So I'm sure most of you have seen online ads for teeth whiteners, work at home, etc. They will offer a "free" trial or just pay "shipping and handling", but once you enter your credit card number they will start to bill you all kinds of amounts in the next few weeks. They have become increasingly popular and are a total scam. I was a victim of one such scam a couple of months back (a work at home offer) and know several others who have been too. I reported the vendor (who happened to be in the Philippines unbeknownst to me) to the BBB but in the end had to cancel my bank card because they were taking out all kinds of amounts ranging from $20+ to $70+. When I had called them they told me to put my cancellation in writing (to some address in WY), which I did, only to have the letter I had sent returned to me saying "not accepting mail at this address". If you don't keep a really close eye on your bank statement or credit card bill, its easy for the charges to go unnoticed because they vary, but what alerted me was the "international surcharge" charges. I knew I hadn't been overseas in recent months and certainly never ordered anything from overseas either, so it was only when I called my bank to find out what they were did I realize I had been ripped off. My bank thank God credited me back everything they had taken but it was all still an inconvenience. So beware when ordering anything from a sidebar ad, because most likely it is a scam.

"The use of negative marketing options [that offer] a free trial and then you get billed every month over and over again, is being used to sell so many products online right now, and it’s just a scourge of the internet,” said Allison Southwick, spokeswoman for the Better Business Bureau. “People are getting ripped off across the country for any number of products [including these tooth-whitening products] when they think they are getting a free trial.”

Read more here.