This morning, I was all fired up to come home and blog about my 2010 Roth IRA contributions as well as the logic behind investing in Charles Schwab ETFs (Exchange Traded Funds). That burning desire has since simmered. There’s a more pressing matter I have to get off my chest. You see, I’ve been scammed.

I should’ve known this day would come. When you love free stuff as much as I do, you’re prime picking for scammers.

I know the basics.

• Fight tooth and nail for the chastity and sanctity of your Social Security number.
• Never give out credit card information to a business you don’t trust.
• Shred documents that contain sensitive personal information.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know all that.

All this time, I’ve been thinking if I don’t give out my credit card information, the scammers can’t hurt me. Well, today the scammers proved otherwise.

I don’t completely remember the exact moment at which the scam was executed, but I know it happened when I was applying for free swag. It was one of them deals where you fill out your contact info and they ask for your cell phone number. They send you a pin number via text message. You enter it on their web site. Bam!!! You’ve signed up for a $9.99 per month subscription to Predicto’s News Prediction Game.

Although I made a financial boo boo, the mess was fairly easy to clean up.

First off, I probably wouldn’t have even noticed the mishap if I hadn’t received a text message from Mint. In addition to Microsoft Excel, I use Mint to prepare a monthly budget. Although Excel is okay for outlining a spending plan at the beginning of the month, it’s not so good when it comes to tracking compliance. This month when a $108 AT&T automated payment hit my account, Mint sent me a text message saying, “WTF? I thought yo mobile phone bill was ‘pose to be $100. Something ain’t right. You need to look into dis.” Of course, I’m paraphrasing.

On a month to month basis, my cell phone bill usually hovers around $99 – $100. On occasion, it’ll go up to $102. At $108, something is amiss.

After carefully reviewing my bill, I uncovered the subscription service I inadvertently signed up for. For a moment, I entertained the thought of just paying the charge without a fuss. That was only a moment. We’re talking 10 bucks here.

Long story less long, the AT&T representative I called agreed to give me a refund for the scam subscription service with the warning that I’d be the one to foot the bill next time I did something so stupid. Again, I’m paraphrasing.

I share this story with you in hopes of accomplishing at least one of three objectives:

1. You’ll learn how blind pursuit of free stuff can cost you money,
2. You’ll set up alerts on your bank and credit card accounts to notify you of weird activity, or
3. You’ll feel hopelessly compelled to share a time when you too were tricked by a tricky trickster into parting with your cash.

Well, do you?

What self-proclaimed frugal nut isn’t a fan of free? From time to time, I like to see what’s available – for free – on Craigslist and Freecycle. Last Tuesday, I felt like doing a little “shopping” on Craigslist. Crest Whitestrips were the first product listed under the free category. This was welcome news since I’ve been planning on conducting another round of teeth whitening for a while now.

The individual listing the product (hereafter referred to as the Craigman) wrote he’d won the Whitestrips through a raffle with his son’s school. Around 2:45 in the morning, I furiously composed an e-mail to the Craigman requesting he hand over the Whitestrips. Since I responded only minutes after the post appeared on Craigslist, I expected an instant reply. It wasn’t until later that day I noticed the Craigman’s e-mail in my spam folder. Here’s what it said:

Unfortunately someone already claimed the strips and is supposed to be picking them up in a couple hours… If she doesn’t show up should I email you?

If you’re willing to experiment with a different brand than Crest, I’ve had some really good results with another product and I think they still send out free starter kits. I can send the link if you want to try it just let me know.

Scott

Wasn’t that nice? Nevertheless, I ignored the e-mail since so many hours passed between my attempt to claim the Whitestrips and receipt of the Craigman’s reply. At that point, I figured I’d hunt for a Whitestrips coupon code, and buy them at a discounted price on the Internet.

But the Craigman was really nice. Even after I failed to acknowledge his generosity he sent me the following:

Well she showed up and picked up the strips… If I happen to get another box I’ll let you know.

The link for the free starter kit is: http://dazzlewhite.lifeports.com

After only 4 days’ use, my teeth were as white as when I paid my dentist $300 to do the same thing. The best part is I don’t have any sensitivity issues. I sometimes used the trays at home too, but found that this works a lot better for me and is much faster.

Oh, I’m not sure if its still valid, but I entered the word “whiteteeth” to take off most of the shipping charges when I first ordered.

Hope this helps,

Scott

How kind of  the Craigman. I’ve never encountered Freecyclers who’d send a second e-mail after their first offer was disregarded. The Craigman even provided a coupon code to help me out with shipping. It was like he knew me.

I clicked on the link to order a free sample. The web site looked pretty normal.

In order to qualify for the free trial offer, I first had to answer a few questions. I’m still not sure how any combination of answers would prohibit me from taking advantage of a sample kit.

While waiting to see if I was worthy of a free trial of Dazzle Smile’s whitening system, this screen appeared.

Bona fide proof that the company is legitimate, and their product works. If you’re not paying attention, it appears as if the product was vouched for by reputable news programs. Dazzle Smile has actually noted news outlets their product appeared on. Is it possible Dazzle Smile was seen in USA Today as an advertisement? Perhaps the product was featured on a late night infomercial?

Before providing my personal information, I gave the contact form a once over. First name, last name, address, city, state, zip code. Nothing weird about that.

Everything looked fairly straightforward until I noticed a strange request. They wanted a phone number – preferably a cell phone number. If I wasn’t sure the Craigman was trying to scam me before, this strange request removed all doubt.

I strongly suspect that “cell phone” is one word instead of two. I’m not sure so I won’t harp on Dazzle Smile too much for that one. However, the way “incase” is used here tells me that it definitely isn’t one word. And why is there inconsistent use of capitalization and punctuation? What I find most suspicious is how committed Dazzle Smile is to making sure a prospective customer’s free trial is delivered.

I could’ve stopped here, but things were getting interesting. Don’t worry. I entered fictitious information in the contact form. You shouldn’t be surprised by what happened next.

Dazzle Smile needs credit card information to pay for shipping costs. The Craigman had already given me the coupon code for discounted shipping. Remember? Look. Satisfaction is guaranteed.

But who needs a guarantee for that which is free?

I see. By providing your credit card information to these crooks, you enroll in an $80 per month membership to receive Dazzle Smile. But wait, they’re not finished yet. You also sign up for World Club Fitness and Weight Loss Resources for a monthly price tag of $7 and $9, respectively. Who said anything about losing weight?!

Of course you can cancel any time. Good luck trying to get someone on the phone who’ll honor your cancellation request.

Maybe the Craigman was trying to give me the opportunity to use a valuable product. Nope. He tried to trick me in to signing up for a membership program through an affiliate network for something I clearly wanted for free.

On Monday, August 17th, the Craigman was up to his old shenanigans again.