Note: All details of the Michelle Withrow Work At Home University sales page, terms and conditions, privacy policy, etc. as outlined in this post have preserved in multiple ways, including video recording. WahUniversity.com may also be related to other sites I’ve warned about in the past including:
- Simply Click To Profit
- Stay At Home Revenue
- Work At Home Revenue
There are multiple red flags I see on the Work At Home University sales page. Here are the two biggest red flags:
- “Free One-on-One Consultations” are typically used to get you to talk to a high pressure sales person trying to get you to spend thousands of dollars you do NOT need to spend.
- Use of Conditional Refund language
- Potential waiver of Do Not Call List rights.
- Michelle Withrow is a stock photo
- Security Seals on the order page are non-clickable to a 3rd party verification site (which makes them meaningless).
- There is NO SUCH THING as a “Certification Course For Search Engine Link Posting”.
Red Flag # 1. The “Free One-On-One Consultation” Trap (WATCH OUT!)
Watch out for what Work At Home University claims is “A Free One-On-One Consultation With A Success Advisor”. This is almost always a gimmick to get you to talk to a high pressure sales person who will try to sell you expensive coaching/training products.
My recommendation is that you don’t talk to these sales people at all, but if you do decide to talk to them:
- Have an attorney review their contract before shelling out thousands of dollars to them. If you can’t afford to have an attorney review the contract, you can’t afford to spend money with those sales people.
- Heed the following warnings…
IMPORTANT WARNING #1! If the sales person asks you for your credit card information before showing you the contract, HANG UP.
IMPORTANT WARNING #2! Be VERY wary of any person who tries to find your available cash and credit.
Be VERY skeptical if you are asked questions like the following:
- How many credit cards do you have?
- “What most of our students will do is designate their highest limit card for their business-like a 10-15k card. Not that they’re going to ever use that much credit-they probably won’t. But it just gives them more options to run a business than say a $1000 card would. Do you follow that? What kinds of limits have they granted you here?
- They ask you if you want to be one of their “success stories”.
IMPORTANT WARNING #3! Be carful of any contract that includes any of the following:
- Seems to be focused primarily on preventing you from getting your money back.
- Includes information that contradicts what you were told on the phone.
- Requires you to pay for Binding Arbitration in case of a contract dispute (at least be aware of WHAT the fees are BEFORE you sign the contract).
- Says that it does not allow refunds for any reason (the contract will often try to claim that it does not allow refunds because you are buying educational materials that can be easily copied).
Red Flag #2. Use Of Conditional Refund Language
Work At Home University says the following in it’s terms:
“4. REFUND/CANCELLATION POLICY
4.1 MEMBERS WISHING TO CANCEL OR REFUND THEIR MEMBERSHIP MAY DO SO FOR UP TO 60 DAYS FROM TIME OF PURCHASE, PROVIDED THEY FOLLOW OUR PROCEDURES AND CREATE A SUPPORT TICKET AT HTTPS://WAHUNIVERSITY.COM/CONTACT.PHP. ONCE TICKET IS CREATED OUR STAFF WILL ASSIST THAT MEMBER MAKING SURE THEY HAVE FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS AND SUBMITTED TO THE OFFERS PROPERLY. ONCE OUR STAFF HAS ESTABLISHED YOU HAVE FOLLOWED PROCEDURES AND STILL HAVE NOT RECEIVED ANY MONETARY OR PRIZE AWARDS, WE WILL REFUND YOUR MEMBERSHIP 100%.”
I recommend you avoid any product with such conditional refund policies – for numerous reasons. At the very least, keep in mind that as the staff is allegedly “helping you” follow procedures, the amount of time you have to file credit card/debit card disputes is running out.
Red Flag #3. You Are Potentially Waiving Your Do Not Call Rights
I don’t know who might call you, but I’ve seen enough horror stories from people who have bought into programs that look VERY SIMILAR to Work At Home University to make sure that you understand the following:
Here’s the portion of the WorkAtHomeUniversity order form with the checkbox saying “I have read and agree to the Terms and Conditions”
Here is the part of the Work At Home University Terms And Conditions (which references Simply Click To Profit) that says you are waiving your Do Not Call rights:
Red Flag #4. Michelle Withrow is a stock photo
In case you hadn’t noticed…Michelle Withrow is a model from iStockPhoto. Click Here to verify.
