Better Business Bureau Consumer Alert -

Better Business Bureau of Southern Arizona is alerting consumers to Creative Synergy Training (CST), a work-at-home company with Arizona ties, that claims it can show consumers a “risk free” way to make money using Google.

Since September 27, BBB has received 10 complaints from consumers claiming CTS charged their credit cards after they requested their account be canceled within the 3-day window the company gives consumers to cancel their account and receive a refund. In the complaints consumers are requesting refunds of $129.99-$149.99.

CTS’s mailing address is a Postnet mailbox located at 29834 N Cave Creek Rd STE 118 PMB 323 Cave Creek, AZ 85321. BBB has not been able to determine the physical location of the company. CTS’s Web site was registered by a proxy service in Scottsdale last June.

Nationally, BBB has been inundated with complaints about Web sites that are trading on the Google name to scam people. Because the sites often use the Google name and prominently display its iconic logo, consumers often assume they are getting a job with Google when in fact they were getting taken in by yet another work-at-home scheme.

Before signing up for any work-at-home opportunity, BBB advises job hunters to:

  • Review the business’s BBB Reliability Report® at bbb.org to see if BBB reports complaints or other concerns you need to consider.
  • Beware of any offer that guarantees a lot of money for little effort and no experience.
  • Thoroughly read the Web site’s terms and conditions, keeping in mind that a free trial could cost you in the end.
  • Be wary of work-at-home offers that use logos from Google, Twitter or other prominent online businesses. Just because Google is in the name, it doesn’t mean the business is affiliated with Google.
  • Research the Web site with Whois.net or a similar site for determining domain name ownership. If the site is anonymous or individually registered, beware.

For more advice on evaluating work-at-home companies and schemes, visit www.tucson.bbb.org.

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1 Comment for this entry

  • paulschlegel

    This may be a bit technical for some, but one of the dead giveaways on this site are testimonial pictures used from stock photo sites. To determine if the site is using a stock photo for the testimonials:

    1) Right click on one of the photos and select “properties”
    2) Copy the URL of the location of the picture
    3) Put that URL into Tineye.com, which is a reverse image search engine that searches for closely matching images.

    Some sites are trying to get around getting caught by this technique by claiming that photos are being used to protect people’s privacy. If you see a site saying that I’d be extremely suspicious.

    Paul Schlegel
    Founder, WorkAtHomeTruth.com

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