Massive Internet fraud shut down by FTC

Massive Internet fraud shut down by FTC: "Federal Trade Commission has taken legal action against a far-reaching Internet enterprise that allegedly made millions of dollars by luring consumers into 'trial' memberships for bogus government-grant and money-making schemes, then repeatedly charged them monthly fees for services they never agreed upon.

According to the FTC's complaint, 'I Works' utilized websites touting the availability of government grants to pay personal expenses or to pitch various money-making programs. The websites offered 'free' information at no-risk with a small shipping and handling fee. When consumers provided their billing information, I Works charged them hefty one-time fees of up to $129.95 and monthly recurring fees of $59.95 for the grant or money-making programs.

As a result of the I Works scam, hundreds of thousands of consumers disputed charges on their debit or credit cards. The number of charge-backs was so excessive that millions of dollars in fines were assessed and the company was blocked from accounts maintained by VISA and Mastercard. To keep the scam going, I Works tricked banks into giving them continued charging privileges by creating 51 shell companies with figurehead officers, and by providing them with phony 'clean' versions of their websites."

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