Red Flag #5. Work At Home University’s security seals are NOT clickable
The security seals on WorkAtHomeUniversity’s order page are not clickable to a 3rd party verification site – non-clickable security seals are meaningless.
Red Flag #6. Claims To Offer “Certification For Search Engine Link Posting”
I’ve been warning about sites that claim to offer “link posting” opportunties since 2008. There is NO SUCH THING as a “Certification Course For Search Engine Link Posting”.
Bottom Line: My personal recommendation is that you AVOID Work At Home University.
If You're Struggling to Make Money Online Click Here to Get Answers to All of Your Questions About Making Money Online.
Mr Schlegel, thank you for trying to ssve the public from financial ruin by investing in schemes that look so real. I have just invested in the BenandDaveProgram,”, and now I am wondering if I am being taken for a ride. Can you help me here, Are they ligitimate? I am a senior trying to addsome extra cash to my SS Pension, and Retirement benifits.
I would appreciate hearing from you, I do need all of thr help I can get/
Yours truly,
Elsie Morgan
I took the Ben And Dave program trial – or at least one of their trials and the emails tried to funnel me into buying expensive coaching from a company called Prosper, which you can read about in this article (btw, both political parties are guilty of the types of associations discussed in that article, but the point for you is to see how these types of companies will try to grab all of your money).
In your case, you might want to check out the free resources on this page:
/work-at-home-jobs/
There is also a free course at FBA Step By Step about using Amazon’s FBA system which a friend of mine is currently testing out.
Whatever you do, do NOT spend thousands of dollars on so-called “coaching programs”. Unless you are going to go out and buy a proven Franchise, spend as little as possible initially.
And now for the unvoiced question…… what do you recommend? Is there anything legit? Even the Talkshow host push garbage and I’m very disappointed they would do so. But, they do.
I’m working on a site that’s more focused on that, Brian. In addition to the free work at home jobs list mentioned above, Niche Blitzkrieg, which is advertised on this site has stood the test of time and is continually updated.
However, if you ever want to get my opinion on something you’re looking at, you can contact me using the contact form at the top of each page. Usually I can figure out pretty fast if you should avoid something or if it’s OK to at least test out.
Hi, My name is Tina I am in Middletown , Ohio I have been searching for A job at home because I am a woman with no car living in a low income housing building. I really feel like you saved me from waisting my money I was going to do work at home university untill I saw your statements . Thanks for posting these warnings .
Hi there,what elss do you find working well online to make some money
Niche Blitzkrieg (low cost affiliate marketing training), the free work at home jobs list here, fullfillment by Amazon. I’ll be getting up a new site of “whitelisted” extra income/work at home ideas soon.
so which one do reamead
Hello Mr. Schlegel,
My name is Francisco and I’m contacting you directly from Portugal. Maybe you are not aware, but my country is currently living an economical crisis and will probably suffer from recession in the next couple of years. For that matter and others, I’ve decided to try to make all my time worth all the penny I can get for the dark forthcoming times that lie ahead. As I already have three jobs (two in day-time and one in night-time), one way to do it, presented in the form of a wor-at-home kind of business. All my recent experiences have made me aware of the potencial scam that lies in all oportunities, Portugal is a real example of such happenings. For this reason I have started to make some research on the subject and realized I would need, either too much time and certain failures to get there, or find a specialist on the matter.
In a nutshell, Mr. Schlegel, can you help me find a safe wor-at-home kind of part-time?
Best regards
Francisco Fragateiro
Looks like I missed this. Sorry, Francisco. I would use this page:
/work-at-home-jobs/
Very informative, thank you. I never usually read t&c’s and only really did to see how misleading these things can be. Thanks for the do not call rights info too (thats a sneaky one).
