Note: All details of the Diana Thompson Freedom Agency Online sales page, terms and conditions, privacy policy, etc. as outlined in this post have preserved in multiple ways, including video recording.
Update 3/9/2012: Freedom Agency Online Is Now Going By Fortune Agency Online.
This Freedom Agency Online review of red flags covers numerous parts of the sales process that you should know about.
Freedom Agency Online Is Using A Conditional Refund Policy
It’s important that you understand EXACTLY how the the Freedom Agency Online refund policy works. Their refund policy states:
“REFUND POLICY and IRON CLAD 30-DAY GUARANTEE
Customers who feel that the Freedom Agency Online is not for them may cancel at anytime. In order to be eligible for the IRON CLAD 30-Day GUARANTEE the customer must have logged into the system, and attempted the program for at least 20 days. If they have not achieved their desired results after trying the program for 20 days they may contact customer support to request their refund. Failure to try the program for the minimum time frame may result in forfeiture of guarantee.
By joining today you will also gain immediately access to a free 30 minute professional business consultation to gain an accurate assessment of your business needs. This bonus gift is itself valued at $199.00, and it’s yours today for FREE as a fast-action bonus! This offer is only available for 72 hours from the time that you complete your initial purchase.”
That’s called a conditional refund guarantee and you should stay FAR, FAR away from any company that offers one. Why, because you have no idea what they mean by “attempted the program” and they don’t define it and questionable companies use weasel-wording in conditional refund guarantees to get out paying refunds.
Freedom Agency Online Offers A “Free” Consultation
Although a free consultation might sound great, it’s potentially the most financially dangerous aspect of the Freedom Agency Online product.
Here’s why:
Over the past few years I’ve heard tons of horror stories from people being high-pressured to spend thousands of dollars after getting a “free 1 on 1 training consultation” – usually trying to get them to buy very bad coaching or worthless traffic, so it’s a HUGE concern anytime I see wording that suggests they might be contacted by phone by a “coach” to “help” them.
Maybe Freedom Agency Online is different, but I doubt it.
Summary Of Other Freedom Agency Online Red Flags
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #1) “Work At Home Opportunities Have Been Featured On” claim
Freedom Agency Online uses the claim “Work At Home Opportunities Have Been Featured On” on the first page and then lists these logos:
- Fox News Channel
- abc
- CNN
- MSNBC
- USAToday
The phrase “Work At Home Opportunities Have Been Featured On” Freedom Agency Online is meaningless. While OTHER Work At Home Opportunities have been featured on those news channels, that has NOTHING to do with Freedom Agency Online.
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #2) Security Seals Are NOT Clickable To A 3rd Party Site
Security seals should be click out to a 3rd party verification site – otherwise they are meaningless. Internet Income Wealth Kit uses the following seals that do NOT click out to a 3rd party verification site:
- Verisign Secured
- McAfee Secure
- Verisign
- GeoTrust
- TRUSTe EU Safe Harbor
You can see that in the video below:
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #3) Headline #1 Used By Questionable Sites
The headline of the first page of Freedom Agency Online makes the claim:
“Make money and change your life NOW! Within 5 minutes you could be making up to $87 an hour and work from the comfort of your own home!”
Variations of that type of headline have been used by hundreds of questionable sites that all look extremely similar to Freedom Agency Online.
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #4) Headline #2 Used By Questionable Sites
The headline of the second page of Freedom Agency Online makes the claim:
“If You Can Spare 60 Minutes A Day, We Can Offer You A Certified, Proven Work From Home Opportunity To Make Up To $379 Per Day!”
In this, case that EXACT claim has been used by hundreds of questionable sites that all look extremely similar to Freedom Agency Online.
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #5) Bogus Income Projection Table
Freedom Agency Online displays a table so that you can imagine all the money you can make by posting links. The problem is tables like these aren’t based in any sort of reality. You see, the only way you get paid in a program like Freedom Agency Online is if someone finds your link, clicks on your link, then takes an action such as buying product, filling out a form (such as filling out a detailed insurance quote form that will allow an insurance company to follow up with them).
In other words, just because you PLACE an ad containing a link, does NOT mean you’ll get paid from doing so. In fact, most of the time you WON’T.
