Please help

i was approached by someone on a social site the other night. after some chatting this person told me i should join a site they were on because it was free they just needed a credit card number to verify age. i was a bit leery of it but the site looked legit and i figured id use my prepaid card so in the horrible event it was a scam they wouldnt get much money since my prepaid only had around 15 dollars left on it. well after trying several times to create an account the person i was chatting with became more and more frustrated and told me i should use a different credit card since the one i was trying wasnt working. I had no idea what could be wrong or why the account wasnt working. then i noticed there were no links to cancel the account or any links leading to a page to change or update payment info. so i became suspicious finally and told the person i wasnt going to try anymore. upon saying that the person asked me to try one more time and i was finally able to log in to the site. i also found a link to cancel the account but the link led to the site thesaver.us and told me i had to complete 2 free offers to not be charged the 40 bucks a month. i spent a good deal of time trying to research the site and found that the owner seems to be based in czech republic and has several other domains most of which are no longer active. i called my prepaid card company to find out if i had been charged and they informed me that my prepaid card was no longer active (which is why it wasnt working last night im assuming). assuming that the saver.us was a legit company and i just would have to bite the bullet and pay the 40 bucks for the month and then cancel my account, i made another prepaid card account and emailed the company asking them to contact me with instructions to update my payment info since the card number i used was from the card that unknown to me was inactive. i got no response. so i tried calling the numbers listed in the contact info and all day long i got a recording saying they were experiencing a high volume of calls and to hold the line but was immediately followed by a standard "please leave your message after the tone" recording. well yesterday and today i began getting the emails I had sent back with a " server has been unreachable too long" error.


now with that out of the way, does anyone know if this site is a scam or if it has telltale signs of a scam? or should I continue trying to contact them so they dont try to bill an inactive card?

id appreciate any input...

First of all, can you post the address of the site you were trying to join so we can do a little research?

Second, what information did you give them, and did you at any time give them the number of a valid credit card belonging to you? Since they needed to verify age, I am assuming it was a site with adult content. Did you participate in any activities/use any services of this website? If you did not, then the most they can do is try to bill you, and you can use the bill as a means to contact/cancel. If you did, you might be liable for some costs. Requiring you to sign up for other offers in order to cancel is suspicious, at a minimum.

Third, I would be a bit suspicious of the person who led you to this site in the first place.

the original site was gayworld.com but the link the person gave me was different that led to te gayworld site. i dont remember what the link was but they told me it was just a general archive site. ive been trying to contact both sites through email and phone. http://www.gayworld.com and http://thesaver.us. both numbers give me the high volume of calls recording and my emails from both sites have been returning with the server was unreachable too long error.

luckily the prepaid card i used is inactive (i didnt know it was inactive at the time). i didnt give any other information other than that, my yahoo email address and my first and last name. they dont have my phone number or home address. no i didnt utilize any of the services on either site. i havent even logged into the sites since the day after when i looked to see if i had missed any links that would help me with the contact info or cancelling the account.

i realize it was naive of me to continue the chat with this person after they first asked me to join a site. i had no idea scammers would go so far. this person said over and over that there would be no charge involved by joining the site. it wasnt until i started looking for a link to delete and cancel the account that i realized i had been signed up to both of the sites i listed and would be charged.

At best the sites seem imoral and the person who wanted you to sign up does sound like a scammer of some sort.

I would be worried about them charging you, I doubt they could so long as they dont get a valid credit card, fake sites is not my area of knowledge but it certainly seems fishy to me, I dont know that you would have any hope of getting any money back if they did manage to get money from that account but I doubt you would have any legal obligation to continue paying, it seems to me they have breached many codes of ethics and posting the sites addresses here with suitable information about your bad experience may be enough to prevent others from losing money to it.

