You are asked to take an online IQ test with a few questions. The answers are really irrelevant. You are told that the results will be text messaged to you, so you need to provide your cell phone number. You will then be texted a pin code to enter on the quiz.

Once you’ve done that, Voila! You have just subscribed to a $9.99/month subscription.

That’s all “phishing” is: a scam that uses false websites to lure people into revealing important data such as bank account details, login names or passwords, and usually the link to the false website comes in a “formal” email or from one of your friends whose account has been successfully hijacked.

It’s not hard to avoid “phishing”.

The first thing you should do is to avoid clicking on links within emails. If the email appears to come from a website you use often, simply open up a new browser window and type the web address — it shouldn’t take you more than a few keystrokes before your browser remembers the address.

Another thing you can do is to ask your browser to “remember the username” for all the important websites you visit. Use is as a reminder for checking the web address when your username doesn’t show up on the website.

Google PageRank or Alexa website ranking software are also good indicators for “phishing” websites. Obviously, the fake websites won’t rank nearly as high as the real ones.

Lastly, please don’t be so curious about who blocked or deleted you from their contact list. There are plenty of others who are actually more than happy to hear from you. Why bother with those who are trying to avoid you?

So next time you see a seemingly authentic video on one of the Wobo’s sites, take some time to watch the entire video. More importantly, pay close attention to whether or not the specific product on the site is being mentioned in the video (as opposed to just the concept or technology in general).

It’s simple really. The first $1.99 is used to get your credit card number into their database so they can start charging you based on their hidden policies.

We think that’s actually by design.

Some of these Wobos may have monthly charges. By making their price appear random, they are hoping that it would stay buried among with all the other charges on your credit card statement, and thus stay hidden for as long as they could.

• Spend 15 to 30 minutes to read the “Terms and Conditions” page of the website.
• Verify the length of the trial period, and plan accordingly: does it start on the day of your order?
• Know the payment amount after the trial period, also find out whether there are any automatic recurring payments.
• How many programs are you signing up for? Sometimes there could be more than one. Get to know each specific program.
• Call the customer service number listed, and try to place the order over the phone.
• No Phone orders? At least have them answer ALL of your questions before you fill in your credit card info online.

Still not sure? Write to us and let us help.

1) There is simply no way for a client to prove that the pills did NOT work because it is always to be coupled with “a proper diet and regular exercise program”. The paradox, though, is that most people who have a proper diet and exercise regularly probably do NOT need the pills. Those who don’t, probably won’t stick with it and thus, feel that they can’t blame the pill for not showing any progress.

2) The real cost of the program is always hidden in places that most people won’t look.

Our suggestions for anyone who is considering taking the pills:

a) Don’t expect any shortcuts to a healthier life.
b) Start and stick with a proper diet and regular exercise program for 3 months before ordering the pills.
c) See if anything is available at your local fitness center and talk to a personal trainer to see what suit you the best.
d) Carefully study the “terms and conditions” section of the website you want to place the order with.
e) If possible, place the order over the phone and ask all your questions before giving them your credit card number.

Let’s do the math:
I can make $5000 monthly with my secret. If I spend $3000 to hire someone to do it for me, for every person I hire, I will make $2000 every month. On the other hand, I could be extremely generous (or stupid) and share my secret to make $100 a month per person.

The bottom line: there is no shortcut in making money, online or offline, period.

But if you carefully read the “Terms and Conditions” page (usually located at the very bottom of their long web pages and in very tiny fonts) like we normally do, you would find that these “Free” Trial programs have the following symptoms:

1) They usually come in short period of time, 7 or 14 days.
2) They usually start on the day of your order, instead of the day when you receive your shipment.
3) The shipments surprisingly come with 1 month of the actual product.
4) You won’t get any refund back except the small shipping fee.

Our problem with this approach is that if these Wobos are so confident about their product and really want to “guarantee” your satisfaction, they would a) give you more time to actually try the product, and b) wait for you to decide whether or not the product works for you before sending out the first shipment.