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #6) Bogus Karl Goodard Story
The exact same Karl Goodard Story has been used across numerous questionable websites. The only difference is the fake name of the person the story is about. I’ve made a small sampling of that in this video for another site just like Freedom Agency Online:
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #7) Testimonials That Potentially Violate The FTC’s No Safe Harbor Guidelines
On the second page of Freedom Agency Online there are testimonials about income earned:
- “Ernest T.” claims, “Within 1 month I was making over $300 a day and now 2 months later I’m making an average of $450 a day and I’m still keeping my day job.”
- “Sarah & Luke Delfino” claim they made $2,000 in their first 3 weeks
These At Home Cash Money testimonials potentially violate the FTC’s recent No Safe Harbor Guidelines concerning the use of testimonials. Those guidelines state:
“…the use of a disclaimer such as “results not typical” is no longer a safe harbor for the claims made in testimonials. Third, while you may use atypical or best-case testimonials, if you do, you should clearly and conspicuously disclose the generally expected results consumers can expect in the depicted circumstances. Of course, the best practice, and the less risky practice, is to use testimonials that actually reflect what your product or services is likely to deliver. In other words, rather than run ads that give with one hand but take away with the other, it would be better for your ads to give a clear picture of the results a consumer will actually get.”
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #8) Diana Thompson Is A Stock Photo
In case you hadn’t noticed, you should realize that Diana Thompson is a made up person using a stock photo. Click here to see the Stock Photo Freedom Agency Online used.
Freedom Agency Online Red Flag #9) Promoted By A Site CLAIMING To Be An Advertisement
Freedom Agency Online is being promoted by a site called Career Path Journal. Career Path Journal would LIKE you to think that it’s an advertorial…however there are NUMEROUS problems with that claim:
The so-called advertorial is using FAKE COMMENTS which it wants people to believe are REAL comments. In fact, the FTC addressed this point recently in charges they filed against against other operators of fake news sites, when the FTC stated that the defendants deceptively represented that comments following the “articles” on their websites reflect the views of independent consumers.
So, even though Career Path Journal is using “Advertisement” in it’s heading, it is STILL deceptively representing that the comments following the story on the site reflect the views of independent consumers.
How can you tell the comments are fake? Because the same comments are used all over the web to promote all kinds of different products. Take “Kenneth”‘s comment at Career Path Journal for instance…where he says:
“Simon: you have to work and use the computer and internet, and if you can do that and dedicate some time each day then you can do this with no problem.
I have been working with this for a month and have made over $2,000 already. let me know if you need more help.”
Here’s a screenshot of that same comment used across multiple sites all promoting DIFFERENT products:
Freedom Agency Online Dupe Comments
Here’s A Video Showing That Same Comment Promoting Multiple Products On Multiple Fake News sites:
If You're Struggling to Make Money Online Click Here to Get Answers to All of Your Questions About Making Money Online.
Wow! You guys are thorough. And finding the actual stock photo – that’s impressive.
I was referred by a friend to this web site, supposedly of CNBC. For some reason after getting excited about this, I looked over to the address bar and I noticed this was not CNBC, but a fake site based on Belgium. “http://www.cnbc.com-story.be/id/?Article2688”. So be careful.
Sounds like your friend got hacked. There’s a huge spam gang operating out of numerous countries right now. I’ve only seen Beijing China, The Republic Of Lithiana, Ukraine, and Romania so far, but maybe they’re extending their reach now, or it’s a separate spam ring.
Surely the biggest red flag of them all is that the site doesn’t say anything about what Freedom Agency Online does – or how you can earn money. It’s all propaganda with no factual information. Signing up for something so unclear is either a sign of stupidity or naivete or, sad to say, desperation.
Good point. Definitely avoid blind offers.
I responded to an ad on Craigslist for Kitchen Cabinets. The first email I received back was “I was waiting on someone who wanted this but they haven’t gotten back to me.” The second email was “OOPS, I found their email in my spam file. They do want the cabinets. Oh…I am making $500 a week from home. Here is the link.” UGHHHHH!
I GOT THE SAME EMAIL ABOUT FREE ITEMS. EXACT!
I got the same Email also… and unfortunatly fell for it…thinking “she” was a real person… i havnet really started with it… so maybe i”ll figure the refund thing out!!
Thank you …. I had the very same thing happen on Craigslist., responded to an ad.. then she said she found the other lady’s email in her spam file, “but hey I’m making money with”…. blah blah blah . When I asked her specific questions I got no reply. Dang I thought since she was “local” (not) I was getting an actual work at home program that works.