I Have been eagrly to join working @home university but your comment on this women article appears that are froud chamber.thank a lot 4 the alerts.As 4 now what is the path to get job @ home or woking @ home guid precisely.Thanks Anwar
so which ones are safe
Hi and Thanks ever so much. I had my form all filled out except my credit card number, when I decided I’d better check out this company. I have watched this company on my Internet for a long, long time and having this lady from my home town giving her testimony really encouraged me to sign up.
I contacted the BBB about Michelle Withrow’s “Work At Home University”. They had precisely nothing on them. I couldn’t find an address so it made it even harder to get info. I was reading the Terms & Conditions and at the very end I saw they were in Texas. I entered that into BBB. They advised me to check with the website Search Engine which and I did, and Thank God I came upon your wonderful site.
It’s so good to know there is someone out there that cares about other people. I am 75 and sickly and my husband is 79 and terminally ill (needs heart transplant and has had 4 major strokes) and we need extra income so badly to pay for hospital & doctors bills, etc. which made me very vunerable.
Thank you so very much for saving us maybe thousands of dollars that we don’t have. God Bless You and have a Wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday.
shoedolls
is (work at home university) a fake?
i like many others was fooled into paying 97 dollars to join and get started. it stated that i was going to get an email with info on what to do with the posting of links and getting paid for it. it has now been over an hour and have recieved no such email. it says in the terms and conditions that we get a full refund with in the first 2 months if we make no profit. it does not tell us how to get our refund. please help me?
many thanks kia.
Thanks for your research. I was attracted to the idea of WAHUniversity as well, and even considered trying it. If WAHU was 100% legit, then perhaps, at least in my own opinion, they wouldn’t need to hide the domain ownership behind Domains by Proxy. Also, after looking at the sourcecode of the page, it looks as though they are using SSL certificates, but when looking at the code, I’m not so sure. Also, as you mentioned, the security seals are mearly an image, which doesn’t allow you to check anything for yourself.
I would really like to know hear from someone that I know to have taken the program, and see how it turned out. Thanks.
hi, my wife and i both lost our jobs just before christmas, we had a tough christmas but got through it, after looking for a job for a month or so we where told by a friend to try a work from home job. but before we get scamed we would like some info to see if there is a actual work from home place!!!! we know that we are not gonna get rich, but thats not what we want, we own our home and our cars, but would just like a work from home job to pay our bills provide for our kids and be able to spend more time with our kids!!!! if you can point us in the right direction , thank you!!!!!
I would start with this page:
/work-at-home-jobs/
I too need to work from home. Do you have some suggestions on any work from home opportunities that are safe and worth putting ones effort into?
Thank you
Marilyn,
There’s risk with any business, so I recommend people start with something low-cost such as Niche Blitzkrieg. If you are looking for traditional work, you can check out the list of free sites that provide telecommuting leads here.
Hi Everyone
It is so sad that people can be so cunning and ruthless !! I borrowed money for this homeuniversity thing, I was on my way now to pay it in my account to transfer for these people, but I got hold up. Thank God for that, because I check on the internet and saw this article !!! You know I am so desperate to earn some
money I eat every second day !! Then people like this wants to destroy everything in your Life !!!
Just want to say thank You So Much!!
Lilian
South Africa
Lillian you might want to check out these resources:
/work-at-home-jobs/ & this huge list here:
/blog/2011/06/09/make-money-writing-for-the-web/
Hello
I Reported to BBB and they are NOT affliated as they claim.
I wish I found you prior to my terrible experience with wah university work at home program.
You have to pay upfront about 170.00 before you can get a coach, he calls me 4 days after joining, sales pitch everything a person needs to hear in bad times including “we are high raking in BBB” – (nope rate is F the absolute worst). Wanted to know mortage amount credit card balances married income and more. He then made a professional decision which group I would be best in. He sent me a video, the guy talked so fast I still could not understand, frustrated thought a take a break and try to load it again later to make a better understanding… I clicked on the video and to my surprise a link came up of PORN!! Do you believe this… I was so upset no hesitation and canceled my membership then I contacted my coach which I could not get a hold of on voice mail told him what just occured and said I WILL NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH YOU AGAIN! He never returned call. My money was refunded about a week later after I told them getting credit card involved and BBB. I also told the girl what happened why a refund, she said its “Happened Before” Thats It !!! what a hassel getting money back did get back.
