[Aarius]

Do you believe there are seemingly reputable Internet companies who strategize, plan, organize, design and implement any and every manner of deceit possible, with hired legal teams to research ways to always bump up against but never quite cross national and international laws so as to bilk you out of every penny possible? If you don't, you haven't bee taken yet - but you will because you are a trusting individual, an idealist, someone we out here in cyberspace want the world to be like - but it isn't!

There is a company which has a number of subsidiary labels which all seem to disassociated but all answer back to the same den of wolves. Their parent is "PARETOLOGIC", In their defense, read for yourselves about PARETOLOGIC at http://www.paretologic.com/company/ . They even have the "MICROSOFT CERTIFIED PARTNER" logo but they are insidious, underhanded and thieves to the Nth degree. Indeed, they have GREAT products that work well and lest I come close to being guilty of DEFAMATION, I quote the definition thereof and then refute it:

"Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image. It is usually a requirement that this claim be false and that the publication is communicated to someone other than the person defamed (the claimant).

It is refuted in that on 01 November 2011 I browsed one of their web sites for one of their products "SpeedyPC". The ad was clearly shown to be a product advertised at $39.95 US but NOW JUST $9.95 US and in order to obtain further information entry of personal information was required. Thus CAVEAT EMPTOR - That's Business School 101, first day... Then there is CAVEAT LECTOR, newer for the Internet user and means "Let the READER beware".

There was no mention of any additional requirement and no mention of OBLIGATION past an initial inquiry. I entered the information and in an instant their third party concern used to manage, manipulate,and otherwise control all aspects of the financial transaction is now who you are dealing with. I soon received a RECEIPT OF PURCHASE which was the first time I realized what I had bought. Here is the receipt with both mine and this companies confidential information redacted:

THIS IS AN AUTOMATED ORDER RECEIPT. PLEASE DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS EMAIL.
Thank you for using SafeCart Payments.
Your Visa has been billed: 39.94 USD.
Please take note of your SafeCart Receipt ID for reference to any inquiries:
XXXX-U271XXX-53XXX
This is NOT a license key*
Your order

Xcn Xxxxon (xxxxxxxxxxxx)
SpeedyPC $29.97
1 SpeedyPC License
Privacy Controls $9.97
1 Privacy Controls License
Total USD: $39.94

This company SAFECART is a 3rd party collection agency contracted to PARETOLOGIC dba SpeedyPC herein declared and the PRIVACY CONTROL for $9.97 US is listed in large print so as to "indicate" that the one product you will be looking at is the "$9.97 US" product and SAYS NOTHING ABOUT ENTERING YOUR INFORMATION WILL BE IN FACT THE ACTUAL PURCHASING OF $39.94 USD in product.

HERE IS THE WARNING TO UNSUSPECTING WEB SURFERS AS REGARDS SPEEDY PC, i.e., ANY PRODUCT FROM PARETOLOGIC, INC. ParetoLogic Inc., 1827 Fort St, Victoria, BC, V8R 1J6 Canada

IF YOU VIEW ANY OF THEIR SITES, IF YOU CLICK PAST ANY "INVITATION"TO VIEW ANY PRODUCT, IF YOU SIMPLY WANT MORE INFORMATION BUT ARE ASKED TO ENTER CREDIT CARD INFORMATION FIRST - DO NOT DO IT... IF YOU DO YOU WILL HAVE PURCHASED ONE OR MORE OF THEIR PRODUCTS WHETHER YOU WANTED IT OR NOT. TO OBTAIN A REFUND WILL THEN REQUIRE HOOPS YOU DO NOT WANT TO JUMP THROUGH AND YOU WILL BE SUBJECT TO THEIR TIME TABLE FOR GETTING THAT REFUND - IF YOU DO GET IT AT ALL. I have not yet had one penny returned although when "checking" to see if i might want it it, they pulled my card in less than 2 seconds!

The MARKETING people both directly working for PARETOLOGIC, SpeedyPC, and other subsidiaries work on the principle of the CONFIDENCE TRICK. They are defined by Wikipedia as a:

Confidence trick

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Con games" redirects here. For the film, see Con Games (film).
"Scam" redirects here. For other uses, see Scam (disambiguation).
For the short story by John Wyndham, see Jizzle.

"A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence. A confidence artist is an individual working alone or in concert with others who exploits characteristics of the human psyche such as greed, both dishonesty and honesty, vanity, compassion, credulity, irresponsibility, naivety, and the thought of trying to get something of value for nothing or for something far less valuable."

Because I am personally aware of several who have been bilked by these and many other "CONFIDENCE SCHEMES" on the internet I am embarking on a CONSUMER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN to alert as many as I can and if in the process prevent just one person from losing even one dime to the low-life crooks it will all have been worth it. There is no site i will not attempt to post this on and no internet policing agency I will not try to contact. I am a well educated individual and am completely aware that this sort of thing is nothing new. It is, however, running largely unchecked and everyday grows larger and more innocent people are being made victim. When is enough - enough?