Dont take this the wrong way, but alledgedly there are Free sites that dont require credit card details to view their content, I found such information once while doing some "research" honest

If you dont mind, could you include the email address of the person who recomended the site to you, we can delete it again if no foul play can be proven but I would like to do a little digging on that one

[AlanJones]

I'm not going to visit the sites in question, but i would hazard a guess that the person who referred you to the sites was an affiliate and gets a commission for everyone who signs up through their referral link. The site that you were initially directed to was probably a gateway site that purely existed to direct you to the other sites using the person's referral ID.

The only question is where you were being asked for the credit card details - was it on the first (unnamed) site you went to or on one of the 2 sites that you've named. If it is the former, then it could be a phishing attempt.

the email of the person is [email protected] i think. hotleejones is the yahoo ID used by this person on the yahoo messenger chat where this all went down. basically the conversation was over several hours but in a nutshell went like this.

THEM: I have done some adult videos.
ME: yeah?
THEM: they are on my private site if you wanna see them.
ME: will i be charged?
THEM: no
ME: ok cool
THEM: give me your email address and ill set you up so u can see for free
ME: *my email address*
THEM: okay go to this site *link* and create an account using the email address u just gave me
ME: it is asking for a credit card to verify age. are you sure i wont be charged at all?
THEM: yes
ME: its not working
THEM: try again.
ME: still not working
THEM: is your card empty?
ME: no. but i think id rather not do this. how do i cancel or delete my info off the site?
THEM: use another credit card and an email will be sent to you explianing how to cancel.
ME: oh wait. it let me log in. where do i go to cancel my account?
THEM: youre logged in right now?
ME: yes
THEM: okay try making another account using another credit card and email address and youll get an email telling you how to cancel your account.

at that point i got really suspicious and told the person i wasnt going to give another credit card number. he kept asking me to keep trying and asking if id gotten an email which i hadnt. i kept asking him why he couldnt just explain to me how to cancel my account and hed repeat his request for me to make another account using another credit card. after a few tries at getting information out of him without any luck i terminated the chat.

in response to B8er's question, the link the person provided would take me to the gayworld site immediately after clicking on the link. again i dont remember the url exactly but i remember enough to know it wasnt gayworld or thesaver.us. the site i was trying to log into was gayworld but then when i finally DID find a cancel account link, itd tell me i was now an active member of the saver.us and had to complete at least 2 free offers to not be charged and cancel my account.

another bit of info that might help is i also kept telling the person i wanted to cancel my account and if he wanted me to see his vids so bad i could just try to find them on xtube or something. he said he had only done amateur vids and so his vids were ONLY on that site he was trying to get me to log into. but now after doing some research, the person whos pictures this indvidual was using is of an actual porn star of sorts and has done a few major studio videos and has his own website. so its pretty obvious the person i was speaking to wasnt the person in the pictures they sent.

Thank you for posting this information Yungdoger. It will alert others to this rip off scammer.

Well Done

Note this site;

http://up4now.com/search_results.php?display=profile&offset=6160&order=rating&sort=desc

hotleejones
Age: 24 (View biorythm)
Location: San Francisco, California, United States
Relationship Type: Cam-2-Cam Sex

Then this site using same stolen photograph;

http://www.mand8.com/view_user?p_id=270467&PHPSESSID=3ec1029222e0213c3cfc08d9d9d94cf2

hotleejones Age: 24 Location: Florida

East AND West coast - a certain scammer.

Note this search result click here

Scamwarners support team and members are always happy to help advise and answer any concerns you have, please post and one of us will reply ASAP.

Thank You again.

thanks enchantress. i didnt have any experience with scammers until now. i mean everyone has gotten the emails saying " hey someone died and their moneys gonna go to waste unless you pretend to be their next of kin". i never ever thought theyd go so far as to hit people up on social sites or even go so far to make full webpages with terms of service pages etc. my concern hasnt been fear of being ripped off by a scammer because the credit card i gave was thankfully inactive. my only concern was i didnt want to be blindsided if it was a legit thing and theyd try to pursue me for money even though i was lured into signing up under false pretenses. i wanted to know if it was a scam so i could work on taking care of that if it was a legit company but the more even i research it and remember, the more obvious it is a scam. im even learning through research that some scammers used looped webcam sessions to lure people into giving up personal info. thank goodness for sites like this that help people identify scammers and put peoples minds at ease when theyve encountered them.

