Home Based Business

December 7, 2005 3:16 PM

I was looking online into some home based businesses. You know those things you read about..."make millions just packing envelopes?" Well, this one is not quite that. Ever heard of www.assuranceplus.net? They just called me and basically said that I could try them out and if I don't make the amount of money that I spent getting my business started, than I would get a full refund. Is this legit? If so, why doesn't everyone do this? Anyone ever made money doing this?
posted by JPowers to work & money (10 comments total)

I'm confused. Is this just a combination webhost / lousy web designer / guy who takes from your affiliate money?
posted by I Love Tacos at 3:22 PM on December 7, 2005

Every single thing I read about that screams "SCAM" to me. "Assurance Plus" is a difficult term (for me, anyway) to Google for because it matches too many common sentences, like this one regarding Microsoft TechNet: "TechNet assurance, Plus assurance, License assurance"

Google matched that "assurance, Plus" bit.

If they ask you to give them *ANY* money, it's very likely a scam. Same with that Carlton Sheets shyster. It's a scam.

I'd let this one go and find something else. Check out the "testimonials" - they sound like every other "get rich quick" scam page you'll find on the internet. "I made enough money to quit my regular job in just 60 days" claims one of them.

I have the feeling that it involves spam/adware/banner ads, and *you* are paying *them* for the "hosting." Did you read the FAQ?

"6. Is the start-up cost the only money I will have to spend?
The start up cost is a one time fee, along with that you will pay a monthly hosting fee of $19.00 per month. Other costs might be of your own choice for marketing and advertising."

Yeah, screw that. Sounds real dirty to me.
posted by drstein at 3:32 PM on December 7, 2005

Confused also. This bit is odd, from their FAQ:

11. Why don't you just do all the advertising yourselves?
The only way to expand our business to such a huge market is to have independent business owners who operate from different locations. The more money you make, the more money we make!

They need different... locations? to advertise on the Internet?

Legitimate business opportunities tell you what you're doing and how it's going to make you and them money up front. These guys started in September, chose a really common name so you couldn't tell they have no search results (but nobody links to them anyway), and don't tell you what you have to do.

Here's my wild-assed guess (which is the same as Tacos', but in more detail): This guy started out trying to make money setting up web storefronts like this one (owned by them, and created before the Assurance Plus domain was registered) which are filled with affiliate links to Amazon and friends, and found it not so profitable. Instead of setting up more nonprofitable affiliate sites, he charges people a setup fee and an unnecessarily high monthly hosting charge to run their own nonprofitable affiliate sites.
posted by mendel at 3:44 PM on December 7, 2005

Uh, he's got testimonials talking about someone's experiences over the course of a year, when the domain was registered in September. Run.

Hah, no, it gets better: the testimonials are identical to dozens of other make-money-fast sites!
posted by mendel at 3:55 PM on December 7, 2005

mendel wins the thread!
posted by sergeant sandwich at 3:57 PM on December 7, 2005

Looks like a convoluted ponzi scheme to me.

I strongly encourage anyone who has ever considered a get-rich-quick scheme to read that article. The vast majority work in this way, or some infernal variation.

Bad news unless you're Mister Ponzi or his mate.
posted by MetaMonkey at 4:25 PM on December 7, 2005

This guy started out trying to make money setting up web storefronts like this one (owned by them, and created before the Assurance Plus domain was registered) which are filled with affiliate links to Amazon and friends, and found it not so profitable. Instead of setting up more nonprofitable affiliate sites, he charges people a setup fee and an unnecessarily high monthly hosting charge to run their own nonprofitable affiliate sites.

Hah, no, it gets better: the testimonials are identical to dozens of other make-money-fast sites!

This is how the ponzi works. Hundreds of suckers, like the owner of assuranceplus, bought into a get-rich-quick scheme that told them to set up their own get-rich-quick scheme, with testimonials supplied. This works in basically the same way as the work-from-home-sending-letters-and-pay-your-own-advertising scam, simply ported to the net.
posted by MetaMonkey at 4:35 PM on December 7, 2005

What would be cool is if the AskMe Good-hearted Detectives were to track down the details and submit them to the appropriate authorities. There's no sense in letting a scam like this go unpunished.
posted by five fresh fish at 10:16 AM on December 8, 2005

It may not even be (technically) illegal, and the people operating these scams (at the root, rather than the low-down suckers) often calculate possible fines into the cost of the business.

Much like heroin, removing the low-down guys, and even the occasional big-guy accomplishes little; while there is demand, there will be supply. Far better to simply learn how they work and advise others to avoid.
posted by MetaMonkey at 7:44 PM on December 8, 2005

Here is my experience with this scam:

I got the deluxe three website package (eBay,Amazon,Windows Casino) for $399.00 (I was to lazy to make my own websites/research). Pay $19/mo for web hosting for six months,thereafter no charge. All legit so far.

A few days later I get a call from my "coach" telling me about the marketing angle and about the "targeted" advertising,etc. It boils down to this:

I was told that _all_ hits, generated from them, would be signing up for the above websites and spending money on them as well. I have had only click through traffic. Period. No money here with this option.

The marketing company has the same AZ address and is under the name of "Diverse Marketing LLC",good luck finding anything about this one,it is even more vauge then looking up Assurance Plus.

I am currently getting a refund via my bank under fraud prevention.

If anyone cares to see what you get for the money,here are my websites:

http://www.premiershoppingsite.com/11702

http://www.mycasinosonline.com/11702

http://www.youronestopstore.com/11702

Hope this helps anyone thinking about getting into it with this company.
posted by fordprefectuk at 5:15 PM on March 28, 2006