Free iPods... Scam? Are they really free?

Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
they're legit...

http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
ty.html

In article <301220051903459644%nospam@spamhaters.anonymous> ,
nospam@spamhaters.anonymous says...
> Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
> they're legit...
>
> http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
> ty.html
>
There's no such thing as a free lunch.
--Economics 101

On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:14:27 -0600, Frank McCoy <mccoyf@millcomm.com>
wrote:

>All I got was about a million more ads and scams sent to me through email.

That's the real objective with these offers; to dupe you into 'opting
in' to receiving SPAM. You'll be absolutely deluged with it!

There is a veneer of legitimacy to the offer though, some people have
actually gotten iPods, but they had to jump through hoops and buy
other stuff.

A_C

In alt.callahans Agent_C <Agent-C-hates-spam@nyc.rr.com> wrote:

>On Fri, 30 Dec 2005 18:14:27 -0600, Frank McCoy <mccoyf@millcomm.com>
>wrote:
>
>>All I got was about a million more ads and scams sent to me through email.
>
>That's the real objective with these offers; to dupe you into 'opting
>in' to receiving SPAM. You'll be absolutely deluged with it!
>
>There is a veneer of legitimacy to the offer though, some people have
>actually gotten iPods, but they had to jump through hoops and buy
>other stuff.
>
Exactly.
Most especially the "buy other stuff part".
They don't SHOW you THAT part (of course) until you get to the VERY END, when
they already have all the information they're really after.
"Just one more step, and you'll get your FREE <FITB>!"
"Just accept one of these FREE offers, and we'll be sending you your <FITB>, as
soon as we receive confirmation."
The "one more step" being to sign up for an expensive Credit-Card with high
fees, buy something expensive that you supposedly can return "after an
evaluation period of 30 days", sign up for a "FREE" evaluation of a subscription
"that you can cancel at any time", or a "free" telephone ... that you have to
agree to sign up for a two-year subscription for ... a whole bunch of similar
scams; not one of them truly "free".

--
_____
/ ' / â„¢
,-/-, __ __. ____ /_
(_/ / (_(_/|_/ / <_/ <_

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <MPG.1e1fdc69ae68bc129896a4@newsgroups.bellsouth.n et> on Sat, 31 Dec 2005
00:08:49 -0500, Drumstick <ry_nospam_burk@yahoo.com> wrote:

>In article <301220051903459644%nospam@spamhaters.anonymous> ,
>nospam@spamhaters.anonymous says...
>> Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
>> they're legit...
>>
>> http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
>> ty.html
>>
>There's no such thing as a free lunch.
> --Economics 101

Actually Robert A. Heinlein
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TANSTAAFL>

--
Best regards, SEE THE FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS AT
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

John Navas wrote:
> Drumstick <ry_nospam_burk@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>There's no such thing as a free lunch.
>> --Economics 101
>
> Actually Robert A. Heinlein
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TANSTAAFL>

And actually, it was "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." Thus
TANSTAAFL.

--
If John McCain gets the 2008 Republican Presidential nomination,
my vote for President will be a write-in for Jiang Zemin.

On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:03:45 GMT, OotB <nospam@spamhaters.anonymous>
wrote:

>Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
>they're legit...
>
>http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
>ty.html

What famous quote is attributed to PT Barnum?

In alt.callahans Dean <Dean@tampabay.rr.com> wrote:

>On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:03:45 GMT, OotB <nospam@spamhaters.anonymous>
>wrote:
>
>>Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
>>they're legit...
>>
>>http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
>>ty.html
>
>What famous quote is attributed to PT Barnum?

The one he didn't say?
"There's a sucker born every minute ... and two to take him."
Methinks that's the most famous quote attributed to him.
There were quite a few others, as I recall, that he *did* say.

--
_____
/ ' / â„¢
,-/-, __ __. ____ /_
(_/ / (_(_/|_/ / <_/ <_

In alt.callahans Notan <notan@ddress.> wrote:

>Dean wrote:
>>
>> On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 00:03:45 GMT, OotB <nospam@spamhaters.anonymous>
>> wrote:
>>
>> >Article with information about the free iPods and whether or not
>> >they're legit...
>> >
>> >http://myblogtastrophe.blogspot.com/...-scam-or-reali
>> >ty.html
>>
>> What famous quote is attributed to PT Barnum?
>
>"Please don't stand behind the elephants?"
>
Snork! ;-}

Methinks Barnum would would more-likely have put a sign labeled "Please Wait
Here" behind the elephants, just to see whether people would. The guy had a
sense of humor. "This way to the Great Egress!"

