Just in time for the Holidays...an EVIL new scam!

What a gift from our neighbors to the north, a bumper crop of new con artists. This is so prevalent that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have created a task force to handle this crime wave. They call it Economic Fraud. It is international because they operate in Canada at phone banks, and pass themselves off as a sweepstakes administration agency for a BIG company here in the USA. I go into more detail at my personal blog at: www.toma-talk.blogspot.com . Check out today's post. If you get any type of mail claiming you've won a prize, please, PLEASE check it out with your local better business bureau or your bank can verify whether a check is authentic or a fraud. If they ask you not to tell anyone about the letter, etc. please DON'T listen! I had a neighbor get ripped off in a similar way for $10k over 10 years ago and she never recovered financially from it. I was suspicious when they suggested I deposit by atm only so I could draw on the funds immediately. The agent had excuse after excuse about why I should lock up the letter and tell no one and not deposit through a teller and only use an atm. I dodged a bullet of almost $5k in fraud. We are in such dire straits that our meager funds that would have bought a whopping $15 itunes card for our teen daughter's Christmas present and maybe a stocking stuffer under $5 for the two of us, had to go in the kitty to get our minivan operational (barely). We still have a tire nearly shot and other minor repairs. We eat one main meal a day at supper, toast or a small snack for breakfast so we can take our meds. If there's not enough food for a noon meal, we can always take a nap, since we're disabled. If it weren't for food pantries, we wouldn't be able to do even that. We get the oh so generous stipend of $91 per month food stamps to feed our family of three. The vicious fiends prey on the neediest and most desperate at holiday time, because we hope against all odds for a Christmas miracle for our families. Please be vigilant and keep hope alive for your family this holiday! God Bless and Merry Christmas

BZZing UP!

Congratulate me, I am now a worker bee! You see, I love FREE! Anything free! I love it even more when my feedback can influence changes or development of new products. That's why I became a BZZagent! I started like everyone else as a SOLITARY bee. It seemed to take forever to reach that first BZZcampaign and my current status. It took time, more than I expected. I got to try and evaluate L'Oreal's Revitalift Eye product. To be honest, I am always skeptical of anti-aging claims of products, even though I did direct selling for Avon for 10 years. I loved it, but if you can't get around and don't have a decent warm list, you can't afford to keep going for long. I loved doing Avon. I am just incapable of the physical demands of door to door. I didn't have a large network to draw on for relationship selling and workplaces discourage it these days, so I lost most of my market. I was drawn to opportunities offered on the internet. I joined a few legitimate survey sites as well as BZZagent. I have tested a variety products from cat food and cat litter to toilet paper and macaroni and cheese and have received a small remuneration for it, usually $2 to $5. I have been in one major research study and that paid a little better. Seriously though, you will not get rich doing survey work. And beware of "Participation Required" surveys. There is fine print that will scam you out of ridiculous sums of money. One such program charged $75 for a so-called free skin care trial that was supposed to be shipping and handling only. What is very hard to discern is that you have 14 days from the date they issue to decline it and return unused portions or they can charge you! Talk about an expensive lesson! I have been trying to find legitimate product testing panels for computers, cell phones, etc, that don't involve these participation scams. I am sure they are out there, and I know some bloggers are getting things like free refrigerators for using and reviewing products in lieu of cash payments. I just haven't made the right connections yet. So far, compensation is pretty much minimum wage comparable for the time involved, but for a disabled person, I can use consumer goods like cat food and litter and skin care despite my disabilities. I can take surveys and evaluate products online because all computers these days offer accessibility options, I just need to get a good microphone/headset to voice train for when my hands are bad with the diabetic neuropathy. If you don't participate in BZZagent, I recommend it. It is time consuming to get started, but it is legitimate and a great way to promote your favorite products and even locate coupons once in a while. BZZ!