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Rhinopoint: Internet ScamOct 03 '00 Write an essay on this topic.When I first started writing this, it was for a review on an actual Epinoins page. However, when I tried to submit my review, it wouldn't let me. Something seems to be wrong with that particular page. Now, I really feel that this information should be out there, so others who suffered my same mistake can know, and know what they can do. I searched for the closest editorial, and this seems to be it. This is my review of a service called Rhinopoint. I first heard about Rhinopoint.com through a friend at work. He told me about this site that will reimburse you for your Internet service provider, and all you have to do is pay a one-time setup fee, and fill out a monthly survey. It sounded great, I mean, free Internet and still get the quality of a paid ISP. Especially since I am on a three-year contract through Compuserve because of their whole rebate thing. And on the surface, it sounded completely legitimate. I know that companies do pay for information like that in order to better serve the public (or make more money that is). So, I thought, “What the hay, it’s only $12.95, so it’s not like I’m going to waste too much money.” After looking over the home page, reading all the fine print, and everything else, it still looked good. So, I signed up. I filled out their surveys, and waited patiently. For months, they fed me these lines about how they were experiencing some financial difficulties, and to just be patient. All the while, I remained calm, and continued filling out their surveys. Then, I got an email from them, saying something about how their current payment people were not working out right, so they were switching to something called Pay Pal. I was instructed to setup an account with them, so I did (this being the only good to come from this whole ordeal). Well, a few more months past, and many more emails (some from me asking what was up, and some from them telling me to set up my account with Pay Pal, though I already had), and now I was getting very frustrated. What happened next really urked me. I tried accessing their home page, and I got a message saying that I was not authorized to view this page. I tried on many different browsers, and on more then a few computers. The same message came to me. Well, around the time that I first signed up with Rhinopoint, I had created a web page reviewing some of the various free ISPs, so I included Rhinopoint. Now, I started getting many emails from all kinds of people. Some asking why they couldn’t access Rhinopoint, some telling me the same frustrations I had already been having, and many informing me of what I had already feared. Rhinopoint was all just a scam. Some guy, who I’m told is named Karl Kay, supposedly made millions from people like me and all these people who emailed me, and is now nowhere to be found, or something like that. Now, I am not much of a news watcher, so I cannot confirm this, I am merely passing along the information that was brought to me (by many emailers). I have been a member of Rhinopoint since around February of 2000, and never received a dime, so it seems to make sense. If I have been misinformed, please forgive me (though I do not believe I was). The only good thing to come from this was my introduction to Pay Pal. They are kind of like an online bank. You can pay people through email, as well as pay for your auctions with Ebay. You also get $5 just for registering your bank account (and this is legitimate). Anyway, to all those wishing to get involved with Rhinopoint, too late. They’re out of business. And if they were still around, signing up would be a waste of money and time. Now, for those who are like me and already did sign up and are just as mad as I am, there is something you can do. Someone emailed me with the link for a site that deals with Internet fraud, and I suggest that all who fell victim to this scam, please go here and fill out all of the questions to the best of your abilities. http://www.ifccfbi.gov/Default.asp Now, I humbly apologize to all those who signed up with Rhinopoint because of my review on my web site. Unfortunately, my computer is a Compaq, and will no longer work properly. The software I used for my web pages isn’t working anymore, so I have not been able to update my site. I only hope that some of those people will see this review, and accept my apologies. Thank you.  |
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