--
_____
/ ' / â„¢
,-/-, __ __. ____ /_
(_/ / (_(_/|_/ / <_/ <_

One lazy day last summer my daughter and I decided to find out if these
things were scams or not. We "won" a free X-Box 360; never mind that it
hadn't been released yet. So we went to the site and waded through screen
after screen looking at the "offers" we had to complete. We had to choose
6; two on each of three pages. I finally settled on four (!) credit card
offers with no annual fees and two trial memberships in things that cost
money but could be cancelled before the free period expired.

I got all the credit cards. I cancelled the trial memberships. The site
that updates you on where you are on the program listed the memberships as
completed offers and did not delete these after I cancelled. So far, so
good but then only two of the 4 credit cards showed up as complete. I
emailed the site and was told that the other two had "activation
conditions," i.e. they had to be used before they were considered activated.
I used one for getting gas and the other for a pound of starbucks and sure
enough finally all six offers were complete.

So now at my membership site there's a link that let's me claim my prize.
Turns out I didn't have to get what we originally "won" but there was a
scroll list of a bunch of prizes. We opted for the $500 Best Buy gift card
figuring we could use it on X-Box 360 if it ever becomes available. That
was the last week of December, 4 months after initially "winning." Now the
site says that my gift is being processed and that it will take 4-6 weeks.

Is it a scam? Don't know yet.
Did it cost me anything? No, because I cancelled the trial memberships
before they started charging and I paid off the credit card bills before any
interest could accrue...and I chose no fee credit cards in the first place.

I would not recommend this for anyone who is likely to take out a major loan
(say a mortgage or car loan) in the near future because applying for a bunch
of credit cards at once can be damaging for your credit rating.

As for spam; it generates no more than usenet. Use an email address you
don't care about.

Gee, I wrote a book!

In article <XVGuf.50609$XJ5.23042@twister.nyroc.rr.com>,
ileen@maineshouldbespamfree.rr.com says...
> One lazy day last summer my daughter and I decided to find out if these
> things were scams or not. We "won" a free X-Box 360; never mind that it
> hadn't been released yet. So we went to the site and waded through screen
> after screen looking at the "offers" we had to complete. We had to choose
> 6; two on each of three pages. I finally settled on four (!) credit card
> offers with no annual fees and two trial memberships in things that cost
> money but could be cancelled before the free period expired.
>
> I got all the credit cards. I cancelled the trial memberships. The site
> that updates you on where you are on the program listed the memberships as
> completed offers and did not delete these after I cancelled. So far, so
> good but then only two of the 4 credit cards showed up as complete. I
> emailed the site and was told that the other two had "activation
> conditions," i.e. they had to be used before they were considered activated.
> I used one for getting gas and the other for a pound of starbucks and sure
> enough finally all six offers were complete.
>
> So now at my membership site there's a link that let's me claim my prize.
> Turns out I didn't have to get what we originally "won" but there was a
> scroll list of a bunch of prizes. We opted for the $500 Best Buy gift card
> figuring we could use it on X-Box 360 if it ever becomes available. That
> was the last week of December, 4 months after initially "winning." Now the
> site says that my gift is being processed and that it will take 4-6 weeks.
>
> Is it a scam? Don't know yet.
> Did it cost me anything? No, because I cancelled the trial memberships
> before they started charging and I paid off the credit card bills before any
> interest could accrue...and I chose no fee credit cards in the first place.
>
> I would not recommend this for anyone who is likely to take out a major loan
> (say a mortgage or car loan) in the near future because applying for a bunch
> of credit cards at once can be damaging for your credit rating.
>
> As for spam; it generates no more than usenet. Use an email address you
> don't care about.
>
> Gee, I wrote a book!
>
>
>
You just answered one of life's questions for me. I have often wondered
how this stuff worked but never had the patience to go through all the
steps. Let us know if you actually get your gift card....enquiring
minds.... <smile>

Drum--

On Wed, 04 Jan 2006 03:03:19 GMT, "Ileen"
<ileen@maineshouldbespamfree.rr.com> wrote:

>As for spam; it generates no more than usenet. Use an email address you
>don't care about.

Don't worry, it will grow exponentially with time.

A_C