I am embarrassed to report that I have been scammed on the net :-(

This doesn’t (yet) involve huge sums of money but nevertheless it’s a blow to my proud record of caution on the internet.

What happened was this –

Recently I have been assailed by QueenMcKong about the state of my body. “Your eyes are droopy, you’re turning stone deaf and your remaining hairs are lifeless and floppy. Why don’t you go and get your teeth whitened? At least you wouldn’t look like some pathetic old gorilla in the last stages of life!”

Encouraged by her enthusiasm and good sense I asked the dentist when I was there for some cave work a couple of weeks ago about whitening, and he explained about minerals and the sorts of remedies that can make a difference, but it was going to cost £450, and as I’m secretly not convinced that I’m any worse looking than I ever was (I mean what’s the point of failing eyesight if it isn’t to ameliorate the ravages of time on ones apparent appearance?!), I decided to do nothing.

Then last week, when I was ill at home with flu, I got fed up with staying in bed choking and feeling sorry for myself, and I crawled down to the study to log on.

Idly perusing a few websites I was suddenly faced with a ‘tooth whitening’ miracle cure, risk-free trial.

It was cheap and it is featured at the top of the Google sponsored links, which I assumed they filter fairly carefully.

So, without a morsel of fear (as the old rhyme has it) I clicked onto the website and followed the instructions to receive my $1.95 trial pack (including discount code reduction – you see how smart I am even when feeling at death’s door!).

I entered my credit card details, completed the delivery details and hey presto! – I was stuffed!

The $1.95 had turned into $11.90, because it’s a delivery to UK (even though they knew this because I had to enter the address before pressing confirm, and the postage total had remained at zero).

In addition I have now made a commitment it seems to pay $87.62 plus an ongoing monthly direct debit on my credit card, unless I return the first pack within 14 days at my own expense.

By this time I was completely shattered again and crawled back to bed, but the following morning I headed back downstairs and contacted their website. (I was damned if I was paying for a call to some phone number in Illinois).

Before doing this however I Googled to see if anyone else had had trouble with this company. Wow! There is a whole army of customers out there who have been conned and who have written about their dreadful experiences. If I’d just taken a few seconds to check first I would never have allowed my bargepole to enter the waters of the same ocean.

My credit card company have been quite helpful (I'm not their first victim)l, but this is going to require a dispute process to be initiated and they say they can’t reverse the first $11.90 unless I can prove that the amount was incorrect, and in the light of the fact that I gave my CC details voluntarily.

I’ve been checking again this morning, as I’m feeling a bit more on top of things, and I just tried a dummy entry to see how the process I had gone through could possibly not have alerted me in time.

Very interesting! Firstly, the term ‘free trial’ appears on several occasions, both on their own pages and on Google, but this is somewhat confused by an apparent charge of $2.95 for postage (or $1.95 if you use a discount code).

In order to request the trial you have to complete a form giving all your contact details, including e-mail address, phone number and so on. The delivery information includes a ‘drop down’ allowing the choice of USA, UK and other countries. The next page (i.e. AFTER you’ve stated you live in UK) shows the trial price, and this continues to total $1.95 after the discount.

It is only after you have pressed ‘confirm’ that the real total and the detailed small print is shown. Suddenly the price goes to $11.90 and you find you’re a member of a tooth-whitening club with a monthly charge of $87.62!

Good number that! Clearly they have a sense of humour.

I’m now about to write to the credit card company with my proof (using screen shots from my dummy application) that the amount I agreed to was $1.95 not $11.90, but of course it is the larger and ongoing charges that are of most concern, not to mention potential ID fraud.

The internet chat rooms are full of tales of ongoing charges appearing, from associated companies (they seem to use many previous and active website names).

Fellow Fools! Be warned!

Lessons

1. Do not go on line and try to do anything unusual when you’re feeling ill. If your defences are down, you’re likely to make a stupid mistake.

2. Don’t be vain. Teeth aren’t supposed to look like pearls.

3. Check the internet FIRST, not afterwards! A couple of minutes to check on other people’s experiences would have brought up all the appalling stories which I discovered only after I’d made the fateful error of sending my credit card details.

4. Be especially careful of any offers from outwith the EU. The legislation protecting EU ‘distance selling’ transactions (i.e. where the customer is not present when the goods are purchased – so most internet sales) is very powerful, and provides the buyer with the opportunity to reverse the transaction at no cost. These rights do not apply to purchases from USA.


And the name of the company? In its present mutation it’s Premium White, or Dazzle Smile.

I’ve completed an online form at the FBI website, but have little confidence that anything will happen. I have also submitted a complaint to Google who have these guys as a ‘sponsored link’.

My impression of Google these days is that they’re a near monopoly with all that implies, but I shall continue to pursue them.

Caveat emptor!


KMcK