explicitly agree to be charged.Oh, and finally - no, I am not licensed as a lawyer (I do have a law degree and passed the bar). Nor am I giving legal advice. I'm just trying to help people by passing on information I've found, and by relating my own personal experience, and giving my opinions.