I was looking for a desk on Craigslist and got an email back from a Yolanda Phillips saying she was sorry that her friend’s email went into her “junk” folder and she was so sorry but she wanted to share with me a website she was using to work from home and was making $500 a week and they were adding 2 more positions in our area. Said for me not to share the info with anyone else as her sister was going to sign up too and that the positions went fast. YUCKKKKKKKKKKKKKK These people will use any means available and are so underhanded!!
That’s been a huge problem recently on Craigslist. Craigslist tries, but people keep spamming it up promoting sites like Freedom Agency Online and others.
I marked it to Craoglist as spam. Hopefully they’ll remove it and keep their eyes open.
I was scammed by the same thing!! HORRIBLE!
My friend actually signed up for this. She arrived to the site from the bogus CNBC article. She entered her credit card details. Would her card be charged for it? She’s worried sick
Thanks for all the info. I am so sick of the craigstlist spam also!
Heads up guys. The shills for Freedom Agency Online are about to swoop in. I’ve already seen them posting comments at other sites trying to ridicule people without answering any questions about the massive deceptive advertising going on and the notorious high-pressure, high dollar sales tactics that Freedom Agency Online leads to.
How do I get out of this offer? I have not had the consulation and have requested that they refund the fee. Can you help?
If they don’t refund you within 2 business days. File a dispute with your credit card company (if you paid with a credit card) or talk to your bank (if you paid with a debit card).
Dispute procedures for credit cards are usually on the back of your billing statement.
Thank you for the detailed info, we just got scammed for the 99 USD, it is clear they are not going to refund anything. BUYERS BEWARE! The guy we talked to, asked us to get 3,100 USD out of CREDIT CARD MONEY to INVEST. He stated that was the minimum investment. He asked us to write: Consumer Debt on one side and Asset Debt on the other side, he tried to smart talk us into this. The basis for accounting will always remain A DEBT is A DEBT. The only thing that will reduce a DEBT, is payment NOT INVESTMENT. DO NOT GET TAKEN INTO THIS, as soon as we heard this we asked to opt out, but guess what: phone number he gave us is phony. Will go to our bank today, to see if they can help us ID the criminals.
Awesome Sylvia. That is the BIG, BIG, scam that hundreds of sites like this lead people into. Thanks for explaining just how nonsensical and dangerous it is.
As for your $99 – file a fraud dispute with your credit card company. If you paid with a debit card, talk to your bank.
So, I also got excited and signed up right away. I missed the obvious red flags…oops. So, I did call for the free consultation and was told I would receive a call back the next day. Two days later a gentleman or a—–e called me and I told him I am not interested anymore. He then proceeded to convince me to stay on the program. Told this guy that I am in the business of sales too and you are not going to convince me to stay on. He got very nasty with me and told me that he wasn’t a sales rep and to not call him one. He started going on and I hung up the phone. I called customer service and was told that I will receive my money back after 20 days. SCAM!!!!!!
Thanks for the info. Almost took the bait they offerd.If it wasnt for sites like this.the internet would be doomed. THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!! keep up the good work
I too received the email through a craigslist person offering a mattress for free…It said the exact same things as posted above. Ridiculous!!!
Me too…craigslist mattress for free…same exact response. Wow!
Yep. It’s become a huge problem over on Craigslist.
Had the same issue today. Got the same thing from craigslist when I posted somethings I was selling. Was talking to my fiancee about it. Was going to do it, until I talked to my mom and checked around for info. Thank you for posting this. Even though my family needs the money, I’m not going to put myself through something that could in the end make things far worse than what it is.
WOW!!! I hate to say I almost fell for it! all the stories sounded so real, but right before I put my CC# I accidently closed the window & I got a better offer that said it was exclusive for friends & family, down to $79.00 that kind of made me think, so I closed the window again & now it was reduce to $59.00. Of course that was a HUGE RED FLAG. so I opened a new tab & googled “Diana Thompson Freedom Agency Online scam” and THANK GOD I found this website. I appreciate you. I have not worked for 2 yrs due to illness & desperation almost got me. Thanks so much for all the info.
Wow!! I did the EXACT same thing. I was reading all of their propaganda and was actually considering buying into it, when my daughter wanted me to look at something else online…so I tried to close the tab and got a message that I was their 1000th customer of the day and they wanted to send me the kit for FREE! Only when I clicked thru to accept their offer, suddenly they wanted my cc info for the original $99 fee. So I tried to close the window and was offerred the $79 Friends & Family Special. Tried to click it closed just to see what would happen, and was offerred the $59 special. Then I went to boot up the sight on another laptop which is larger & has a bigger screen, so that I could read all the fine print before I purchased the program for $59…when I put Freedom Agency Online into the Browser, I thankfully found this site!!! Thank goodness for people like you, who report the TRUTH!! My family is having enough financial problems without me spending $59 on NOTHING but a SCAM!!
