Google is now tackling the issue of get-rich-quick and work-from-home scams using the search giant’s names to reel in the unsuspecting. The company says it’s suing to stop what it calls “a widespread Internet advertising scam” and warns against participating in programs with names like Google Adwork, Google ATM, Google Biz Kit, Google Cash, Earn Google Cash Kit, Google Fortune, Google Marketing Kit, Google Profits, The Home Business Kit for Google, Google StartUp Kit, and Google Works.
Google is taking action against a Utah-based company called Pacific WebWorks and dozens of other companies that it only refers to as “Does 1-50?. The civil suit accuses the defendants of a number of offenses, including “trademark infringement, dilution, unfair competition, and cyber-piracy.” According to Google:
The scam victimizes unsuspecting consumers by prominently displaying the famous GOOGLE mark, by suggesting sponsorship by the plaintiff, Google Inc. (”Google”), and by urging consumers to obtain a kit supposedly showing them how to make money working from home with Google. The kit is advertised as free, except for a nominal shipping and handling charge or access fee. However, people who sign up for these offers have their credit cards charged with substantial recurring monthly fees. They also receive little of value, or nothing at all, in return for their payments.
Google’s suit claims that consumers who sign up for the defendants’ services are grievously misled: the buyers believe they are being enrolled in programs that provides opportunities for generating income and “are subjected to continuing monthly fees that often exceed $50 and range as high as $79.90” -but are given DVDs that contain viruses, or receive “access to an online portal containing information available free of charge elsewhere on the Internet, including from Google’s own free online help center.”
The Google Blog says:
Even as we’re taking legal action to try to cut these sites off at the source, we’re still working constantly to remove scammy URLs from our index, and we’ll permanently disable AdWords accounts that provide a poor or harmful user experience, whether or not they use Google’s trademarks illegally. That said, we can’t guarantee that schemes like these won’t pop up, like the proverbial “Whack-A-Mole”, someplace else online — either on a different network or under a different name.
The FTC is in on the hunt for illegal activity; in July it was reported that they had placed on their blacklist another Google scam:
Google Money Tree, its principals, and related entities allegedly misrepresented that they were affiliated with Google and lured consumers into divulging their financial account information by advertising a low-cost kit that they said would enable consumers to earn $100,000 in six months. They then failed to adequately disclose that the fee for the kit would trigger monthly charges of $72.21, the complaint states. This case was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Tags: get rich scheme, Google, scam