Getting money back from scams

Good luck. Most of these "scams" are legal. Meaning, you signed something or cashed a check that said you agreed to some stupid terms. I am not sure where you should go with this.....depends on who scammed you.

Send me $50 and I'll tell you.

You might want to talk to your attorney general's office.
Check this out:

http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm

Bella, you think I'm supposed to send some online company some membership fee to join their services, and when I e-mail them and write to them about cancelling my services and refunding my membership fee, and wait ti hear form from them and don't hear from them, that I'm supposed to let them get away with it? I don't think so.

That's how a lot of of these scams work. They set up their companies, make themselves sound promising to potential cusomers, and wait for people to send money to them, so you join their companies and they keep your money. They purposely charge people little bit of money to join, because they know that poeple aren't going to try to take them to court or a little bit of money ($20, 30, or whatever their cost of membership is).

What? So you joined something...what? You have to give us more information if you want help and don't be such a snot.

there is a point to bellas post.
Because these scam artists DO charge such little money to each person, they are able to slide under the radar of alot of laws.
I dont know of many credit card companies that would want to invest in a 20 dollar charge when the investigation would cost them 20xs that 20 bucks and usually lead to nowhere.
it is hard to get your money back on small time scams .
I dont blame you for wanting to charge at these thieves with all your guns drawn.. but in the big scheme of things.. a small charge isnt always investigated as well as one would hope.

What about contacting the Better Business Bureau?
www.bbb.org?
I found some information about business scams in my mother's woman's world magazine. It says what to look out for:
Avoid these work-at-home scams!
Envelope stuffing!
P.O. Boxes...
Unsolicited E-mails
Companies others complain about-vist bbb.org
Asked to Pay up front?
The two companies I joined up with fit these discriptions.

Edit: Moderator: Links removed

I sent $23.95 to Edit: Moderator: Website removed, and when i tried writing to them requesting a refund of my membership, I never heard anything from them.
I sent paydaysurveys.com $34.95 to becoime a member of this online survey company. I sent them e-mails and wrote to their P.O. Box address requesting a refund of my mejmbershipo fee, and never heard from them.

I don't have money to throw away, and I want both companies to refund my membership fees.

You are probably wasting your time JGoldman. The majority of these work at home schemes are scams. All you can do is report them to the BBB and hope some other guy will check out the BBB information before sending them any money.

You could write your Attorney General as suggested, but I would not hold your breath waiting for a refund. These companies know how to get around the existing laws.

Chalk it up to inexperience and remember - when it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

You might want to check out this site (and maybe bookmark it for future reference):

http://www.ripoffreport.com/default.asp

Has anyone here reported any dubious businesses to the BBB and have successfully gotten their money back?

No.
I have reported 3 times to the BBB.
Once was for faulty colored contacts. This company that was selling them had a LONG history..
so much so that when I started describing the situation to the person on the phone, she interrupted me and told ME who i was calling about.

never got money back. ( almost 120 dollars )
Never got confirmation ABOUT the company being shut down.
Nothing.
I dont think the BBB refunds what they consider small amounts of money.
I think they will help a person with a few 'thousand' dollar loss.. but even then, from what I understand it is pretty hard to do.

I had trouble with a local moving company and filed a report with the NY BBB (if only I had checked there first, oh well). The BBB did contact the moving company and they promised to pay, but I never saw a cent.

I think you write off the money as tuition to the school of "Getting Smarter Everyday".

Lemme tell you something about the BBB. It is supported by member dues. Those members are the people you are filing a complaint against. 'Nuff said.