My review of the newly launched scam reporting site scambook.com
My viewpoint is that, yes, scambook can be a useful tool to provide a venting service to those that feel the need, just don't form unrealistic expectations of the services that scambook markets publicly as a miracle remedy that will get you Justice! And return your money, or put an end to any alleged scammers evil deeds. They offer you information pertaining to class action suits against the offending merchants as they enter the top "trending" category and will be told that you are part of that lawsuit even without your being consulted or give consent to join. It is simply advertising doubletalk that is refuted by disclaimers found it the Terms of Use document, "Scambook is not a law firm or attorney referral service. Instead, Scambook is like a community or clearinghouse of complaints" Make yourself aware of scambook's limitations and continue to pursue other means to resolve your disputes with any merchant. Some of those remedies are to make effective complaints to people who can help you more directly, accountably, and in a timely manner. Keep in mind that most ecommerce scams are a smash and grab operation of short duration and are usually packed up and moved on to greener pastures before the courts even begin to sit to hear all the pretrial Motions. Any lawsuit takes much time and the outcome is less than certain. This is the time that scammers depend on to cover their tracks and make a getaway like any common thief. The class action lawsuit should only be considered as one of the "Hail Mary" remedies or a last ditch course of action when all else fails, not as a first and only attempt to resolve your dispute with any merchant.
1/ Call your credit card company, or bank immediately. Tell them what happened and how. Be prepared to be met with resistance while doing so, and keep good records and original proof documents. You will be asked to contact the merchant to try to resolve your issues in that manner but as you are likely aware, you will be stone walled by customer service representatives if you are able to contact anyone at all. It is a necessary step to take to put that merchant and credit card company or bank on notice that you want a refund and you need to do it formally by email, or other means that you can prove. All fraudulent merchants can and will provide falsified documents, records and contracts to your bank or credit card company. Be prepared with your own proof of what really happened to combat any of these false statements made to the bank or cc. The distinct advantage to this method is that it may force cc companies to flag that deceptive merchant's ability to process further fraudulent transactions, perhaps stemming the flow out of consumer's accounts into offshore shell corporations.
2/ File a complaint with the BBB. They have no powers to force a resolution but can get results in a few cases. Sometimes the complaints on file at the BBB can be used as evidence of a company's alleged wrong doing. The Better Business Bureau is a PRIVATE nonprofit BUSINESS, not a government agency funded by the tax payer. As with any private business, they have a product or service to provide to us, the consumer, and they raise funds to operate the business from merchants that pay to become members, plain and simple. Essentially, it means that they are in the marketing business and are paid for their service by the very business community they review and report on. You can take that information at face value and for what it's worth.
3/ File a complaint with your local consumer protection agency, in the US usually found provided from your State Attorneys General Office or in Canada at your Provincial Services Bureau. This is my Five Stars recommended method to get your money back that can actually help put the deceptive merchant squarely in the sights of an elected official or government paid attorney. That agency is not a paper tiger and has the power to investigate and to bring criminal charges against scam artists. As a bonus, these agencies can act on a single complaint directly instead of sitting around doing head counts of huddled masses of scammed citizens. I have seen these people in action and I am impressed with the speed and the positive results. This process is to deal with the problem as it should be, a consumer rights issue, and how a CONSUMER has been wronged in the marketplace by a MERCHANT.
4/ File a complaint on the Federal level to add to the growing list of others, similarly affected, to help stir them into action to investigate. DON'T expect that any Federal agency will act promptly because they move at the speed of government. DON'T expect them to come charging over the hill to save you, they only investigate this type of fraudulent activity when there are sufficient numbers of people making the same types of complaint about the same merchant. I do not know how many scammed people are required to stir even an investigation, but the whole thing takes much time even years and seldom returns your lost money or put a stop to the fraud in any kind of reasonable time frame if ever.
5/ Go on venting and posting your experiences on sites just like scambook and this one. Just stick to the facts and leave the venom and slanderous remarks out. You may just feel better from the idea of helping others to avoid that same scam and it does cost those unethical businesses lots more to combat the bad reviews with positive ones that they have to hire from marketing firms and paid reviewers. Maybe this pressure will put them into such a financial squeeze that they will need to reconsider the purchase of their second Lambo.
6/ Use what you have learned from being scammed to guide you to make better decisions with your online use of your credit. There is no such thing as a free lunch. There are no businessmen online that will give away products or services for you to try without asking for your payment information. ANY offer that askes you to provide your cc numbers WILL charge you immediately and ALWAYS in amounts far larger than what you thought you agreed to. Any offers of 'FREE TRIAL" or "INCREDIBLE SAVINGS" are deceptive marketing tools that ALWAYS have a catch that will end up costing you money, and some of your sanity!
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Have a great rest of your day, and thank you for stopping by. May all your online purchases be wise ones