AH! I am so embarrassed that I almost fell for the Craigslist scam! I am literally laughing out loud at all the responses above from people who got the same email I got.. “first response went to spam.. oh, by the way, i’m making $500 a week doing this… sister wants to sign up.. don’t tell anyone else… i’m so sorry for the mix-up!” She sounded so genuine! I, too, talked to my mom about it, who then found your article on the scam and forwarded it to me, thank God! I think it’s safe to say that any legitimate company would never ask you for money in advance…
I hope Craigslist figures out a way to stop these people.. It’s horrible to think of how many people are getting taken advantage of, the people who can’t afford to buy things and are innocently trying to get free/cheap furniture for their college dorms and apartments.. Ugh!
Certainly you should never pay for a job, however paying for business training is normal. However, in this case, the whole thing is just a big scam.
Thanks a lot.
This what I received when I responded about a treadmill.
Is there any real legit work from home website?
G’dammit now I’m upset “gladys” just emailed me back about a free crib and mattress and there was a back story and everything! OMFG. She emailed me back to say sorry i found the email in my spam folder but here is this link try it out- and dont give it away my sister is going to join. Stupid craigslist!
Got me the same way!!!!!! I responded to a craigslist add for free toy to take to the homless shelter I volunteered at and I was sent the same email!!!!!!!!!
it seemed too good to be true and it was….
I am staying off Craigslist and I no longer believe in work from home companies!
These scam artist should be put in jail!
Here’s the response I got from someone regarding a kid carrier I was selling ono Craigs List. Total scam…
Sure, thank you for getting back to me. Turns out i shouldn’t get it right now anyways… my son just crashed the back of my van and now i have to find out how much its gonna cost me to get it repaired. UGH!
I thank god that he’s ok but of course it has to happen NOW, when i’m finally making very good money from this work from home program i’ve been doing. You know, if you’re interested, they just opened up 2 more positions in our area. Basically you make money by posting links online, its very easy and I just do it while watching TV.
Here is the link if you want to check it out:
http://www.consumersaffairs360.com/?article=017836
I’ve made around $600 each week since I started… not enough to quit my job yet but i finally have some extra money in my bank account. Well, maybe not after i get the mechanic bill lol. My sister is planning on signing up later and these positions usually go fast, so I’d appreciate it if you dont give the link to anyone else. Thanks!
Antoinette
I just wanted to add the location of these workers are always in or near my city, & may
be that’s built in to it. But I looked up the phone number of about 4 of them & none had phone numbers. Couldn’t someone with that kind of income afford a phone?! Glad you guys are watching. Thanks. I’m now checking every home-based business out.It will save a lot of $ and anger.
I joined on January 6, 2012. I have been trying unsuccessfully to get a refund for a week. No one responds to my emails or support ticket … and no one answers the phone. Is this a scam???
I’ve gotten the same thing. SCAM!!!! I looked at the Freedom Agency Online a while back cuz of an email I got. I put some stuff up for sale on craigslist and got an email at 2:32am saying this guy was interested in buying the heavy duty desk we have. Then, that night he says “oh sorry, I can’t buy now. My cousin messed up my car so I gotta fix it. I make $*** a month. Trying to make more, but this car problem is gonna set me back so I’ll have to wait. Here’s the link **********. But don’t give it out to anyone else cuz my sister is gonna sign up in a couple days.”
Thank GOD I found this site to confirm my instincts about this company. And Thank You to all who have mentioned the email/texts about this. I’m gonna be sure to warn everyone I know who ever puts things up on Craigslist.
Finally got a response to my support ticket. (No phone response.) Abraham says “NO REFUND” so I’m out $79.00. If I work the program for 20 BUSINESS DAYS and there is a 30-day moneyback guarantee, that leaves a very slim timeline to request a refund. What a SCAM!!!
File a fraud dispute with your credit card company. The dispute procedures are usually on the back of your billing statement. If you paid with a debit card, talk to your bank about filing a dispute.