After writing this I feel so foolish, really got sucked in. the problem is If you want something so badly you would believe anything especially if put on a silver tray until you take the lid off.
Ohhh Paul!
Please remove my comment from earlier, i have just been through the Niche Blitzkreig AFFILIATE TAG you ask them to look at from previous posts, you are just another affiliate using a “scam site to promote scam” there are so many out there, Disapointed!
I removed your comment. However, I have tons of free information, including a huge list of free resources to find work at home job leads here.
/work-at-home-jobs/ & this huge list here:
/blog/2011/06/09/make-money-writing-for-the-web/
I even posted that first link in response to the FIRST comment. Did you not read anything on this page?
Can you explain to me why you believe Niche Blitzkrieg is a scam? I’ve not heard that from anybody else, I trust the owner, and if you search the Internet you won’t find any complaints about the training program? I’d like to hear your reasoning as to why you believe it’s a scam.
Yes, it’s a program that I believe in and recommend, but it’s not the ONLY thing I’ve recommended on this site and almost everything I recommend is either free or extremely low cost with no ridiculous upsells, etc.
What’s your experience identifying scams? Here’s some of mine…
I spent two weeks documenting a huge cross-border scam for the Secret Service at THEIR REQUEST – you can see part of that documention here:
/research/QuickProfitKit/Entities-Chart.pdf
Here’s how that case ended:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/1023012/index.shtm
Btw, that started with me getting a letter from the scammers attorney threatening to take all of my assets.
How much did I charge the Secret Service/FTC for my extensive research? ZERO.
I spent weeks on the phone and via Email helping the FTC take down one of the top 100 spammers in the world.
How much did I charge them? ZERO. Here’s that case:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/0923103/index.shtm
Right now I’m helping somebody FOR FREE recover thousands of dollars from a scam as I have helped MANY- people before. You can read about one person I helped here.
If there’s a scam in all this I’m not sure what it is.
I get legal threats for exposing scammers putting my finances at risk. Is it worth it? Maybe not anymore based on comments like yours.
I could actually be spending my time making more money intead of trying to help people.
I certainly appreciate your helpful insight Paul. You saved me from getting caught up in the
WAH University scam tonight. I was just one click away from making a mistake until I found
all your helpful reviews. I truly, truly appreciate your help, research, and hard work and effort
In doing what you do ro help others.
Thanks, Teresa.
just think i made a very big misstake purchasing wah university for 47.00 do you think i should write the $47.00 and not try this program? thank you
Malcolm,
I’d at lest try to get your money back.
Wow. I was about to purchase this thinking it was a good way to provide for my kids and actually believing I would get my money back if it did not work. Malcom paid $47.00 just a few months ago but now they are charging $97.00. They claim that they are discounting it over 90% reducing the start-up fee from $197.00. Im so glad I did not make another foolish mistake.
Can you tell me about the Ameriplan work at home program. Is it valid or a scam???
Thanks for your help. I was looking into the Work at Home University until I read your postings.
Thanks for keeping me from making that mistake!!!
Hi Cynthia,
I’ve not heard much negative about their products, except when a marketing rep misleads a customer –
which if you follow their instructions you won’t do.
However, MLM programs are outside my expertise and I’m not a big fan of them in general, but you will
want to look at their IBO income disclosure here:
http://www.ameriplanusa.com/disclaimer-broker.html
In addition to that, according to John Taylor of the Consumer Awareness Institute:
“Ameriplan
[Average annual income9 is disclosed for “Active IBO’s” – but with no indication of what percentage of the total of all IBOs signed up are still active. Ameriplan also fails to disclose that approximately 99% of all IBOs lose money after subtracting “pay-to-play” and minimum operating expenses.]”
That is from the analysis you can download from here:
http://mlm-thetruth.com/evaluating-mlms/list-mlms-evaluated/mlms-evaluated-a-d/
Hello! Paul
My name is Danny and I am interested in becoming a real estate finder/locator. I was checking out a website called REIWholesaleguy.com can you please find out for me if they are legit or scam? They say all I have to do is pay $108 and have all the materials delivered to my house so I can learn and get started. I would really appreicate if you can email me back and let me know if they’re real or not!
