I received several mails recommending this company from what I thought were legitimate 'antiscam' sites, as I wanted to work from home. As I am hoping to make a career as a writer I thought I'd try them out. The ad I was directed to promised that 'anyone' could earn money straight away once they'd joined this site - even if they had never written before. The promise was hundreds of dollars just by writing for blogs and forums. I do this anyway, so thought I was on to a good thing getting paid for it. I duly gave my bank account details (foolish, I know) thinking I had nothing to lose by accepting their 7 day trial offer of just $2.95. NOTHING WAS SAID ABOUT THE FOLLOW UP PAYMENT OF $49.95 that would automatically be taken at a later date. As far as I was concerned, all I'd submitted my bank details for, was a short trial period - nothing more (I've since found this is a well used scam by internet fraudsters - in the UK it's illegal to take further monies for a product without notifying the customer first) I could only gain access to the 'small print' once I'd paid. The first thing that came up was a 'hard sell' lengthy ad for a business package I had no interest in, which was odd for a so-called publishing site, so I ignored it. Then I downloaded the videos. Straight away I realised this site did not offer work - it simply directed you to various internet publishing sites where you had to 'bid' against other writers for work. I thought this site was designed to help 'newbie' internet authors get published - they boast full customer backup and a help line - but I found none of this. There was no instruction given on how to place bids, or how much to charge, or tips on writing for the internet (as you'd expect from a site specifically targetting newcomers to the trade). What I got for my money was a repetitive series of videos - one for each of the 'publishers' on their books - telling me how to click on to the sites. I know how to do this - it's how I got scammed in the first place! It was patently obvious, as well, that in order to get published I'd have to part with more money - a lot more - since most of these 'publishers' demanded a joining-up fee before you could even submit bids, let alone start earning. On top of all this, FLHW then demand a commision! I attempted to place bids on a few of their 'latest' projects. At least one of three things happened:
1) The bidding was now closed.
2) It was still open, but so many bids had been placed already it was pointless me, as a 'newbie' even attempting to bid.
3) The bids already placed were of such paltry amounts it was a waste of time considering. I'm worth more than $5 per article! I noticed the real-life bids were of much lower denomination than the earnings promised in their advertising blurb and on the videos. Based on what I saw, there was no way I could ever get the 25 articles per day offered by the site, or earn the hundreds of dollars a day I'd been promised. Furthermore, ALL of the projects on offer demanded I provide examples of previously published work, via a portfolio. In other words this site was USELESS TO ANY NEW WRITER, EVEN THOUGH THAT IS EXACTLY THEIR TARGET CLIENTELE. I sent an email to their 'help team' asking how the hell I could write for them with this Catch 22 in place. Never got a reply though. So much for their customer service.
I am aware how hard it is for new writers to get published - I didn't need to pay a scam fee to find this out. After just two log-ins I went elsewhere to get the experience I needed, never logging on to this con site again. All they wre after, was getting me to sign over more of my money.
I thought this would be the end of it, even though I kept getting emails from so-called homeworker professionals, telling me they'd found EXACTLY the job that would suit me, and guiding me back to this site. But 14 weeks later, with no notification from FLHW and without my say so, the full fee of $49.95 was deducted from my account - a fee I had no recollection of agreeing to.
I swiftly sent an email, demanding this money back and reminding them I'd never even made full use of my 7 day trial, as my account history would show. So far, no reply.
I almost got caught out in the same way (a so-called 'no risks' trial period) by Home Worker Surveys.com - in fact, it was directly due to my dealings with FLHW that I jumped into this site, read the reviews, and promptly cancelled my bank account (the only way to stop these cowboys filching whatever they want whenever they want)
As far as I'm concerned, FreeLance Homewriters is no different to any other scam homeworker scheme out there. They rank right alongside paid surveys, data inputting and envelope stuffing schemes. You may like to read this report, on a legitimate forum run by, and on behalf of, professional freelance writers:
http://www.accentuateservices.com/xmb/viewthread.php? tid=127&page=1#pid29389
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