A large number of scams are proliferating on the internet and preying on the unwitting public. With the internet booming like never before, the many scams and swindling tactics to take advantage of the increased use of internet services are also proliferating at an alarming pace. With more people getting victimized by various scams, shady characters are also getting more and more bold in their attempts to con people of their hard earned money.

One scam that is being widely used by scammers online is the so called Free Item Scam. For just a very short period of time, this type of scam has managed to worm its way into almost all the available categories of auction listings at online auction giant eBay.com.

Basically what the scam perpetrates is a way for a scammer or swindler to convince consumers on the internet that they can get almost anything (be it electronics, computers, clothes, accessories, even cars) for free or by just paying a minimal shipping cost. Of course, there is not a kernel of truth in this claim, the free item offer that is being used to entice you is nothing more than a lure or trap designed to by the scammers to attempt to steal money from you and other unsuspecting internet users.

The Scam Explained

The Free Item Scam basically follows a clearly defined path that is best illustrated this way:

* An auction listing in eBay or some other online auction site offers a large array of free items for its program that is being described as fool proof.

* The online buyer, having read the listing, is tempted by the ad and decides to buy the item from the advertiser / seller for a certain amount of money.

* The said program is then given to the online buyer. This program, in the simplest terms, instructs the buyer to pretend that they are a business – which is already considered as a form of fraud – in order to request free samples of different products from a large number of manufacturers and wholesalers.

After this initial steps have been undertaken, the buyer may experience one of the following outcomes:

1. The online buyer will receive a number of very cheap items from a number of companies. These items – like pens, pencils, and some other items – will be enough to satisfy the buyer.

2. The buyer will be caught for fraudulently pretending to be a company that does not really exist and is charged with a felony charge of fraud.

3. The buyer will not receive any kind of items for free. As a way of cutting their loss, they will never use the scam program again.

Among the three likely outcomes, the third one is by far the most common thing that happens to people who get lured by the Free Item Scam. Many victims of the scam will try to rectify the situation by actually listing the program that they bought again on the auction site and try to sell it. Others will actually use the same tactics used on them to try to scam others into buying the program. This is the reason why the Free Item Scam continues to proliferate on so many online auction sites. It is quite sad to know that victims of the scam will turn into the very same people that would victimize other online buyers just so they can cut their losses. For many people this “solution” can be quite tempting especially if you want to recoup the loss you got for getting the program. But however way you look it, it is fraud and the victims could actually stop the proliferation of the said scam if only they would also refrain from selling the program too.  

The “program” dissected

The program that is sold in the Free Item Scam may come in different formats and may even be written differently. But they all follow the same line of thought and offer the same suggestions when it comes to you getting free stuff on the internet.

Below is a dissection of one program in order to help you identify these fraudulent programs the moment you see it:

1. The introduction usually starts off with thanking the online buyer for purchasing the program and goes on to entice them with the many benefits and free items they will be getting when they start implementing the program on their own. But this early into the program, the first alarm bell will already go off because the program will tell you that one of the most important things that you will need in order to use the program is a valid email address that should be composed like a business address. The introduction will specifically tell you not to use a hotmail or yahoo email address because it is often used to spam – the specific thing they will ask you to do later on. The program will also ask you to provide an address to which the free items will be delivered.

2. The program will then tell you which companies actually provide free stuff using a website that is specifically constructed for legitimate companies who are looking for suppliers and wholesalers. Another way of telling that you are being asked to commit fraud is that they will ask you to think of a name for your imaginary company when you register in the said website.

3. The actual program proper is now explained, where you are asked to request for free stuff. The program will advise you to start with small items first so that you can build a “reputation” before you can request for the more expensive items. You will also be taught how to make fake request letters that you will send to the legitimate manufacturers in order to ask for free items.

4. Having been taught the “proper” way to communicate the program will then explain how it may take a “few weeks” for the free stuff to arrive. The program then gives additional tips and tricks in order to get the free stuff fast especially the expensive ones. These tips and tricks are basically just ways of making your scamming ways more “subtle” and harder for companies to determine if you are a legitimate company or not.