Thank You!!
Danny, that’s WAY out of my area of expertise, but this seems to be a reasonable article about the
owner of that site:
A Look Inside Phil Grove’s Assignment of Mortgage Payment System with links to other resources.
Thank you Paul for all of the information above. But it is not easy to read all of that information above. I just like to know if there are some workathome jobs by computer that you approve of and you feel that we can trust, if you do, please let me know.
Paul! I found this to late:/ I just signed up to WAH for $97. Can you not just start getting links and posting? I have no desire to become rich or sign up for any grades. Thoughts on this?!?
Signed..day late and dollar short inTexas…SAHM
Hi,
No it’s not as simple as “posting links” I’ve been warning people about this type of scam since 2008. Here’s a great
article Michael Brown wrote about it:
/blog/2009/04/17/make-money-posting-links-on-google-scam/
Thanks so much for this Paul. I was SO close to paying the $97 for wah. Damn them for pulling us people in. At first I thought it was a scam but then I was becoming more and more convinced it wasn’t..But before I decided to put my credit card in, I decided to investigate a little more. Did a search on it to see what people were saying and found this site. Phew, so glad I did cause they had me convinced!!! If only there was an easy extremely profitable way of making money from home but doesn’t seem like there is any as good as the scam ones claim to be. Oh well, at least I didn’t allow myself to get scammed (thanks to you) and also thanks for the legit work at home info.
Thanks, Ashley.
Regretfully, I initially signed up with this outfit before deciding that I needed to do my due diligence about them. After getting two calls from a “coach” setting a time for us to talk and he not honoring either, I made a call to the “coaching #” and another guy answered and gave me some flim flam excuse as to why the guy did not call and said that he was a coach as well and that he could talk to me. He immediately got into his high-powered sales spiel and then I said, “hold on, as I thought that coaching was part of the deal.” He then made a switch in his pitch by saying that his company was hired by WAH to train people to be successful and then write a testimonial about their success. I said, that sounds like a bunch of BS because if the program was doing it’s job as they advertise, people would write their own testimonials, without paying you any where from $1-10K for you to train them and since you said that your company was hired by WAH, what is the name of your company? He said,” Advantage Education.” I said, Travis, don’t anybody from Advantage Education ever call me again! I then immediately sent in a ticket for a refund, but vaguely remembered that, as Mr. Schlegal said, they had a CONDITIONAL refund policy, so I had already resolved the matter in my mind, that I would never see my $97 again. They also had a $195 up sale when I was signing up that completely closed my mind of doing any kind of business with them, but I then went on a search of finding somebody that would give me the truth about the company and found this site.
To end this dissertation, from my ticket request for a refund, I got an email from a cs person named Darrin wanting to know if I had done any of the course work and if I would agree to stay with them that he would waiver the $195. I tried to nicely tell him that I appreciated his offer but that Paul Schlegal, who had much more credibility than he because he worked for WAH, had spelled out the truth about them and I feel as if his outfit was filled with liars and thieves and frankly had already accepted the fact that I did not expect to get my money refunded and hoped that he and his significant other enjoyed their dinner out at my expense.
Surprisingly, two days later, I got another email from him stating that he was closing my ticket and my money would be credited back to my credit card in five business days. I sent a reply telling him that it was good to know that he showed me that he had somewhat of a conscience, but he needed to come to this site and read some of the horrific stories of people who are struggling to survive and are devastated to find that WAH had stolen their money! I ended by saying that from a business point of view, it was a good decision on his part to refund my money as, in spite of not really having the time, I was going to report them to the Atty. General’s office of Texas, the FTC and Visa. I told him that I would also make a somewhat positive post on this site about him settling the matter with me.
Am looking for the site that can give me free working on line
You might want to check out this list:
/work-at-home-jobs/
I read the article on Michelle Withrow’s making money at home scheme. I don’t know if it is a scam or not. I did some research on the company and came across your article. I went back to the WAH site and read all the comments from people using the system. I attempted to post to the comments with a link to your site. I received a message that my comment had been sent and would be reviewed. I’m sure my post won’t make the comment section. Another RED FLAG!
