Language-learning Spam

Beware the "Pimsleur Approach". NOTE: This is not about the "Pimsleur Method," which I happen to endorse - it's about a very shady company that has been contracted as an affiliate marketer for that language acquisition system.

We're talking about rampant spamming, and deceptive marketing practices; I must get several of their spam mails each week, and the complaints board are full of unhappy people.

Look at their website:



Most people sign up for the $9.95 offer without reading the (†) box, which states:

† Pimsleur Rapid Fluency Purchase Program:
One month after you receive your Quick & Simple you'll begin receiving 30 day trial copies of advanced Pimsleur courses in the language you selected. Each course is yours to try for 30 days. You'll receive a new course once every 60 days. For each course you keep we'll bill you in four monthly payments of $64. Remember, there's never an immediate obligation to buy any course because of the 30-day trial period provided with each shipment. And you may cancel future shipments at any time by calling 1-877-802-5283. See Key Details.

The "Key Details" spell out in greater detail your obligation to receive and be charged $256.00 for each additional course they send you, the first 30 days after you place your initial order, and every 60 days thereafter.

Yes, it's all there on the website, but cleverly hidden in small, gray type which most people won't read. The complaints boards are rampant with people being charged recurring fees, difficulty obtaining refunds, rude customer support agents (a hallmark of shady operators who bully unhappy customers), and of course, the unbridled spamming.

Stay far away from this company. I'll be writing more about the actual Pimsleur Method later, but if you want to check it out, just head for your local library. It's a good bet they have several of the beginner courses there for you to check out for free and see if you like the method. If you can't find anything at your branch, go directly to Pimsleur's site - they offer a free lesson with each language so you can see how it works. If you decide you like the method, head over to Amazon where you can usually find the courses at a significant discount.

Just don't have anything to do with this sleazy "Pimsleur Approach" outfit.

This has been a public service announcement from The Old Wolf.

VC Merchant Systems Scam

This morning I recieved a call from 602-513-8500 asking for my mother, who has been deceased for some time. Any call to cell phone asking for her is an automatic scam, based on previous experiences she had with fraudulent telemarketers and advance-fee fraud operators.

The pitch started out claiming that they are with Visa/Mastercard/Amex/Discover, that a rep in "my" area just retired and that there is now a slot open. They ask if the victim is interested in making money from home. They promise that no sales are involved.

These people are promising their victims a guaranteed monthly income of $5,000 for 6 months, plus 50% of the processing fees after 30 days. They claim to be able to reduce merchants' credit card fees to 1.5% down from 7%, and the victim would get 50% of that. However, the agent (i.e. the victim) must refer businesses to the home company, so obviously the "opportunity" involves a lot of cold-calling.

There's a 3-minute audio presentation filled with a lot of gobbledygook which is supposed to be "exciting." After the audio presentation, the call is transferred to a "closer."

Then they cut to the chase and say that the merchant license is $995.00, of which they will pay $500.00 (which the victim never needs pay back) and the remaining $495.00 is deducted from the first commission check. It's all very confusing, even for someone who has not lost their marbles. They then begin pushing for the victim's credit card number, at which point I terminated the call.

They provided a toll-free number of 866-311-0703, which is answered by "VC Merchant Services." There is a website for a company of this name, but I'm not sure if it's related - it looks dicey all by itself, though.

This is a very smooth scam, please warn your loved ones about it and teach them *never* to give credit card or banking info to someone that calls them out of the blue.

Scam: Domain Renewal Fraud (droa.com)

Got a letter today from "Domain Registry of America", informing me that my business domains were about to expire and they would kindly renew them for me. Trouble is, they're not my host - and their charges are about 400% higher than what I'm paying now.

Here's a scan of their letter:



The letter does say in a number of places that it is a solicitation, that you are changing providers, and that this is not an invoice - but I'm certain that they get enough business from people who don't read the letter carefully that it makes it worth their while to continue the scam.

Notice all the fine print on the back:



I didn't bother to read it, but it's a pretty sure bet that there's more than one "gotcha" in there for people who are fool enough to sign up with them.

A quick visit to their website caused a WOT (Web of Trust) intercept - here are some of the comments:

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"This company is engaged in sending out fraudulent "renewal" notices for owners of domains that are managed by other registrars, in other words, customer hijacking tactics. Do not do business with them. Ignore their letters."

"This company sends out letters to domain name owners (presumably by using publicly available whois info), warning them that their domain is about to expire and that they need to renew using the form they send out. The problem is that they are *not* renewing your domain with your current provider when you return the form with your payment details to them! Not to mention the renewal prices are inflated by about 300% with this company, though they tell you that you're "saving" money by switching to them. Don't fall for this scam."

"They may not send spam by email, but using whois information for marketing purposes to send postal spam is the same thing."

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Despite the Buffalo address, this appears to be a Canadian company. There was an FTC action against them in 2003, but these drones continue to ply their trade.

There is some very good information about domain registration here: 10 things you MUST know before you register a domain name with anyone - just ignore their solicitation for their own registration service at the end.



Stay far away from these slime-molds. You have been warned.

This has been an Old Wolf public service announcement.