Thank you. Spread the word and we will all be safer and wise up to these crooks.

Stay cool and all the best. <hugs>

There is a scam out there to suit almost every person, love scams, loan scams, nanny scams and pet scams are some of the less common ones, of course there is also the employment scam, saddams millions, next of kin and lottery scams, there is a scam that gets your email password then tells your contact list you are in trouble and need money urgently, another that actually deposits money into your bank account, there is a ebay scam that pays by check and includes money for the courier and another ebay scam that get you to send your item before getting payed for it, then the more common refugee, sick orphan and dying widow, there is the translation scam and as you have seen the fake adult site scam.

I am also certain I have missed quite a few but all of the above are different ways scammers will steal money from their victims, some are more obvious than others, some include elaborate websites, many include fax and phone numbers, the one thing they all have in common, they want something from you before you actually receive anything of value from them, learn the signs and tell your friends, word of mouth and public education are still our best forms of defense against all of these scams

UPDATE


I just now received this email in response to ONE of the many emails I had sent them days ago. this is the email.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Customer Support <[email protected]>
Subject: RE:
To: *******@yahoo.com
Date: Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 11:20 AM

Dear Member,

In order to be able to serve you promptly and properly please contact our customer

service center at your convenience:

Monday - Friday 8am - 5pm PST.

1-866-712-3827

Thank you.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

nothing is altered aside from my email address.

take note that the email this is in response to was sent to the gayworld domain and this email is from something called platinumclub.

i also just googled the number given and it is listed on a site where people report suspicious numbers calling them and is also listed by someone who was scammed on a site here http://www.ripoffreport.com/view.asp?id=452383. i dont know how to create hyperlinks here but thats the site. if you google the telephone number youll find these sites among other sites this number is listed on. so it appears this person has many many sites up and is using many different tactics to lure people in.

Keep in mind that if you call the number from a phone that is traceable to you, they will be able to get your name and address info.

Thank You for the update Yungdoger.

Copy from this site http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/452/ripoff0452383.htm

Report: #452383 Submitted: 5/15/2009
Report: Datecheck Verify

Category: Computer Fraud
Datecheck Verify Is A Scam Beware! RIPOFF

I signed up to verify to meet someone and it signed me up for porn, I clicked cancel when it asked did I want to continue and it still signed me up. It has reoccurring billing to credit card, and accepts check or cc.
It has an area to cancel but you can still login after cancellation.

Which means they are still gonna try and bill my dead cc.
I signed up with a dead credit card so they couldn't scam me because it being craigslist I knew I could be at risk.

Don't USE ANY OF THESE SERVICES THEY ARE OUT TO TRICK YOU INTO PAYING FOR PORN, WHEREAS YOU CAN GET ALL THE FREE PORN YOU WANT ON THE INTERNET (WHY PAY WHEN ITS FREE, RIGHT?)

ANYWAY, THE FACTS ARE THIS SITE IS DECEPTIVE, and uses unsavory tactics like women emailing saying they are afraid they will be hurt unless you verify.

What a SCAM. Verifying doesn't even get you a subscripton to the datecheck verify just platinum club porn.

Anyway, I learned my lesson I will never post on craigslist again. Hookers will do you better than that!

I just accidentally fell for this scam today. It says I will be charged if I do not complete certain offers from "platinumclub.com" within 48 hours. If I cancel my debit card/ bank account, could I possibly avoid any damage? Please respond as soon as possible, I have less than a dollar in my bank account and I can't afford late fees, etc.!

Hi enyardica
Welcome to Scamwarners

From what we know of this scam it is all fraudulent and they have no legal grounds to make you send them any money, the threats are idle and hoping you will fall for it and send funds

It would be advisable to cancel that account, a visit or phone call to your bank should sort it out fairly quickly.