Yep. It’s a fake comments section there.
Yeah I feel like a idiot for falling for this site! Now im on the phone with the bank trying to get my 97 dollars back!
I think I’ve made a mistake and signed up for a work at home package called Home Income Kit. I don’t understand it and everytime I try to tall to someone their always tryin to sell me something else. I’m a single mother of four children just looking for a free way to earn some extra cash
Reese, I have a warning about Home Income Kit here:
/not-recommended/2013/07/06/karen-james-home-income-kit-warning/
You might want to check out this page for what you’re looking for:
/work-at-home-jobs/
I was considering signing up for wah and thankfully saw this.Thank you soooo much.I’m on disability getting $715 a month to live and $40 for food. I cannot survive. am just trying to get a house for $800-$900 a month but have no way to do it I even thought of those online loans but knew i’d be in worse shape have you heard of myfreeonline system .com and if legit is it easy for an average computer user/ i’m a type 1 diabetic for 35 years and in ketones for five and just want to have enough $ to be comfortable i get so frustrated wiyh the liars because i’m so honest and just really need legit help. i will check out the work at home truth and see if i can get anywhere spending that $97 would’ve devastated my life, so thanks Paul. Any news aboutmyfreeonlinesystem? please email me or will check onsite again. you’re a life saver!
Sarah, have you already checked this page:
/work-at-home-jobs/
I’m not sure what myfreeonlinesystem is. I’ll add it to list of ones to look into.
I am going to check the website i mentioned. Just saw a video when I was checking about wah university scams and a video of a guy named Carlos? came on and he mentioned it was completely free and a great way to earn $. Ha! What’s new?! I will definitely check it out and of course workathometruth.com as well. I know money doesn’t come easy and never has for me and i’m an extremely hard worker. Just can’t hold down a continuous job out in the world due to medical issues, blood sugars, and ketones. But at home on my own time could work real well.Love to stay busy! Anyway, thanks again and will check out.
Very interesting – I have just had a popup in my browser advertising”michelle winthrop”, googled the name and landed here – good work. That is one course I will NOT be buying.
As a matter of interest I am considering buying into a high ticket coaching/mentoring program, one by Alex Jefferey and the other by John Thornhill. Any comments?
No. I don’t know much about them. Sorry.
Hi Paul, I knew that WAH was a scam from research 2 years ago. I received info again and did a search and found your site. It is great that you do what you do for other people in giving out your scam reports. I am very thankful for what you do and if you have a link that you make an affiliate commission will that is what we are all trying to do. I checked into Niche Blitzkrieg maybe 2 years ago and I do not remember why I did not try it at the time but I think I will check it out again. I will check out your other link also and I may find a fit there. I will keep your site for future reference.
Thanks
Don
Mr. Schlegel, I have been scammed by Work from Home University and one of their associates that they share your information with for upsales. I am still trying to get my money returned. Could I possibly communicate with you through a private email? I would very much appreciate corresponding with you on what to do next. If you want to publish this after it is resolved, that would be fine. Time is of the essence. I am grateful that you are exposing these scams and wish
I had read your review before signing up. Thank you very much, Margaret
Paul – I, too, fell for the WAHU – cost me $77 and I had no more than clicked the send payment button that I got a call from Global Education – talk about high pressure and promises galore! The sad thing is I fell for it – I am 75 – was 74 then, and ended up losing approximately $16,000 because the costs just kept coming. I was duped into thinking I absolutely had to have a tax consultant, a marketing person/company, and on and on. I was coached for 4 sessions of half hour each while they took almost 4 weeks to build my website for my online store. Since I didn’t even have a store yet, there was very little “coaching” taking place. I was instructed to “sell little things from your home on eBay” in the meantime. There was a company and program to upload my products, I had to have memberships with various drop-shippers – some of which were $1,000. I just feel so stupid – I used my IRA to pay off the credit cards I used to charged all the fees and charges; the LLC they formed for me was $1460. I later learned I could have done the same online for about $75. They gave me 48 hours to “change” my mine once I “enrolled” with them – after that I was just plain stuck with it. Such a hard lesson and a sad outcome. Wish I had found your site before I fell for that load of BS.