Yeah, so this company was suggested to me by a friend. I call for a “free” consultation, and because I have no credit cards to “invest” into their company (which they insisted was separate from the pro advantage company), the guy became very rude, started accusing me of having an attitude and raising my voice, which I wasn’t. I was simply trying to get a straight explanation out of him. Then his “superior” who claims to OWN Freedom Agency (and clearly doesn’t, due to his poor grammar and inability to think critically) got on the phone, started yelling and insulting me. I flipped my lid, started talking over him, and demanded a refund. During the conversation, this guy ADMITTED that he was a high school drop out…and this is who is supposedly giving business advice? Right. So, I call back and ask to speak to a manager, and he takes the phone and starts yelling and says I’m slandering his company (that he doesn’t own) and if I call again he’s filing harassment charges LOL okay. So, these guys are in Utah. I get a call from a number in California, and this person leaves a message about a refund. When I call it back, no one ever answers. I went ahead and cancelled my card, was told the procedure for filing a dispute, and will be asking my bank to track the routing numbers so I can press charges against THEM. It’s an obvious scam. It’s unreal how ugly people get…I guess I was a little offensive when they asked for several grand and I busted out laughing LOL whoops…my bad. :)
Sounds like your friends email got hacked.
Thanks for providing all that detail. Do you have any information about the company that was asking you for thousands of dollars – such as the phone number, address, names of people you talked to?
The company was Freedom Agency. The name of the man threatening me with harassment charges LOL is Mike. What he fails to realize is this: the only thing that could *possibly* be slanderous was calling their company a scam…and it’s only slander if it isn’t true!! lol.
A man named Abraham called from a California number, and said he put a stop payment. If it hits my account I’ll be filing a dispute and pressing charges. I explained to him what happened, he seemed appalled…I didn’t buy it. I told him to find people who can at least present themselves as educated and won’t ADMIT to dropping out of high school to provide their “free” business consultation….and hung up the phone. How stupid.
They need to place a want ad: “Professional Scammers Needed”.
LOL clearly! Oh, and I was referred by word of mouth….but that girl hasn’t been back to class since >.> are they targeting university students specifically?
Not sure if they are targeting students specifically.
I am so VERY thankful that I stumbled onto the TRUTH via your website!! I was honestly about to “invest” the $59 fee to “start making money from home by posting links online”. It seemed too good to be true, and I guess it was!! I will be very leery of any such companies making similar claims and will always “google” them from here on out to find out the “Truth”. Thank you for taking the time to protect people like me, who cannot afford to be scammed, and are simply looking for legitimate ways to support our families. I think it is simply HORRIBLE that they target mothers who would like to be able to work while also being home raising their kids!! Obviously the people running those scams have no conscience!!
Thanks, Bethany.
You can always ask questions here as well:
/ask-questions/
I nearly flipped for this because, believe it or not, the person who was giving her testimonial is supposed to be from the town where I live. I could not believe they would use this rather small, quaint community known for it’s artists and natural beauty. That and of course the concert- which actually did not take place here. But it is a place of very few job opportunities. I am disabled and my husband unemployed for over two years now, so working from home would be so ideal. The ad sounded so convincing, and there were only 2 positions left open, but I decided to “Bing” Freedom Agency. And there you were. I am so thankful. The $99 would have been a large loss for us. Bless you and please keep up the good work.
I have been ignoring them for a while trying to decide if they were legit or not. Here is copy of their latest e-mail to me.
Yes, I said give it to you, and I mean FREE.
This is the same package more than 100,000 others have paid $99 for, and I’m giving it to you for zero dollars and zero cents. You do have to pay the $3 processing fee
Do you have the link that sends you to?
This is great information. I would avoid this scam at all costs. They say they offer a 30 day money back guarantee but then claim you must wait 20 days for a refund. After the 20 days, they say management has changed the terms to a 7 day money back guarantee. I’m sure many banks are getting disputes over this company. They are fraudulant and should be avoided!
Please let me know how can i get it?is there any option to get it by bank tranfer,
please send me details @ [Removed for privacy reasons]
Thanks,
Masud Islam.
I am truly thankful for the information I have read regarding Freedom Agency Online. I too was thinking of subscribing to this website to get some extra money. I even thought about borrowing the money from my sister but thought I would go to the website one more time to get the information again. I was overwhelmed with information that was posted regarding this website and I am so glad that I didn’t pursue that website. However, do you or anyone else know of any legitimate websites out there where you can make money from home? My husband is the only one working right now and I really feel I can help out with some extra cash. Would appreciate any information you can give me. Thanks