[ElfBane]

Well,,, welcome to PCWorld... I guess. Here's some advice;

1. If you had immediately contacted your credit card company, instead of joining PCW, you might have been able to stop that charge.
2. You don't need to pay money for good registry cleaners, CCleaner is good enough.
3. It is possible, even likely, that your credit information may be compromised. You may wish to check your account, and maybe even request a new card.

Sorry you had a bad day, and once again, welcome to PCWorld.

[Aarius]

Thank you,

Your advice is well taken. It is is also well scripted, and concise - I'm still working on that one.

Perhaps the saddest part of it all is that I have a degree in business with a minor in marketing. I know the underhanded schemes of the internet thieves about as well as I did the telemarketer schemes in my day. I've done extensive research into Ponzi schemes, MLM's, Pyramid's etc. There is no reason why I should be surprised when considering the extent people in today's world will go to for the sole purpose of defrauding others. Some of my best friends, however, are attorneys - pun intended.

I did write that I am a disabled veteran. I have lucid times and there are confusing times. I'm sure I did all the internet work with speedyPC with good intentions and simply failed to realize I was one step over the line. I would like to say that it was a learning experience. That seems a sour note though when I meet new people everyday that I've known for years. I'm actually looking forward to hiding my own Easter eggs.

You are kind and your words of wisdom are taken to heart. I will investigate CCleaner and if I may, have you heard of "GLARY UTILITIES"? I'm not sure endorsements are permitted here but it is unsolicited and certainly no compensation is exchanged. Please first check them out at http://www.glaryutilities.com/.

I hope you have a wonderful day.

ElfBane, on 04 November 2011 - 01:06 AM, said:

Well,,, welcome to PCWorld... I guess. Here's some advice;

1. If you had immediately contacted your credit card company, instead of joining PCW, you might have been able to stop that charge.
2. You don't need to pay money for good registry cleaners, CCleaner is good enough.
3. It is possible, even likely, that your credit information may be compromised. You may wish to check your account, and maybe even request a new card.

Sorry you had a bad day, and once again, welcome to PCWorld.

[coastie65]

Hi and welcome to the forums. Actually, You can probably still dispute the charge with the Credit Card issuer, even at the point you receive your statement. Worth contacting them at any rate.

[Aarius]

How very kind of you. It has been a trying couple of days for me. I just had surgery at the VA and my mind has been on recovery and yet another surgery scheduled for later this month.

I see that I should have been more clear in my original posting. I am genuinely upset at the very obvious and underhanded way SpeedyPC's third party company used for "the dirty work" as described here, SafeCart, is the company they use to collect money. They have several URL's including one for complaints - but you must register by entering massive personal information to even lodge a complaint, That URL is http://www.complaint...D/display/10589 There is another URL just under it with an actual complaint stating they also took $40.00 from this person. It is only one listing, somehow I'm sure there are hundreds. http://www.ripoffrep...fecar-dd2dp.htm

I may be old and senile now and I live alone with no one to help me with even the most simple tasks such as looking up a URL to research a product, but a few things I have long since made into practices that cannot be seriously harmed include always using a "BANK CARD" for just such things as this. It only has a few dollars (relatively speaking) in it and the crooks at SafeCart don't know that. So the $25.00 fee is often just disregarded by my local bank because they are good and honest people and they know me personally and this will not likely affect Wall Street with my account set aside for just such things.

Thank you for noting my post. There will be more and I am certain much more pleasant.

[coastie65]

Aarius, on 04 November 2011 - 07:00 AM, said:

How very kind of you. It has been a trying couple of days for me. I just had surgery at the VA and my mind has been on recovery and yet another surgery scheduled for later this month.

I see that I should have been more clear in my original posting. I am genuinely upset at the very obvious and underhanded way SpeedyPC's third party company used for "the dirty work" as described here, SafeCart, is the company they use to collect money. They have several URL's including one for complaints - but you must register by entering massive personal information to even lodge a complaint, That URL is http://www.complaint...D/display/10589 There is another URL just under it with an actual complaint stating they also took $40.00 from this person. It is only one listing, somehow I'm sure there are hundreds. http://www.ripoffrep...fecar-dd2dp.htm

I may be old and senile now and I live alone with no one to help me with even the most simple tasks such as looking up a URL to research a product, but a few things I have long since made into practices that cannot be seriously harmed include always using a "BANK CARD" for just such things as this. It only has a few dollars (relatively speaking) in it and the crooks at SafeCart don't know that. So the $25.00 fee is often just disregarded by my local bank because they are good and honest people and they know me personally and this will not likely affect Wall Street with my account set aside for just such things.

Thank you for noting my post. There will be more and I am certain much more pleasant.

Hope all goes well at the VA, which reminded me that I am way past due for a clinic appointment ( haven't been in over a year and not likely to get anymore meds until I see my PCP. ). My Bank ( Debit Card ) or the Credit Card Issuer will usually call me if they see something that looks suspicious. I agree that is a pretty shoddy practice and should be outlawed. Trying to recover from Surgery and then havibg that aggravation added isn't good, As I said, if it was on a Credit card, it is easy to dispute the charges, even when you get your statement. I know the drill as I am on Social Security and am 30% service connected so get a small amount for that. Thank You for your service.

[nanbane]

It is a interesting sharing.........