and now an admission.

i was scammed! its so shameful to admit. and the only reason i will now admit it to this shame, is because i am the last person to take a scam lying down.

so last week, i found out about an amazing work at home opportunity through this link.

i know, i am shaking my head in shame- mary, what were you thinking?

well, i was thinking- consumer watchdog? hey, that sounds legit. and why wouldn't it? the real and honest consumer watchdog, is conveniently found at consumerwatchdog.org

so i followed link on the fake consumer watchdog to this site: to become a "webmaster program specialist"

yes. i am a fool.

my initial reason for going was to show sam... he loves being on the internet, and i know he's considering other options for work... slowly- he's NOT quitting his job.

he really like the sound of it, but thought it might be better suited for me.

so we paid the $249 for it.

yes. i am a fool.

did we really research it? google anything about? no. that would be the act a person who isn't a fool.

so i received access to "the training" and eagerly started right away. sure i did learn somethings, and was buying into absolutely everything i was being told.

however. after i completed "the training" (a horrid investment of 1 1/2 days of my time, time that could have been spent doing ANYTHING else) i was told that i would have an exam to certify my completion.

as i was working on this "exam" i noticed something odd.

a little information: part of being a "webmaster program specialist" is the set up blogs and to promote various things that are for sale. easy enough, right? in order for this to work, a huge KEY to this success is to use meta codes to have your blogs be crawled by search engines.

well, i was having all of the "blogs" i was setting up be verified by Google, Yahoo, and Bing.

until i noticed a little tiny exclamation mark by the Google verification.

seems that yes, my blogs were being verified as existing- but they would NOT be crawled. meaning that if someone was searching for something my blog would be talking about, google would not list it as a viable web page option.

well, everything i was told in training really said nothing about this, in fact in order to be a "webmaster program specialist" i needed this google search to work.

so i immediately started emailing the "school" to talk to my "counselor".

at that time i also started doing something else.

Googling this "school program".

what did i find?

initially nothing. which was a huge RED flag.

so i dug deeper. googled harder.

and found tons of information from other people about how i had been scammed.

of course i was irate, frustrated, mad, shameful, and above all else disappointed about the loss of my time.

i contacted the "counselor" demanding a refund. i got a song and dance, and was asked questions about my "problems" with google. so i quickly realized this "counselor" was going to be no help at all.

so i contacted the third party internet source that had taken my money demanding a refund, giving them a reason. well- the third party internet source contacted the "school" and the school disputed my request saying that there was no merit for it.

did i stop there?

no.

i privately contacted the third party internet source, and gave them a strongly worded email.

and i received an email almost instantly telling me my money would be refunded.

i have yet to hear anything from the "school".

why i am admitting to this shameful scam that i fell for?

1) to alert everyone to the scam.

2) to give everyone a good laugh.

3) to tell everyone who is looking for a "part time job" to not be tempted by the online scams, but instead put your energy into finding a way to be paid for something that you LOVE to do. and for me that is putting my focus on sewing (more to come on this later). or to simply encourage you in knowing that Lord will provide. if He cares for the sparrows, He cares for you.

4) well, i can admit to this now because i am please to announce that my money has indeed been refunded.

yes, i am a fool.

but at least it didn't cost me anything!