Wow, Peg. Sorry to hear this – unfortunately it’s a really common story.
Can you tell me who the “Tax Consultant” company was? I want to see if they
might be linked to another company that the FTC is investigating.
I am newly laid off from my job, I don’t just have $97+.00, to dish out, I would like to hear from someone who actually took the program @ OHC, to hear the out come and to find out how long it takes you to start making money, and if they require to pay anymore money.
Sincerely yours:
BLESSED
Boy, do I feel stupid! I’ve never fallen for one of these scams before, but I guess my BS antenna wasn’t working at the time. I signed up for WAH University less than a week ago, and I’ve been harassed non-stop by the high pressure sales pitch for the “training and personal help” that costs extra. I wish I had found this site before I paid good money, but I’m cancelling my membership and will try to get my money back.
Thanks for all the work you do to help people, and I’ll use your resource site from now on to find legitimate work at home opportunities! I have learned a valuable lesson here and wish to thank you very much for keeping me from getting scammed any further.
Thanks, Kimberly.
If you ever have a question about whether or not something is a scam, you (or anyone else) can contact me here:
/contact/
Most of the time I can tell right away.
i too have been sucked in cant return a email to tehm had a phone call asking all teh questions about credit limist and so forth tehn had teh check to book in a phone call a week later and never rang back, then i was contacted from my bank to say fraud has occurred on my card and they would identify that it was WAH university as a trail amount was used to see if they could then take more it was from dublin lol i live in sydney nsw.”preditors”
Hi Paul
I am a British Citizen recently unemployed living in the Middle East. I am actively looking for a job here as an operations manager. I was recently contacted by an employement agency in the United States called HS Hiring Specialist. They told me that they got hold of my resume and said that an employer in Dubai was interested in me as a Senior Operations Manager. They even sent me the job description and sounded like a fantastic job. They phoned me daily for 3 days. On the last day, they told me that the employer is hoping to employ me, however, there was a problem. Because I have an ordinary engineering degree, and the employer policies for employing high profile managers state that they must have a master’s degree.
HS Hiring Specialist said there was a way round this problem which he had already discussed with the employer. They said that because I have a long history of management skills, there are universities in the USA who reward a master’s degree in management solely based on management skills gained through employement. They told me it is your ticket to success and I was taken by the idea especially after they said that they can get me a degree with only $700. They said they will arrange for a university to contact me. I agreed to that.
Later on, same day, someone from a university called River Wood University contacted me. He said I can be rewarded a master’s degree if I pass an interview with a professor from the university. I must pay $700 up front, and if I didn’t pass the interview, the money would be refunded.
Again, mesmerized by their promises and overwellmed by the idea of having a dream job in the arabic Gulf, I paid the $700 using my Visa Card.
The next day, someone from the university interviewed me. The conversation lasted for about 45 minutes. It was not an interview. I was just reading from my resume. There was no management questions. I spent 45 minutes just talking about my work history. Thats when it started to hit me that I was taken for a ride.
Anyhow, the next day, I was contacted by the university saying that the master’s cirtificate will require legalization through the United States System and that will cost a further $4500. I said no way. The university rep was trying so hard to get the money he even dropped the required amount to $2250. I still refused to pay.
Yesterday, the university sent me an email congratulating me that I have passed and been rewarded a master’s degree. I didnt answer them yet.
I know now that I have been taken for a fool. I know that there is no job in Dubai, and I know that I lost $700. Of course I passed. failure was never an option for them. I feel so humilated to be easily taken like that. saying that, i did look at the web site for the university and it looked legetimate to me. However, I realised later that it could be just a scam especially that it didn’t have a proper address and there was no answers to my phone calls.
Could you please advise me on what I can do to get my money back? Could you advise me if there is anything I can do to those people leading this scam or to whom I can make an official complaint.
Best regards…………….Ali Jaber
Ali,
So you put the initial $700 on your Visa card? If it was a credit card, you should
be able to file a dispute with your credit card company. The dispute procedures are
typically on the back of your billing statement.