“There’s the left, and now the right and bam! The man is down, and he isn’t getting up. There you have it folks. A first round knock out in tonights main event!”

Under the right circumstances that scenario is quite exciting. Well especially for boxing fans. But there are other situations where this is very shocking and painful. And I suppose if your the victim of the knockout it was quite shocking and painful for you. But if it is a professional bout, at least you got paid to take a pounding. I always try to accentuate the positive.

Now that we have that cleared up I will proceed to the theme of our discussion.

Here on our topic driven content section we often try and open eyes and doors to opportunity. And yet there are times when it is important to help people beware of the unethical or sometimes even criminal element of the Internet.

A friend of mine has recently dedicated herself to an exercise regime and has also disciplined herself to eat better. She also has been doing a lot of reading and research for tips, advice, or just some food for thought. (cheap pun)

She had been hearing a lot about the Acai (ah-sigh-ee, for those wondering) Berry and it’s “amazing” results. Now I am not suggesting that it is a good or bad thing but that is just what led to a bigger issue.

A couple months ago she received and email offering a product with Acai in it. For whatever reason she associated it with the same “product” that the celebs were using and that she had been reading about. They offered her a “trial” sample for only $4.99. This was only to cover the shipping and handling. Easy enough right?

Well of course they needed a current credit card number to charge the shipping cost to. This was the left jab to the side of the head. For one she had 13 days to cancel an official order that would automatically follow. However she didn’t even receive the “trial” bottle until 3 weeks later!

Very shortly after that she noticed a $59.99 charge on her credit card. This after she had already followed the cancellation procedure. Then before she could cry foul, she got another charge in the $60 USD range on her credit card. This was the upper cut to the chin.

Trying to get off the mat, she called the company and they gave her a ridiculously hard time. And they also did not explain why if she had purchased more Acai pills, why hasn’t she received more deliveries? How can the “trial” offer go from $5 bucks to $120 George Washington’s?

Fortunately and well unfortunately at the same time, she found out from her bank that this has been happening at an epidemic rate all over the place. They even recognized the company she got blindsided from. In her case she was able to reach someone at the office of those weasels and she threatened to contact a business bureau and they credited her money back onto her card.

However she explained to me it took a lot of time and effort to get a hold of them. Her story inspired me to write this but I thought I would check with my bank and confirm these events. They told me it was indubitably true. In fact the bank I use has went to bat for people who have had a similar experience.

The lesson? Look, I hate stereo types and broad sweeping statements but I would suggest staying clear of offers that involve giving your credit card information. Period.

I have been told it also happens in offers that are connected to “get paid to do survey” web sites. And I can tell you when I did a little research into some of them I noticed a large number of the participating offers required a credit card for “shipping and handling”.

And even when people are offered a “trial” period it is often near impossible to get a hold of them or even when you do it is very, very difficult to cancel.

I am not going to pretend that I know for sure where this goes from unethical and swarmy to illegal and criminal. Then again does it matter? Just avoid the hassle.

I also am not in a position to say that there are not credible offers out there. I mean I know that there are some companies that are above board who do the try it and cancel in 30 days, knowing that people will forget and get stuck with a bill or two. But I also know those companies gladly accommodate you when you get a hold of them. I know this because I have procrastinated a time or two and took one to the wallet. But clearly that was on me. And I had no problem reaching them and terminating further orders. And I have tired product I liked and kept the order going. So it’s not all gloom and doom.

On the flip side again, I checked out a few of the items that were brought to my attention and it doesn’t even spell out the whole “you must cancel or it will continue details”. Now that is a low blow and really shamefully misleading. But it is happening regardless.

So while the Internet was not the birth place of scams and unscrupulous acts of greed, it has its share of them and you need to be cautious and shrewd with your financial information. Don’t let your guard down!

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